Essay Season

Yes. The season is upon us. Essay season. I'm making progress at least. My room looks like a library though, with at least a hundred books (not exagerating sadly) stacked up all over my floor. I lack shelf space. I was noticing though how there are several books on my floor that I really should take the time to read cover to cover. Unfortunately essay season doesn't accomodate for this.

Books on my floor that I wish I was reading right now instead of having to actually write the essays . . .

Called to Communion by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
God is Near Us by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Crossing the Threshold of Love by Mary Shivanandan
The Cleaving of Christendom (Volume 4) by William E. Carroll
True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Dr. Ludwig Ott

I've got all the Ratzinger stuff out right now because I was working on a paper for Philosophy on Pope Benedict XVI's newest encyclical and I needed secondary sources. Crossing the Threshold of Love is a book I bought over a year ago when I was studying the Theology of the Body but I haven't had the time to read it cover to cover yet. I stole, ummm... I mean, acquired, my dad's four volume set of The Cleaving of Christendom and am using the fourth volume right now for my essay on Jansenism for Christian History. The True Devotion to Mary is one of those personal spiritual reading books that I just haven't gotten around to yet. Finally, the Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma is just an all-round must have reference book and a good read for any Catholic student.

Now that's what I want to read off my bedroom floor. Unfortunately, I've got other stuff that I have to get through first. Such are the woes of a university student.

I handed in my Philosophy essay today. I'll hand in Ecumenical Dialogue tomorrow. I ended up writing on the 1982 Munich statement between Orthodox and Roman Catholics on "The Mystery of the Church and of the Eucharist in the Light of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity." Very interesting document. Orthodox-Roman Catholic dialogue is certainly a complex topic. Many dimensions. So much hope yet so many deep wounds as well.

After that I have to write a paper on Atala by Chateaubriand for French 18th-19th c. Literature. I also have a paper to write on polygamy in Africa for French World Literature. Still need to finish my Jansenism essay too.

On that note, I better get to work.

Thanks be to God that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.