Book Review: Get Serious! by Father James Farfaglia is Highly Recommended

For all who desire to live fully for the Lord in the Heart of the Church, this is a must read

Father Farfaglia's new book, Get Serious! A Survival Guide For Serious Catholics, is a  concise, profound, yet easy to understand program for spiritual growth. It will be welcomed by all, especially by those who have a serious desire to know the truth and the courage to live it.

P>KNOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - "Live your life before God." This is one of my favorite sentences in Father Farfaglia's new book, Get Serious! A Survival Guide For Serious Catholics. I mention it because it is a good description of Father's book in general: concise, profound, yet easy to understand. The book is a guide on spiritual growth. It inspired me, and I believe it will inspire you. The following review mentions some of the points in the book and some of the thoughts it kindled in me.

I think it is important to begin a review of this type of book by asking some basic questions. For instance, why would anyone be interested in a guide book for spiritual growth? Spiritual life requires time and effort. Why would we want to invest our time? Why should we make the effort? We are good people, by human standards anyhow. Unless we are unhappy with our lives, why not just go along pretty much as we have up to now?
 
I do not think there is just one answer to these questions, but I believe that one stands out --truth demands it of us. Truth demands that we invest our time in our spiritual growth, and truth demands that we make the effort. I am referring to the truth about who we are, why we exist, and the meaning and purpose of our lives.

Father tells us the truth. He says we are called by God to be holy, and, as lay persons, we are to sanctify the temporal order. Therefore, the reason we should invest our time and make the effort in our spiritual growth is because we were created to be holy and sanctify the temporal order. Father Farfaglia's book, then, is for people who want to know the truth and live it. So how do we begin?

We begin with discipline. Father describes discipline as personal organization, and he says a schedule is an important tool we can use to help us become disciplined. Without discipline, we could never hope to achieve our potential and experience the satisfaction of having done so. This is true for everything--academics, work, marriage, and parenting--as well as our spiritual life. And as Father points out, our spiritual growth is not just about our eternal soul going to heaven after we die; it is also about the development of our humanity, that is, the extent to which we become human in this life.

Discipline is also about personal freedom. True freedom is being able to choose our greatest good, which is God's will for us and ultimately God Himself. And it is through spiritual maturity that we are able to choose God and His will for us. Furthermore, it is by choosing the good that we become holy and sanctify the world. So discipline is the foundation for freedom and for success in spiritual matters as well as everything else.

Spiritual life is a battle. Father does not sugarcoat the truth. If we do not feel God's presence in our lives, he says we need to do certain things. One of the most important is to slow down, so we can be alone with ourselves and with God. Constant activity drowns out God's voice. We also need to pray daily. Prayer puts us into right relation with God and the created things of this world.

Father discuses distraction, aridity and feelings in relation to prayer and our busy lives, which we often use as an excuse not to pray as we ought. Father also gives us guidelines on how to deal with these distractions and other temptations. Then he lists three levels for a prayerful life, and he discuses various kinds of prayer like meditation and contemplation. He also includes some of the most common prayers, and he explains how to pray the Rosary.

The first goal of the spiritual life, Father says, is to live in a state of grace, that is, free from mortal sin. Some people do not believe in sin these days, or at least they do not take it seriously. But we must take it seriously. The truth is that sin is a reality, and mortal sin kills supernatural life in us. It also causes grave harm to our relationships and the social structures in this life. Furthermore, if we die in mortal sin, we will go to hell. God is love, but that does not mean He won't allow us to choose hell for eternity. Therefore, Father reminds us that we need to confess all mortal sins.

If we do not have any mortal sins, Father says we should confess our venial sins, especially the ones that tempt us the most. This is because reoccurring venial sins can lead to mortal sins, but it also gives us an opportunity to grow in our faith, to receive an increase of grace, and to know ourselves better. It also purifies our soul; increases the gifts of faith, hope and charity in us; and it helps us avoid future sin and achieve deeper intimacy with God. Confessing our venial sins not only leads to spiritual growth, it is a beautiful experience of God's love for us.

When it comes to the spiritual life, it seems that one of the most important areas where discipline is needed is in the area of sin. Father says that "A daily disciplined regimen of prayer, scripture reading and sacramental life helps to develop those channels of grace through which the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to control ourselves and conquer our baser tendencies." So we cannot do it ourselves; we need God's grace.

This is especially true when it comes to sexual sin, which Father refers to as the sin of our age. He calls it an emotional disorder, and he lists some of the factors causing it. He also includes a wonderful list on emotional healing. It is significant that Father did not single out homosexuality as an emotional disorder. He did not have to. I believe Father is getting at something more fundamental which society desperately needs to hear and understand.

The prevailing wisdom of modern secular society says that sexual promiscuity (sex outside of a traditional marriage) is okay. Some even say it is healthy and good. But this belief is false, and it is dangerous! It is harming the lives of countless people, especially women and children, and it is destabilizing society. Thus, I understand Father to be saying that all forms of sexual promiscuity are emotionally disordered and harmful.

Father's excellent discussion on sexual sin also made me think about the importance of sexual discipline. There is no doubt in my mind that learning to discipline ourselves with regard to our sexuality affects all other areas of our lives. It is the training ground par excellence that prepares us for life. As such, people who control their sexual behavior generally seem more able to live decent, productive, and happy lives. They seem more reliable, trustworthy, giving, and nicer to be around. And I believe these things precisely because human sexuality is such a basic and important part of our lives.

After Father's discussion on sin, confession and reconciliation, it seems only natural that he would discuss communion and the Eucharist. Perhaps this is because after we have become reconciled to God and each other, the next step is communion. Father devotes a whole chapter on the Eucharist. It is beautiful and inspiring. He says that the human person cannot live without the experience of divine love and intimacy and human love and intimacy. He writes, "Man becomes fully realized in communion because he is created for communion by a God who is the most perfect communion."

Jesus told the apostles that he would return and that he would remain with us until the end of time, and he has. Though we can only see Jesus in the Eucharist through the eyes of faith in this life, he is present whole and entire--body, blood, soul, and divinity. During Mass heaven and earth meet. When we receive the Eucharist, we touch God! As such, the greatest moments in our lives are when we receive the Eucharist, but they can also be the worst if we receive God unworthily. Therefore, Father reminds us never to receive communion in mortal sin. It is a terrible offense against God.

Father also includes a phenomenal discussion on detachment. He says there is nothing wrong with us loving the people and things of this world, we just have to love God more. We are not to flee from the world; we (the laity) are to become immersed in the world. We are to make it a better place, to care for those in need, to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive injuries and pray; and we are to do these things with a profound sense of detachment. Father says that "forgiveness is the deepest expression of detachment," a profound act of letting go.

Thus, Catholics live with the expectation of a new earth, but living with this expectation is supposed to stimulate our concern for this world not weaken it. All things, including education, work, marriage, family, and material things, are meant to be used for others for our sanctification and the sanctification of the world. The bottom line, Father writes, is that "All our loves must be subordinated to our first love."

It seems that subordinating all our loves to our first love is what our life and our faith is about. In a certain sense, then, Father's book is a guide to this end. He says that achieving this end "requires a profound spiritual life and a lot of mortification." He is speaking about letting go, which requires detachment, conversion, discipline, and communion, all of which he has discussed in his book. But this is not all.

Father reminds us that it is important to keep the Lord's Day holy. He is not just talking about going to Mass on Sundays. The Lord's Day is reminiscent of God resting on the 7th day of creation, the Sabbath Day of rest. Thus on this day we are to rest from our worldly cares. It is a day of communion with God and each other. Father says that keeping the Lord's Day holy will foster relationships within the family and the community. And he believes one reason why America is in such serious decline is because it has ignored this simple truth.
 
For those who are drawn to the truth and want to grow holy and have the courage to sanctify the temporal order, you will find Father's 187-page survival guide informative and inspiring. Plus, it includes excellent references at the end of each chapter for those who want to do additional reading. If you are interested in purchasing Father's book, you can find it on his website - http://www.fatherjames.org.. 
 
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Michael Terheyden was born into a Catholic family, but that is not why he is a Catholic. He is a Catholic because he believes that truth is real, that it is beautiful and good, and that the fullness of truth is in the Catholic Church. However, he knows that God's grace operating throughout his life is the main reason he is a Catholic. He is greatly blessed to share his faith and his life with his beautiful wife, Dorothy. They have four grown children and three grandchildren.

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