Customer Reviews

God Underneath: Spiritual Memoirs of a Catholic Priest

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God Underneath is a moving, sincere glimpse into the heart and soul of a religious man. Fr. Edward's real life stories evoke deep feelings of joy, fear, and doubt. He bravely reveals the struggles and rewards of being a Catholic priest. Fr Edward allows us to intimately share with him his personal spiritual journey. These heartfelt and inspirational stories demonstrate the presence of God in everyday life. God touches all of us in different ways. To experience God we simply need to open ourselves up to the events and people around us.
I found it refreshing to have a priest put his trust in us by revealing himself so honestly and openly. We are fortunate to have Fr Edward working at God's side.
I highly recommend this book to anyone searching for God in their daily lives.

Told in little vignettes or stories about life serving the people around him (as well as memories of childhood) author Edward Beck offers a revealing, honest glimpse into the challenges and rewards of priesthood. He doesn't gloss over the hardest parts - celibacy, being on call at all hours, the struggles of those he serves. But he also gives an inspiring account of his life, if only by the revelations he shares.

My initial excitement over this book quickly turned to disappointment. Being a priest and a member of a religious order I thought it would be great to read the memoirs of a priest my own age. However, I found very little insight in the book. It seems to me that Father Beck goes to great lengths to tell us about the people in his life yet he reveals very little about himself. Even his musings about God and spirituality at the end of each chapter seem shallow and condescending. Perhaps the writing of memoirs is best left to those who are well seasoned.

The biggest surprise of this book is how intensely personal the stories are and how open Father Edward is to sharing his innermost thoughts and feelings. Some of the stories made me cry, both with sorrow and joy. Most of all, they made me want to experience the Spirit in my life as intensely and in such a meaningful way. Father Edward's intent in sharing these stories is to show how the people in his life have shown him the way to find the Spirit beneath, and he succeeds wonderfully in doing the same for the reader. In giving us a peak into his private spiritual life, he magnificently shows what it means to be human in the best sense, to be drawn by the Spirit ever more deeply to that special relationship which gives hope and salvation. This is a book worth savoring and rereading.

I just finished reading this book and have to extend my gratitude, praise and prayers to Fr. Beck for sharing himself with his readers in such an honest and giving way. So many of his points, of God being with us in each moment of one's life, of being present to us through others and within oneself, have been deeply moving and greatly inspiring. I strongly recommend this book!!

Fr. Beck brings the reader along for a journey through 21 touching and highly personal stories about his life experiences in this easy to read book. I absolutely could not put the book down and finished it all in one day. Some stories had me laughing, some crying, and others both at the same time! It's very unusual to find someone with a gift of telling stories such as Fr. Beck's. He is able to use brutal honesty to allow you into his heart and soul and to imagine walking hand-in-hand with him through some really challenging situations. Fr. Beck doesn't try to gloss over the fact that life sometimes challenges us, but he shows the reader that there is a bit of magic in the strangest of places!

God Underneath is a raw and intimate look inside the life of a Catholic Priest in todays world. In 21 short stories Fr. Beck details his path to priesthood,friendships,alcoholism and celibacy through the eyes of people he has met along his spiritual journey. He dares to approach the topic of Women in the Church and the Catholic teachings with regard to homosexuality and sexual ethics, issues modern day Catholics question. Beautifully written with sensitivity and humor.

Fr. Edward L. Beck's "God Underneath" is an eloquently written and refreshingly honest look into the life of a Catholic priest filled with captivating characters that he meets along his spiritual journey. His courage in allowing us to see his vulnerability and humanity made it very hard for me to put this book down. I especially enjoyed the stories of his childhood, it brought back sweet memories of my own. With each chapter he weaves his tapestry and makes you feel the colors. I recommend this book to anyone, of any creed, members of the clergy and lay people alike. The quest for spirituality is universal and the sharing of Edward Beck's journey definitely gave added dimension and reflection to my own.

I just read this book for a second time, after recently encountering it in several churches. Turning the pages on parts about Father Beck's high school experiences, I feel as though I were there....because I was there! Though we did not know each other, Father Beck and I were in the same year at the same Brooklyn high school. I actually wrote to Father Beck after the first reading, reminding him that he did NOT have a license to reinvent Catholic theology.

Father Beck is in serious need of remedial theology. To counter such, I would initially recommend Peter Kreeft's Handbook of Christian Apologetics, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and/or the Compendium of the Catechism.

Evidencing serious ignorance about the Church's teaching on marriage and family, as well as the abortifacient potential of hormonal contraceptives, I would prescribe Pope John Paul II's Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology Of The Body and Dr. Thomas Hilgers'Medical Applications of Natural Family Planning. Further along the medical lines, I would recommend the Vatican's Charter Health Care Workersand Dignitas Personae.

Talking lots about "social justice" but showing that he does not actually understand what the Church teaches on social matters, I would further urge him to read the Vatican's Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.

GOD UNDERNEATH is a poignent and moving narrative which reaffirmed my faith life as a Roman Catholic. Beck's writing is charming, heart-felt, and witty as he shares, in the best sense of that word his journey as a Catholic priest. I highly recommend this testimony of life's journey and faith for all people who are serious about exploring the inner dismensions of their lives. Readers will come away feeling cleansed, assured that God cares about us, even in our folly, and reaffirmed that our life here is part of a greater whole.