Sunday Light: Selections From the Sunday Night Journal

Mini-essays on many topics: the subjects of these well-crafted and quietly reflective short pieces include books, music, movies, politics, Catholic faith, Catholic doubt, smoking, lawn mowers, love, sex, marriage, cats, dogs, and others. It is not a specifically religious or devotional work, but is deeply grounded in Catholic spirituality. Like the journals of the English writer Ronald Blythe, this is a book in which most of the pieces stand alone but are united by sensibility, style, and the recurrence of certain themes. The wide range of topics, and the self-contained character of each piece, make the collection especially suited for reading one entry at a time: the investment of a few minutes is repaid with a coherent and complete observation or idea. It therefore makes an excellent bedside book, and a good one to have handy whenever the reader has a little time for quiet reflection.