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

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Trained as a physicist and a Roman Catholic priest, Albacete has written a fine book of short reflections on religion, its place in our world, its at-times troubled relationship to its own truth claims, the meaning of suffering, and the experience of pluralism and liberalism. Albacete cites the thought of John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, to be sure, but he also engages with Germaine Greer, Federico Garc¡a Lorca, and Paul Ricoeur. Albacete's profound sense of the religious leads him not to dogma but to a series of sensitively framed, sincere questions that should catch the attention and empathy of many readers. Highly recommended for most collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Monsignor Albacete was a consultant to a PBS program on John Paul II and, after presenting it to TV critics at the Pasadena Ritz Carlton, was asked so many questions about faith that he felt as if he were God's spokesperson at the hotel. Hence the title of the ingratiating little book in which he puts his answers together formally. The roots of faith grow out of the human longing for infinity, for transcendence, he says, and are watered by wonder in the face of creation and acceptance, rather than rejection, of reality. Reason is the instrument for understanding the great mystery at the heart of creation, and this is the same reason science employs to discover the material workings of creation. From an absorbing discussion of reason, Albacete proceeds to suffering; sex, money, and politics; and religion. Each discussion is conducted in little chapters that agreeably break up into digestible portions what amounts to a thorough general--that is, not just Christian--theory of faith in God. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: The Crossroad Publishing Company (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824519515
• ISBN-13: 978-0824519513
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #346,072 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Attraction to Infinity--through the finite, November 6, 2002

By	John Hinrichsen (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny funny funny, and profound, October 15, 2002

By A Customer

This is a difficult book to summarize in a few words. The basic idea is that religion, true religion, starts with the mystery of God. If the mystery is grasped by humans, it's not the true mystery, and believing that we "possess" the mystery leads to deformations of belief -- fundamentalism, war, and the like. On the other hand, if we ignore the mystery altogether, we simply fail to be fully human and miss out on an important part of ourselves.

What's interesting about Albacete's book is that he isn't setting out an airtight argument for belief in God, respect for the Catholic Church, and so forth. He's presenting a vision, hoping to help readers get a glimpse of the mysterious and why it matters to people of faith. And he does so with a good deal of humor. He loves Monty Python, New Yorker cartoons, and other silly elements from pop culture, and he knows how to tell a good story.

This book may not be to everyone's taste -- for one thing, it may be a little too irreverent at times for some uptight readers. But I'm buying this book as a Christmas gift for religious friends and friends who like fun books on serious topics.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About the essence of life itself, its meaning, God's plan, December 5, 2002

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

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.