The Coming of God [Paperback]

Maria Boulding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2000

The Coming of God explores the ways in which God comes to us – in events, in people, in prayer. There is the hope that does not deceive, grace in the midst of our disasters, and light where we stumble in the darkness.

If you are so involved with the struggle of living that you feel you have no time or space for God, yet are inwardly dissatisfied, you are already being drawn into the central experience of salvation. For at the heart of all our experiences are need and longing. We are an Advent people. We look for the coming of God. And because God is a self-giving God he is committed to his people forever.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Rarely does one find a book of such spiritual insight and depth...Destined to become a spiritual classic." -- Abbot Gregory Polan, O.S.B., Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri.

"This is an impressive book. It is well organized and clearly presented..." -- Abbot Timothy Kelly, O.S.B., St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota.

From the Publisher

This book was first published nearly 20 years ago and has been out of print and difficult to find for the last five years. The Printery House is proud to publish a new third edition of this treasured classic. The book has been completely re-typeset and modest changes have been made to improve language inclusivity and conformity to American spelling and usage.

“This is an impressive book. It is well organized and clearly presented. More important than that, however, is the author’s familiarity with scripture, her unfolding of its message, her use of non-scriptural material to bolster and explain in other ways the central message of the word of God. She especially uses patristic sources well, and quotations from later writers [...] are particularly appropriate.” Abbot Timothy Kelly, O.S.B., St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. Taken from Weavings

“Rarely does one find a book of such spiritual insight and depth as is found in The Coming of God. Maria Boulding demonstrates the art of lectio divina brought to its rich fulfillment in reflections on a treasury of scriptural, patristic, and other spiritual classics. The reader comes to the realization of how the mysterious yet wondrous comings of God into our lives are the sheer gift of divine grace. This book is destined to become a spiritual classic.” Abbot Gregory Polan, O.S.B., Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: The Printery House (July 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0970186517
• ISBN-13: 978-0970186515
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,016,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing grace!, May 26, 2007

By 

K. E. Meacham (Williamsville, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Coming of God (Paperback)

A real page-turner for believers! Foot notes are fully fleshed out, not a usual feature. Provoking and awe inspiring as God IS!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most welcome and timely blessing for the Church, January 6, 2006

By 

Dennis at Holy Apostles (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Coming of God (Paperback)

With Advent and the Nativity just past (and the moveable feast of the Epiphany soon to be upon us), the thoughts of many Christians have been focusing on our Lord Jesus' entry into the world. That being the case, one can do well by reading Sister Maria Boulding's spiritual masterpiece "The Coming of God." In the book, Sr. Maria shares her grasp of Sacred Scripture, the Church Fathers, and various other resources as she makes plain the "central message of the Word of God."

God brings this message to us through the communication of himself. Instead of shouting edicts from a remote vastness, he came and still comes to us as a "hands-on" God. And instead of hurling platitudes from an ivory tower, he seeks after us in our deepest recesses. If only we would hear his voice. Jesus did so, setting an example for us to follow. For whenever he listened to the voice of his Father, they reached communion. In the Word made flesh, "self-giving, self-revealing God meets self-giving, responding, participating, receptive humanity."
We too can experience this communion. For such a "relationship between God and a free, spiritual being in grace" is our highest possible relationship and fulfills, in the words of the late Pope John Paul II, the "nuptial meaning of the body" (mutual self-giving).

God's gift of himself is a great mystery, yet it is a mystery that we can embrace. We simply need to be receptive, to be open to God, for he will take the initiative. As Benedictine Abbot Gregory Polan encourages, "The reader comes to the realization of how the mysterious yet wondrous comings of God into our lives are the sheer gift of divine grace." May this fine book warm your heart and fill your soul. Fr. Dennis J. Mercieri