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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A simplistic way of bringing Jesus' presence to our humanity, December 4, 1999
Joseph Girzone writes this portrait of Jesus with a knowledge of the person of Jesus. He walks the talk. Because he knows Jesus personnally, Joseph Girzone can make a difference in his writings. This is not an intellectual account of Jesus, it is not fiction, it is a walk with Our Lord, his friendship with Jesus. This book does have an historical slant, you have to read in between the lines to discover Joseph Girzone's inner life with Jesus. This inner life is instilled in all of Joseph Girzones books but his first book Joshua is still my personal favorite. At last someone writes about the person of Jesus in an intimate, simple way. So simple that you have a hard time believing that this is why Jesus came on earth. Like the famous song from the movie Alfie, Is That All There Is?. I have heard the saying the hardest action to take is to see with the heart and not with the head. Joseph Girzone has a wonderful way of writing to make this happen. He does not force us to believe in his Jesus. This is not his way, nor is it Jesus' way, he simply and beautifully brings Jesus alive in his writings. I have personally read many many books on the theology of Jesus but Joseph Girzone's books have taken the log out of my own eyes and left me with a more open heart to try to live my life more fully. To walk the path of the Gospel in a more straight forward way.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jesus, Man and God, April 28, 2000
This review is from: A Portrait of Jesus (Paperback)
Father Joe's humble yet captivating book made it clear to me why God loves us: he created us in His image, he made us capable of great love and He would do anything to keep us close. In "A Portrait of Jesus", Fr. Girzone provided me with a three-dimensional Christ who enjoyed being human, who celebrated it, loved his human family and companions and was not ashamed to live among us. Never before did I understand how God could live with us and yet be misunderstood by man; in "Portrait", Jesus is an ordinary, blue-collar guy, quietly living his life until the Father calls him to his ministry. He is so peaceful about his place in the human world that everyone, including society's outcasts, finds his company fascinating. Written in ordinary language, this profound little book made me joyful that I, too, am human, and according to Jesus' life, death and resurrection, worth saving and renewing, every day. Too much religion focuses on shame, unworthiness and our failures to be what God expects. Fr. Joe helps communicate that it is Jesus who makes us worthy, and religion should be a human framework to support our spiritual lives with Him. In returning to church after decades of abscence, books like this one help keep my spirit united with God, despite all the human difficulties of working within a church organization. Thank you, Joseph Girzone! Long may you write!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The most uplifting book I've ever read, January 4, 2003
This review is from: A Portrait of Jesus (Paperback)
At first I resisted this book, thinking it would be mostly boring preaching. I finally went for it, hoping to find some new biographical material that forty-six years of Roman Catholicism hadn't taught me. What I found, to my surprise, was a new way to look at religious beliefs that just blew me away. The Jethro Tull album "Aqualung" came to mind while reading this. In the liner notes for that classic, Ian Anderson playfully states that "In the beginning Man created God, and in his image did he create Him". This is not blasphemy, folks. It is a statement that shows how humans have twisted religion to fit their own selfish needs over the past couple thousand years. The result is a state of religious thinking that often has little to do with the original message of Christ, if you take what the author has to say seriously. ...The Jesus as portrayed in this book is a refreshingly great guy that specifically tried to get away from exactly what happened before and after his time on earth. Jesus came into a Jewish world that was so bogged down with rules and laws that it took away from the few simple ones that are the most important. Which is, love your neighbor and your God, and things will find a way of working out. ...The book me feel good enough about myself to give it ten stars, but I'm holding back at four for a reason. While uplifting, this is the author's own interpretation of Christ. A lot of these interpretations make sense. But while he mentions Jesus had a great sense of humor, I would have liked to have seen more examples. And he does portray our Lord and Savior as a party guy who seemed to prefer hanging with sinners (maybe they're more fun), had no trouble supplying more booze to the party, and had no problem laughing at a dirty joke or two. While I'd love to accept this interpretation of reality, it does at times sound a little too good to be true. If it is, then this is the Jesus I want to follow.
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