The Journey to Peace: Reflections on Faith, Embracing Suffering, and Finding New Life (Hardcover)

by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin (Author), C.P.P.S. Alphonse P. Spilly (Editor), Jeremy Langford (Editor) "Each of us journeys in this life from birth to death..." (more)
Key Phrases: Cardinal Bernardin, Saint Paul, Lord God (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Journey to Peace: Reflections on Faith, Embracing Suffering, and Finding New Life is a posthumous collection of previously unpublished excerpts from the homilies of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin. Like Bernardin's autobiography, The Gift of Peace, much of this new volume has an elegant and simple style. ("When Jesus invites us to join him, the Cross is embossed at the very center of the invitation," he writes.) These sermons, however, may be even more direct than his memoirs. Their organization, according to the 14 stations of the cross, underscores Bernardin's constant focus on the most basic aspects of the gospel stories and spotlights his ability to draw contemporary lessons from these ancient stories. Even more impressive is the trustworthy tension between confidence and humility that characterizes Bernardin's messages to his flock. One sermon concludes, "Accepting the fact of alienation is the equivalent of embracing the Cross each day, as Jesus himself did." The Journey to Peace is full of such forthright, realistic, and faithful reflections. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly
Bernardin (1928-1996) touched the hearts of many with his bestselling book, The Gift of Peace, released two months after his death from pancreatic cancer. Here more than 30 of his unpublished homilies have been carefully edited and framed in the context of the Stations of the Cross, allowing readers "to enter more deeply into the mystery of Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection." Editors Spilly and Langford perceptively connect the Sixth Station (in which Veronica wipes Jesus' brow) to a homily on personal service, and interpret the Tenth Station (in which Jesus is stripped naked) to Bernardin's poignant reflections on the Holocaust. This short book is a perfect aid for meditation during Lent or any time in the liturgical year.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 151 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Religion; 1 edition (February 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385501013
• ISBN-13: 978-0385501019
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #954,870 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific companion to 'The Gift of Peace', December 24, 2002

By	"jjkestel" (Schaumburg, IL Schaumburg, IL, USA) - See all my reviews

Whatever your exposure to the late Cardinal, you must admire his example of the Christian life. In the Gift of Peace, he invited us to walk beside him during his final months. In this volume, Spilly & Langford have artfully woven together extended excerpts from his homilies while Archbishop of Chicago. The book is divided into chapters identified by the Stations of the Cross -- a device that both illuminates the Cardinal's own words, as well as the putting the Way of the Cross into a contemporary context, thus reminding us that the Cross itself is as real today as it was two thousand years ago.

If you loved Cardinal Bernadin as we in Chicago did, you will of course love this book. But even if this is your first encounter, you will come to know him like a dear friend -- and learn much from his humility, his prayerfulness, his humiliation and exoneration, and his very public suffering and passing.