A Retreat for Lay People

Book excerpt: The laity-in the words of Lumen gentium-live in "the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of existence is woven." Where in that web is there room for anything resembling a retreat? Is a retreat for lay people practical, let alone possible? In these two dozen conferences, Monsignor Ronald Knox answers these questions resoundingly in the affirmative, addressing the foundations of the Christian life, the sacraments, and the virtues; the life and death of our Blessed Lord; and the practical needs and problems of the everyday, and their amelioration in the believer's relationship with God. For the laity are not intended for some mean state of mediocrity, of "just about good enough," in the spiritual life. On the contrary, they are meant to strive for perfection-to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect, gladly taking up their crosses and running down the way of love after their Lord Jesus Christ. On par with Knox's retreats for priests and his "In Slow Motion" volumes, the Holy Spirit-enlivened preaching of A Retreat for Lay People is certain to illuminate the heart's darkness and stir the soul's dullness with the fiery breath of hope.