29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than the Gospel According to Cliff Clavin, February 9, 2006
This review is from: Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday?: The Catholic Origin to Just About Everything (Paperback)
It may be putting it a tad strongly to say that Michael Foley has written a 200-page history of Western civilization. But it is also true that this is more than just a book of trivia. People who enjoy fascinating facts and want to wow their co-workers by explaining why Punxtawney Phil should really be named "Simeon" will delight in Foley's retelling of the not-so-familiar back story to many of our most familiar holidays, foods and pastimes.
"Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday" is not just a handy aid to winning bar bets, though it is. It should also be of interest to those looking for something deeper, at the myriad ways in which Christianity and Catholic Christianity have infused the ordinary objects of daily life with extraordinary, indeed supernatural, meaning. The Catholic Church and its adherents have had 2000 years to find God at work in the world. Catholics have developed an extraodinary number of ways to commemerate Christ and His saints, and to remind them of their obligations and redemption by His resurrection. Foley recounts the festivals, foods and pious acts that marked time and the seasons for Christians for 1500 years, whose meaning may have been largely forgotten, but has not been lost.
This book is also an introduction to Christian devotion. For the Catholic believer seeking to recapture a sense of the spiritual and supernatural in their daily lives, Foley describes many meaningful daily acts and annual events designed to keep Christ at the center of daily life for generations of Catholics. This book provides an entree to deeper reflection. For the curious Christian of other denominations, it will provide a needed corrective to much misinformation about Catholic practice.
For the Catholic catechist, this book would be a handy companion to a traditional Cathechism, showing how seemingly arcane doctrines and dogmas find their way into daily life and, perhaps, make clear their meaning as a result.
It is also a reminder of the great contributions of Catholics-- priests, monks, nuns, lay men and women-- to science, literature, education, law and the arts.
For the interested observer--one reviewer mentions a journalist--this book provides a handy guide to the reality behind many mysterious and oft-misunderstood practices.
Finally, for the booklover, Foley writes with graceful prose, combining profound insights with a lighthearted tone. One can picture much of this book being written with a twinkle in his eye. This is a certainly a professor's book, but it is written for the educated layman (and woman) and not for the specialist.
Warmly recommended.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Catechism on Creation, June 26, 2006
This review is from: Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday?: The Catholic Origin to Just About Everything (Paperback)
Foley's book is a smart, short explanation of the cultural debt we owe the Church. You might think of it as a "catechism on creation," since everything from our linear sense of time to our ordered appreciation of beauty has its root in the Church's recognition of man's divinely-ordained vocation as co-creator. And if you're not careful, the book's topical format and encyclopedia-style entries will turn you into a Catholic Cliff Claven at your next cocktail party. It would make for a great going-away present to a college-bound student or to anyone unsure of why Catholicism matters.
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43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
surrounded by Catholicism, December 15, 2005
This review is from: Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday?: The Catholic Origin to Just About Everything (Paperback)
In two hundred pages, Foley (who teaches at Baylor University) covers the Catholic origins of everyday objects, words, practices, and institutions in our life, in entertainment, manners, food, music, sports, flowers, science, technology, law, and language. The title of the book is slightly misleading, since the purpose is not to explain Catholic practices but rather to show how we all practice Catholicism without really knowing it.
Remember the invisible ink you used when you were a kid? You would write and not see it until you held it up to the light or covered it with a special liquid. This book is that light, that liquid, that brings into sharp relief what was there and yet could not see. These are the ghosts that surround us on all sides, and they are here to stay and dwell among us so long as we are civilized.
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