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God at the Ritz: Attraction to Infinity A Priest Physicist Talks About Science, Sex, Politics, and Religion

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Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete has written a serious and humorous book about the human longing, desire, and attraction for the infinite, the eternal, the mysterious "beyond." Albacete is an intellectual, and his brief critiques of other thinkers testify to a brilliant mind, but his illustrations and vignettes always spring from life: a very earthy life, his life. And so the relationship between reason and human experience forms the thread that ties this book together. That thread is a kind of judgement, but his judgement is so humble, so full of humanity and understanding, because it flows not from an abstract theory, but from a life fully lived, from a mind and a man engaged with human reality in his search for the meaning of that reality, for what lies beyond it and ultimately constitutes it. Here is a book capable of speaking to any man of any time, brimming with the humanity and generosity of its author.

God At The Ritz: Attraction To Infinity is the candid discourse by Lorenzo Albacete (a Catholic priest and physicist with a degree in Space Science and Applied Physics), about the essence of life itself, its meaning, God's plan, and a great deal more. From surveying the balance between science and faith; to addressing the eternal questioning of why such suffering and horror exist in God's world; to the "big three" contemporary issues of sex, money, and politics; God At The Ritz is a refreshing, insightful, articulate, "reader friendly", and highly recommended attempt to make sense of the great mysteries of life, and to acknowledge that there are some concepts that can only be understood by God himself.

Msgr. Albacete is a modern day Pascal, and this is his Pensees'. Albacete writes a column for the NY Times Magazine, and is respected by the cultural elites (the recent PBS special on "Faith and 9-11" ended with his comments). Yet, he is a Catholoic priest completely committed to the teachings of the Catholic Church, as well as a personal friend of Pope John Paul II. How so? Read this book and find out. Where Pascal shattered the smug rationalism of his day, now Albacete performs aikido on modernism and post-modernism, reconciling all that's true and good in them with genuine faith, while exposing modernity's fallacies -- its hidden ideologies, utopias, and deceptions that keep us from fulfilling our genuine desires, especially our inborn longing to know the meaning of life and the universe. While written for seekers of all kinds, this book makes it possible, for the first time since Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud (and Seinfeld), to be a really intellectually satisfied believer. If you think you've given faith every chance, and it's always come up short, this is the book for you.

While advising on a film about John Paul II, the eccentrically brilliant Monsignor Albacete stayed at the Ritz in Hollywood and was accosted by all kinds of people who asked, on location and at poolside and everywhere else, incisive questions about God, religion, evil, hope, and other matters that really matter. This little book joins their questions and his responses in a winsome apologetic that might be categorized as pre-evangelization. However categorized, it is thinking of a high order set forth with literary grace and humor, and all in the service of understanding the irrepressible human aspiration toward the infinite. This is a First THings review.

This is a whimsical and amusing little book on the rationality of believing in God but also how believing in God is a response to the longing of our hearts or, to be more precise, of our whole person. The fad at the minute is to regard all religious believers as dangerous loonies - Albacete's response is not to take a highly polemic stand against those railing at us who believe but to provide an insight into the joy of believing. Further, he shows, in his capacity as a physicist, that, for him, there is no contradiction in believing in the laws of physics and believing there is a God, who has revealed Himself. Both the believer and the scientist are seeking "knowledge and truth" except that the believer considers that human life cannot be explained in totally scientific materialist terms. Focusing exclusively on the latter leads to a "reduction in desire" and the "secularisation of interiority" - the longing of the heart is in effect denied. Critically, Albacete reminds us though that the order of discourse for science and philosophy/religion are different. Each follow its proper method. And, we must not suppress reason - to do so would be inhuman.

At times, particularly in his "Real Beer" chapter, I was reminder of Benedict XVI's Encyclical "Spe Salvi":

"The infinity our heart's desire is not endless time, a linear succession of moments that go on forever> No matter, how long we live, this desire remains> Ironically, perhaps the infinity the heart desires is within the limited within the particular within the concrete. It is a measure of quality not quantity. It is measured not by numbers but by intensity of fulfilment"

Readers should note that this is not a conventional book (thank heaven's for that) -it is clear that some reviewers thought this book would seek to demonstrate the truths and practices of Catholicism and provide an answer to some of the scandals but that is not its remit. In a way, this book is for everyone, atheist or believer in God (of whatever description or creed) who simply wants to reflect on the topic. There is nothing specifically Catholic about it apart from a key issue: Albacete, like St Thomas Aquinas, rejoices in the wonder of being ("amazement and passionate curiosity") - everything is interesting to he who seeks the truth. For me, this sums up the Catholic spirit where there is fidelity to harmonising faith and reason. Further Albacete does not shrug off life's mysteries such as the mystery of suffering - he says we must always ask "why" and we must suffer with others: "To co-suffer is to share the question "why", to be a companion, and to walk together towards transcendence. "Co-suffering makes us stand before those who suffer, with profound awe and respect. In these experiences, "Something very great" visits us" He then makes one of the most striking and surprising statements in the book: "The most intimate encounter between human beings is through shared suffering".

There is an amusing (actually the motif of the book is lightness!) piece where he cautions against thinking we have found all the answers (which really shuts the door on "why?") : If you discover the meaning of life at 2.00PM, one afternoon, what are you going to do that night? Won't life becoming boring? Searching, seeking, and struggling at least make you open-minded and tolerant of those whose "meaning of life" is not searched for where you search for yours!"

This is an enjoyable book - each chapter is short - so it is an ideal book to take on a journey - further whilst the themes are deep, the material is handled with an eye to easy comprehension and accessibility. The constant companion of humour also means that one gets to chuckle from time to time. I should say that I never would have come across this book if it were not for Fr James Schall on whom I am very dependent for my reading.

Thanks again Fr Schall who continues to feed me with material to feed my zest for life!!!

One of the best books a thinking person can read re: religion vs. science, suffering, and other topics, not lightweight fluff but not difficult to get, either.
All subjects handled with much humor and insight. Company delivered book in excellent condition in a timely manner.

Albacete's vision of a 'rational faith' is one everyone on either side of the 'God Issue' should read. It is witty, down to earth, but well reasoned and persuasive.

It seems to me that what we have here is ultimately a powerful, persuasive, and well put together (sound?) version of the 'argument from desire'. Or in Albacete's case, the 'argument from desires'. Besides CS Lewis and the current pope, other intellectual influences range from Levinas and (I think) Miguel De Unamuno. I see a lot of Unamuno's outlook underlying much of what Albacete is talking about.

Albacete's overall point seems to me to be an issue that is widely accepted in many philosophical circles nowadays: that one cannot take a value-neutral stance on what rationality IS when the question of what constitutes rationality is the issue on the table. Any epistemological theory is going to be based on certain pre-existing beliefs, values, convictions and commitments. Hence Albacete's observation that science itself is based on 'desire'.

What the latin priest does is to take these ideas and make them accessible to anyone, leading up to the conclusion that, given science's reliance on commitments much like those that lead us to religion, religion is a justified (rationally speaking) enterprise.

The book just came in, and I gave it to a friend, so I have to buy another one. Just reading ch. 1 and the post script, and I can tell this book will be both humorous and provoking.

Albacete has a warm and chatty writing style, and can talk about everything from Monty Python to Ivan Karamazov. As a non-Catholic and also a spiritual person, I read this book to understand more about Catholic thinking. I found the essence of the book to be found in this quote: "If we are faithful to the sacred, the Mystery, what we call God, we will always keep searching, for we will never find it, it will always be beyond, it will always be more. Authentically religious people know that..." (pp.178-179) We will never find it? It will always be beyond? I simply cannot agree with that. I believe that it is possible to know God in this life.

Albacete entirely talks about 9/11 and sexuality but skirts what I and many others consider to be deep problems with the church: discrimination against women by barring them from the priesthood and discrimination against gay and lesbian people. (And yes, of course, sexual abuse by priests.)

Over and over again he talks about "The Mystery" and mentions that God didn't tell Job in the Bible why he allowed him to suffer- it is only for Job to submit to the Mystery of God.

If you were hoping for something more or different from this book- I can only suggest giving it a pass.