Living the Good Life: What Every Catholic Needs to Know about Moral Issues

This book is recommended by Janet Smith, but only costs about $10 from Servant Publications at the time of this review for some reason it's listed at over 200.

Dr. Lowery was my professor for three courses during my studies at the U. Dallas. The courses were Christian Anthropology, Moral Theology, and Cahtolic Social Thought. We learned an immense amount of information because Dr. Lowery was brilliant in his ability to articulate the information. He is very orthodox and all of his teaching was right in line with the Magesterium. This book is an excellent compilation of those courses. He breaks down the material from Veritatis Splendo (The Splendor of the Truth) and other sources and explains them at a high school/undergraduate college level. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand the Church's teaching on morality or for teachers looking for a text book that has substance and an appropriate reading level without being dummed down the way most high school religion texts are.

Dr. Lowery has done what few Catholic authors in his field have done. He has provided his readers with an accessible, understandable and readable introduction to the Church's moral life. It is apparent that he has a great grasp on the Church's moral theology, but what makes his book excellent is that he is able to take reasonably difficult moral principles and teach them in a way that every Catholic can understand and digest them. Peppered with many examples and diagrams the book is short, but full of nuggets of information that help the reader understand difficult concepts. He widely uses the Church's authoritative documents, none more than the Pope's encyclical, Veritatis Splendor. Lowery also takes on erroneous theories in moral theology, but without falling into the trap of ad hominem. His criticisms are kind and yet firm, which is a reflection of the quality seen throughout the book This is a valuable book that can clear up many misunderstandings of what the Church teaches and why in regards to morality.