Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots

* WEBSiTE: http://www.amazon.com/Signs-Life-Catholic-Customs-Biblical/dp/0385519494/ref=pe_24390_13635200_as_txt_4/* TiTLE: An insider's view of the Catholic faith* REFERENCE: Hahn, Scott, Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots (Hardcover). New York, NY; London; Toronto; Sydney; Auckland: Doubleday Religion, 2009.* TAGS: spirituality, roman catholic, major rituals, beliefs and practices!/////////////////////////////////////////////// This 276-page book by Scott Hahn is a delight to read. Growing up in North-eastern France in a rural township that was 99% Lutheran, next to (i.e., less than three miles from) a village that was 100% Roman Catholic, my exposure to the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith were second-hand, usually by hearsay that typically was NOT benevolent (coming from Lutheran relatives and neighbors), and thus very fragmentary and caricature-like at best. This is why i ordered this book from Amazon.com, and finished reading it within less than four days (Monday through Thursday). Scott, a convert to Catholicism from the Calvinist Presbyterian faith (Hahn makes several references to his conversion, e.g., pp. 157, among several others), gave me a first-hand account of many aspects of the Catholic faith, such as the practice of the "holy water" (pp. 21-24), "praying for the dead" (pp. 255-260), the relics (pp. 172-176). The book also gave me a new appreciation for "guardian angels" (pp. 43-50), "saying grace at meals" (pp. 100-103), "retreats" (pp. 124-130), and the practice of pilgrimage (pp. 203-207), among 40 customs in total. Alas, much to my surprise, i did NOT find any treaty or explanation, 1) for the practice of Sunday worship; 2) for the belief in the immortality of the soul (purgatory and hell); and 3) for the status of Mary as the "Mother of God," her assumption, and her veneration. For each of the 40 "signs of customs," Hahn tries to give a thorough biblical background. While Hahn does a good job for items shared with non-Catholic believers (such as baptism, Bible study, grace at meal, or the Trinity), i am NOT (yet) convinced by Hahn biblical arguments advanced for practices such as "holy water" (pp. 21-24), the "sign of the cross" (pp. 25-29), the practice of "Lent and Easter" (pp. 57-62), or the practice of "indulgences" (pp. 191-196), among many other beliefs and practices, with which i do NOT find a solid, clear and unequivocal, biblical foundation. To appeal to Genesis 1 (2, 6), to our embryonic (i.e., fetal) growth within an amniotic bag (pp. 21), to refer to Noah's flood or the parting of the Red Sea (pp. 22), even to the baptism of Jesus in the waters of the Jordan (pp. 22), in my opinion (and this is what book reviews are all about), simply are NOT convincing arguments for the practice of "holy water." Much can be said in the same vein about the "sign of the cross" (pp. 25-29), the practice of "Lent and Easter" (pp. 57-62), or the practice of "indulgences" (pp. 191-196), among many other beliefs and practices, the biblical foundations for which i find, "far-fetched," at best. I also happen to disagree with Hahn's concept of human nature, being composed of a "body and a spirit" (pp. 16, 29, 55, 80, 157), or in some references, "a body, a mind, and a spirit" (pp. 29, within a quote from Romano Guardini [1885-1968]). By way of introducing the Chapter on "incense" (# 23), Hahn writes, "Our tradition engages the whole person [created by God] as a unity of body and soul" (pp. 157, emphasis added). In my experience, this concept fails to include the "social/emotional" dimension of human nature. This four-dimensional concept is a true biblical concept, as we find it in two separate passages relating to Jesus' life and ministry: "And Jesus increased in wisdom {i.e., mental} and in stature {i.e., physical}, and in favor with God {i.e., spiritual} and man {i.e., social}" (Luke 2:52). The second passage comes from the gospel of Luke, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor {i.e., economic and mental}. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives {i.e., social} and recovering of sight to the blind {i.e., physical}, to set at liberty those who are oppressed {i.e., spiritual}" (Luke 4:8). Thus, a true biblical wholism [spelled with a "w" rather than "holism"] includes the four dimensions,1) physical, i.e., endowed with a body able to move (seat of bodily functions like eating, drinking, sleeping and motions);2) mental, i.e., endowed with a mind able to think (seat of thoughts and ideas);3) social, i.e., endowed with a heart able to feel (seat of feelings and emotions in relationships);4) spiritual, i.e., endowed with a spirit able to evaluate and worship (seat of moral values and transcendence). To his credit, in one instance, when quoting from Mark 12:29 and Deuteronomy 6:4-5, did Hahn refer to humankind's four dimensions, "[Adam's] `whole' heart [emotional/social], his `whole' soul [spiritual], his `whole' mind [mental/economic], and `all' his strength [physical/biological]" (pp. 86, italics rendered as `whole' in Hahn's text). As usual (as in other book reviews), i find end notes (pp. 263--276) rather counter-productive, and a great waste of time, for both the author (who spent a great deal of time and effort to research and document his/her sources), and the reader (who, typically, does NOT bother to look them up). In the case of this book, Hahn does NOT even bother to number his notes, but simply list them at the end of the book, NOT by any recognizable reference number or symbol, but simply by page. For instance, on page 262, we find, under Chapter I (Holy Water), two numbers (#22). After some head scratching (and thus damaging not a few hair follicles), the reader eventually figures out that # 22 refers to page 22. But on page 22, there is NO sign or symbol whatsoever that there should be a reference. Then, turning back to page 263, looking again at the notes, the reader finds two partial, unfinished, sentences (highlighted in BOLD), such as "St. Thomas Aquinas taught: [...] (followed by a comment and a bibliographic reference)," and "With Jesus, however: [...] (followed by a bibliographic reference)." Then, turning back to page 22, after much searching, we find these same sentences in paragraph # 3. Wow! Eureka! The author could NOT have made it more difficult to hide his notes in a secret code system. I am NOT sure where Hahn learned to do bibliographies, but surely i have NEVER come across such as convoluted and unnecessarily complicated method of documenting sources and notes. I guess there is a first for anything. Perhaps endnotes with numbered references within the text are NOT so bad, after all! Initially, I had given a five-star (5*) rating for Hahn's book (judging by its content, even though I may NOT agree with all of Hahn's theological arguments). But, after the bibliographic notes-debacle, i downgraded my rating to a mere three-star. Also the absence of an index at the end of the book did NOT ingratiate Hahn's book with this reader, who likes to find some subjects rather quickly, instead of having to thumb through 262 pages to find out about "a" particular topic. Another thing i missed in Hahn's book (and was looking for while reading Hahn's account of his Catholic experience), is his reason (or are his reasons) for converting to the Catholic faith, especially coming from a Reformed Protestant background. Was he attracted by the "high church" style in Catholic piety and worship, by the colorful garments worn by Catholic priests and prelates? We don't know. Maybe in another book, Hahn may wish to dig deeper into these issues, as i believe Hahn has NOT made his decision to convert, lightly!Should you have any comment(s) and/or suggestion(s) about this review, I can be reached via email at [jpheldt123(at)yahoo.com]. I look forward to hearing from you.////////////////////////////////////////////////////Ordered from Amazon.com. Delivered - Feb 25, 2010 10:18:00 AM; read between Mon 2010-3-8 (10:15) and Thu 2010-03-11 (10:34am). Word count = 1,023/1,096. Submitted on Saturday, 2010-03-27 (11:20pm). Revised on Sunday, 2010-04-25 (10:36am): I replace one word, "doctrines" with "customs," after I read the comment(s) from a reader (Janet S. Meyer).= END =////////////////////////

I noticed this book featured on a table at the Catholic Information Center in Washington DC, and well familiar with Scott Hahn's excellent biblical scholarship and other writings, I knew this would be something to shore up my faith in a tough time. My Mom who had been fighting metastatic cancer had recently suffered a stroke, and among other things, her eyesight rapidly declined, rendering her unable to continue one of her most favored pastimes in reading. So, I decided to read one of these chapters to her each day, and she loved them. My dad would listen in as well, and we would all marvel at the rich depth of our faith's traditions. We only made it halfway through the book before my Mom passed away, and we didn't make it some of the most poignant and relevant chapters about preparing for death, etc. which was a pity! But the book gave us some wonderful insights into Catholic traditions and practices and their Biblical roots and meaning, with small interjections of how we can better live our faith through simple and practical recommendations and advice from Hahn. We loved the chapter-concluding "Ponder in your Heart" sections featuring quotations from Fathers of the church, saints and other spiritual powerhouses, they were always on point.This book is magnificent for all kinds of Catholics and non-Catholics, bringing people to a deeper understanding of this faith, and explaining how how Catholicism is chock-full of rich practices and traditions that elevate and sanctify our physical and material experiences in life. Even beyond serving as valuable Apologetics explanation, Signs of Life leads us on a journey of asceticism and looking for the beauty in the Catholic faith to bring us closer to Christ.

For many, sacraments and sacramentals seem little more than superstitious baggage of the middle ages easily discarded by the modern enlightened Christian. Dr. Hahn lets us know what rich blessings we forgo with such an attitude. In place of misunderstanding that leads to indifference (or even hostility) toward these disciplines, Dr. Hahn provides biblical and historical/traditional roots to the disciplines and in the process gives us a renewed sense of devotion to their practice. Practiced in their proper context, these devotional disciplines can lead to a closer communion with Jesus.In the introduction to this work Dr. Hahn provides a brief definition of sacraments and sacramentals in order that the reader understands the difference and the significance of both. The work is then divided into phases of life that remind us of these disciplines: birth, life progresses in time, each day in the life of the Christian, disciplines through the entirety of life, significant stages in life, enjoyment of life, the abundant life, devotions to the saints we love, and the end of life. Each phase provides brief descriptions of one or more devotional practices describing their biblical and historical roots in the Church. On my own spiritual journey, I was amazed at the number of these practices already forming in the first and second century. Dr. Hahn has found the same continuity with the Apostles and with scripture.To his credit, Dr. Hahn does not shrink from such difficult topics as indulgences. And, he does not describe the practices in such a generic manner as to lose the context of the Church as their proper home. The discerning reader wishing special depth on a particular topic will want to look elsewhere for that detail. What Dr. Hahn has provided here is not depth but breadth of understanding that gives us the big picture view we need in order to see these devotions as not just tacked on niceties but as living and essential elements in the Church. If you are looking for the greater depth, the author's journal of theological studies under the title of _Letter & Spirit_ is very highly recommended.If you want to renew the passion in your devotion to Christ, this is a good place to find some tools to help you renew that passion. Very well done.

Anything that Scott Hahn writes tends to be both interesting and insightful. I was raised a Catholic and many of the customs he explains I was familiar with. Catholicism tend to get criticized for many of it's customs and it was interesting to discover that most of our customs have their roots in scripture. If you was to learn more about Catholic customs you will find this book very interesting and I believe one that will enrich your faith

catholic customs and their biblical roots is a most enlightening book, for me anyway. After reading it straight through and getting a 'feel' for what is written, I then went back and selected which sections to read.Delivered within a few days and well packaged.

This book re-enforces long held traditions within the church and also explains to the lukewarm the reasoning behind such practises and customs.

Very good explanatory volume

Scott Hann has a knack for making the 'Faith' a realistic bridge between heaven and earth and easy to believe.