In these times of crisis and discussions on religion and liturgy, often limited to secondary aspects, this book, written with the realistic intelligence of living faith by a Catholic convert, is a refreshing and renewing document. It is a beautiful book, a book of great relevance and of lasting value; it is life and contemplation put into words, based on the truth of God’s gracious gift to us in his Church.

It recalls to us the very essence of the grace of being Catholic, as the author summarizes: “To be Catholic . . . is to live one’s whole life ‘in’ the gospel”, “to rest one’s case in the pierced hands of Jesus Christ the Savior”; “to think of oneself as having been adopted into ‘the whole family in heaven and earth’ as St. Paul teaches”, “to be profoundly conscious of one’s place in an immensely ancient tradition . . . that stretches back to the beginning”. It is to have been set free by Christ for “the Dance” called Charity—with its healing rules of renunciation, self-mastery, and virtue, and its fruits of freedom and joy, glimpsed in the Beatitudes. “The image of Christ. That is a very taxing assignment”, our configuration to Christ. “To be Catholic is to confront all of this in the presence of the Crucifix.”

The author first of all recalls the invisible depths of the divine mysteries present in the Holy Liturgy, above all in the Lord’s unique and everlasting Sacrifice, which unites heaven and earth in the Assembly of the Eucharist, Center of the life of the Church and of each of the faithful. To be Catholic is to live from this infinite love of the Lord Jesus Christ, inviting us to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood, and so to enter into a growing partaking of his divine life in the communion of the Most Holy Trinity, to live in this love and peace throughout all our daily life, “to the glory of God and the salvation of the world” (Liturgy of the Eucharist).

The reading of this precious little book, so truly Catholic, makes one rejoice greatly; one’s spirit is enlightened, and one’s heart is opened up in contemplating the everlasting presence to us of the overwhelming love of Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Trinity, which is the Truth and Life of the Catholic Church, and of being Catholic.

• Christoph Schönborn
  Archbishop of Vienna, Austria