A Spirituality of Relationships

A Spirituality of Relationships
The Power of both/and
by Fr John Ryan
Preface by Jack Dominian

“With daring honesty and with hope for the future John Ryan offers his personal history as the ground within which to explore the systemic flaws within his beloved Church. It is his progress report on what he has discovered through his own struggles and his extraordinary exposure to many great people of learning and holiness that could be helpful to others.
Basically it is an attempt to add his voice to the call to restore love and life ahead of law and control at the centre of Church life and activity and to point to how things might begin to change as this is achieved. It is an appeal to open dialogue and consequent action among all who want to see their religious life bear fruit that will grow and flower.”

‘… be human, be flawed, be sinful and let me be with you’ says the Lord.

Fr John Ryan’s book is a fireside reflection on the getting of wisdom by one of the most influential priests of the post-Vatican II Australian Church. Essential to his vision of renewal has been the ministry of reconciliation in which the classic dilemma of Either/Or is re-examined as the paradox of Both/And. Eschewing both muscular spirituality and cheap grace, Fr Ryan offers a process of discernment by which, in Simone Weil’s image, truth is found in the place where opposites can sit together. There are more questions than answers in this part memoir, part apologia. It will both tantalize and frustrate, but the average reader will feel at home in the very human dilemmas and paradoxes experienced by Fr Ryan.

Fr Paul McCabe

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