SPIRITUAL PROGRESS

Becoming the Christian You Want to Be

by Thomas D. Williams, LC

FaithWords, 2007

224 pages, $19.99

Available in bookstores

In writing Spiritual Progress, Legionary Father Thomas Williams, dean of the theology school at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome, set out to produce more than another self-help book, devotional text or spiritual manual.

He returned to the basics, looking at the Gospel and its demands, and explaining spiritual concepts in familiar terms. Why return to Square One? Because Father Williams’ target audience is primarily what he calls “spiritual adolescents” — adults whose growth in the faith has languished since their days in religious education.

Yet much of what he says is suitable for seasoned Catholics, as well.

A frequent analyst for network-news outlets, Father Williams is well-practiced at presenting Church teachings in ways that even non-Catholics will find appealing. Here he is in his element as he strips the Christian life down to its essentials: where we are going (holiness and the meaning of life, God’s will and what it means to follow Christ), what God does for us (prayer, grace, the Holy Spirit and Mary), and what we are to do (faith as a gift and a choice, humility and generosity).

Throughout, Father Williams writes with an ear to how the Christian message may be perceived by the contemporary culture.

“Our generation suffers from an unhealthy phobia of silence,” he writes. “We feel a need always to be surrounded by noise, music and conversation. We flee silence, and yet it is in silence that the voice of the Spirit is heard. We need to cultivate a contemplative spirit able to hear the soft whispers and inspirations of the Holy Spirit, who rarely shouts to be heard or announces his coming with a blare of trumpets.”

Some of the book’s content may strike spiritually mature Catholics as rudimentary, but then Father Williams is forthright in stating that he is writing for beginners of various stripes — from those just starting the spiritual journey to those who need to retrace their steps and even those who recognize that they are not as far along as they should be.

It’s clear that he’s in tune with the spiritual zeitgeist of our times. As anyone who has worked to promote the New Evangelization knows, and as Father Williams points out, today’s Christians often lack the kind of faith-and-morals foundation that many spiritual manuals assume of their readers.

In crafting this guide, Father Williams drew heavily on Scripture, along with the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the letters of Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II. He quotes, too, from the writings and sayings of Théresè of Lisieux, Thomas à Kempis and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Additionally, he has packed his book with applicable guidance on praying, discerning God’s will, choosing and using a spiritual director, and designing a spiritual program.

Spiritual Progress may prove most helpful to those just embarking on a spiritual path after completing RCIA or returning to the Church following an extended absence. But open-minded readers at all levels of spiritual experience and practice, both Catholic and non-Catholic, will find something new within these pages to contemplate and consider.

It’s springtime in the “New Springtime” of Christianity’s third millennium. Which means it’s a fine time to plant new seeds — even for those with gardens already blooming.

Judy Roberts writes from

Graytown, Ohio.