FORMED Book Club

Absolute monarchs, the divine right of kings, and John Locke. Part four of our discussion on Robert Reilly’s 2020 book “America on Trial”.

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This week, we discuss Robert Riley’s take on Martin Luther, Richard Hooker, and Thomas Hobbes in the 2020 book ‘America on Trial'.

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Should we agree with Justice Anthony Kennedy that ‘at the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life’? Why, or why not? This week, we take on chapters 2 and 3: the Catholic roots of constitutionalism, the rise of the Nominalists in Europe, and more.

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“This book is about a ‘trial’, the trial of America. . . . The American people are in the dock, but also they are almost like the judge, for they must decide and thereby determine their own fate.” — Larry Arnn, Foreword to “America on Trial”.

What makes America America?  What hopes and beliefs gripped the Founders when they signed the Constitution, and are they the same that grip us—in vastly different ways—today?  Were the Founders, who put such a premium on liberty, wrong from the start, or were they right?  These are some of the questions that drive Robert Reilly’s 2020 book “America on Trial:  A Defense of the Founding”.  This week, to start the multiweek series, the Book Club takes a hard look at the Introduction.

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“[Man] no longer has time for himself and for God. . . . He does not have time to die because he does not have time to live. . . . The monk agrees to lose all his time for God. Monastic life is happy; monastic death is, also.” — Dom Pateau, O.S.B., of Fontgombault Abbey.  

This week, we discuss Fontgombault, Mondaye Abbey, and the famous Grande Chartreuse—with a special concluding editorial on “Catholic privilege” from Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.

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“When we come before God, we will be accountable for our charity toward the weakest. I need to know how to lose my time for the sick. In life, giving freely is essential” — Father Jean-Philippe, OSB.  This week, chapters 3 to 5 of Nicolas Diat’s 2019 book “A Time to Die: Monks on the Threshold of Eternal Life”.

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"Death is the most important act of earthly existence," says Cardinal Robert Sarah in the preface to Nicolas Diat's 2020 book "A Time to Die: Monks on the Threshold of Eternal Life".  This week, we discuss chapters 1 and 2 on the Lagrasse and En-Calcat abbeys—surrender, peace, despair, and the limits of medicine.

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With Siobhan Nash-Marshall, translator of Antonia Arslan's 2020 novella "Silent Angel", we discuss the Armenian Genocide, feminine courage, and the power of fiction.

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This week, we interview author Fr. Daniel Moloney on justice, punishment, and reconciliation—through a bit of internet static.

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We talk about mysticism and the sacrament of confession in this final discussion on Fr. Daniel Moloney's 2020 book Mercy: What Every Catholic Should Know.

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