God's Passionate Desire And Our Response

William Barry, SJ is a gifted spiritual writer in the Jesuit tradition. GOD'S PASSIONATE DESIRE AND OUR RESPONSE is one of his strongest works. This book, like Barry's other books, centers around the premise that people want to be in relationship with God, but God also wants to be in relationship with us. Doing the will of God for Barry is not simply doing what God asks of us, but our discovering God's will through discernment. We do not do God's will simply because we have to out of obedience, but rather because God's will is the deepest desire of our heart. The book is divided into seventeen chapters, and each chapter reads like a mini retreat talk or homily. While the chapters can be read individually, one seems to build upon another so it is best to read the book sequentially. The book starts with our basic relationship with God, our attraction to God as well as our resistance. The book delves briefly into a theology of God (Does God need us, what is our role in God's plan, etc.). The purpose of the theology is to help the reader think about God in both familiar and different ways. Finally the book concludes with what we do with our prayer and discernment, namely how we do God's will in our world. Barry is able to blend the spiritual and contemplative side of our lives and how this spiritual and contemplative side can lead us into action in our world.Perhaps the reason the reflections Fr. Barry offers in this book can be so helpful is due to his training as a Jesuit and his work as a spiritual director. The Jesuit tradition is evident in his writings, but his chapters also show both his own spiritual progress as well as the insights he has gained as a spiritual director helping others draw closer to God.

With this book, Father Barry helped me to come to a deeper understanding of God. However, I feel that if this book was taken a step further it would have been a lot more worth the read.