I can’t believe we are halfway through the year aleady! If you are like me, once you get to this point, you realize that you aren’t exactly halfway through your list of reading goals. But it’s never too late to pick up the next book and keep going with your 2017 Catholic Reading Challenge. I’ve been sharing what I’m reading for each category throughout the year. 

Category: A Book by Scott Hahn

My Pick: Angels and Saints 

I listened to this book on Audible, and I love that Scott Hahn reads all of his own books. Not every author is great at reading his or her own books, but I enjoy listening to Hahn read his. The subtitle to this book is accurately descriptive: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God’s Holy Ones. Hahn is one of the most accessible theologians for explaining the biblical foundation for various aspects of Catholic tradition and theology, and this book is no exception to that. In fact that is one of the reasons a chose to put a book by him on the reading challenge for this year.

Some Highlights

Hahn shares the development of his relationship with the saints, along with a particularly moving story of miraculous healing while his family was visiting Assisi. Like most of us, especially converts, he came to an intellectual understanding of our relationship with the saints before personally experiencing the extent of what that relationship means.

Hahn also gives some wonderful biographical sketches of several prominent saints, including lots of interesting, but perhaps less well-known, details about their lives. Among these sketches of various saints he discusses our relationship with the Blessed Mother, describing in particular her role as Mother of the Church. Hahn traces the historical understanding of this role all the way back to the earliest church fathers, including Ambrose, Augustine, and Iranaeus (who was the disciple of St. Polycarp, who was the disciple of St. John the Apostle, to whom Jesus entrusted his mother.)

Finally, the weaving of scripture throughout the book helps the reader to construct a biblical understanding of the purpose of our relationships with the saints throughout history. We see a great compatibility between Church tradition and what we read in scripture. The book really emphasized to me that when we live in relationship with the saints it is harder to lose sight of our purpose on earth and our eternal destiny in heaven.

Other Books by Hahn

There are a couple of other books by Hahn that I have also read and would highly recommend: Rome Sweet Home and The Lamb’s Supper. There are several others that are still on my TBR list:

A Father Who Keeps His Promises

Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith

Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God

Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots

What book by Scott Hahn did you read for the #2017catholicreadingchallenge? If you are posting your pick on social media, remember to use the hashtag!