Searching for answers

Young familes struggle today with many responsibilities. Life seems to constantly be getting more and more busy, and we sometimes long for an oasis where we can stop, refocus our energies and then move on with new enthusiasm.

In the realm of faith, many Roman Catholics today seek answers to deep-seated questions - about faith, about morals, about life in general. Where do we look for answers?

One place to start is with the writings of our current Holy Father. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI is a widely published individual. His works are simple, to the point and should prove to be illuminating as the starting point for growing in faith. Let's start then with one of his more recent works.

In 2004, he published a small volume entitled Werte in Zeiten des Umbruchs: Die Herausforderungen der Zukunft bestehen (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2004). English-language editions of this work were published by Crossroad Publishing Company and Ignatius Press (2006) and are known under the title Values in a Time of Upheaval.

Crossroad edition
ISBN 10: 0-8245-2373-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-8245-2373-2

Ignatius Press edition
ISBN 13: 98-1-58617-140-7
ISBN 10: 1-5861-140-2

In this book, the Holy Father offers a coherent vision of the Christian faith and its place in a world of competing values and ideas. As a theologian, university professor, archbishop, cardinal, and now pope, Benedict XVI has contemplated the major issues of modern life and he has sought to understand how faith and human reason can work together to address those issues.

Topics covered include:

• Politics and morality
• peace
• the meaning of history
• truth in a pluralistic world
• the moral basis of democratic states
• relativism
• human dignity
• the Christian basis for hope
• bioethics
• freedom
• human rights and responsibilities
• marriage and family
• tradition and progress

Interested in discussing this book? Tune in to future posts on this blog. Feel free to post comments about this or any other topic as well.