Contemplation and the Cross: A Catholic Introduction to the Spiritual Life - Softcover

Thomas Joseph White

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813238625 ISBN 13: 9780813238623

Publisher: The Catholic University of America Press, 2025

Synopsis

What are the aims of the Christian spiritual life and how can we deepen our life in Christ? What is the Catholic form of the spiritual life and what are its causes? This book serves as an introduction to Catholic spirituality by examining the mystery of Jesus Christ- His Crucifixion and His Resurrection- as the center of our spiritual life. The central argument of the book is that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus present us with the form or essence of the Christian spiritual life and orient us toward union with the Trinity as the final end or aim of human existence. The means of union with God through sacraments, the interior life of the theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity), and the virtue of religion are considered as vehicles by which we rejoin God in Christ. The effects of the Cross are considered in our life by a study of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The Virgin Mary is considered as a model of the spiritual life. What results is a Christ-centered spirituality that is sacramental and Marian, and that depicts the life of the Church living in contemplative charity as the basic expression of Catholic spirituality.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas Joseph White, OP, is Rector, Pontifical University of St. Thomas, Angelicum, and the author of Principles of Catholic Theology; The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God; The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism and The Incarnate Lord: A Thomistic Study of Christology.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Catholic University of America Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813238625
• ISBN 13: 9780813238623
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328