Catholic Review of: Breakfast with Benedict: Daily Readings

Who wouldn’t benefit from a visit from the Holy Father each morning as they eat their eggs? Breakfast with Benedict is the perfect simple devotional to help the faithful get to know their vicar. The daily readings can be devoured in a minute, yet chewed upon all day long.

Excerpts are from a vast array of Pope Benedict XVI’s work, including his encyclicals God is Love and Called to Hope, addresses before the Angelus and general audiences at the Vatican, and messages for World Days for Youth, Peace, and more.

The topics are equally as varied, from why the Holy Father chose the name Benedict to the reality of sin in the world; reflections on faith, hope and charity to warnings of the new idolatry of success, fame, money and material goods.

I can’t imagine being worthy of critiquing Pope Benedict. One can only say that what the Holy Father writes, we in the pews ought to read. The editor of Breakfast with Benedict has done a marvelous job of making our leader’s words accessible and digestible.

A busy mother or a career-minded executive will equally appreciate the ease with which a lay person can read one page per day and gain so much knowledge about God. Any Christian who wishes to grow in faith should desire to learn from the best, and I highly recommend Pope Benedict XVI’s daily readings as a great place to take baby steps.

These 120 nuggets of thought could be read daily for about four months, but the book could also serve as a text for Lent or Advent. Once you read one page, it is hard to see the title of the next without seeing what it contains as well.

Some of my favorites include: Caring for Creation from a meeting with the U.S. Bishops; St. Lawrence and the Church Treasures from Deus Caritas Est; and The Characteristics of an Apostle from a September 2008 general audience. The opportunity to peek into so many parts of the Holy Father’s thinking and speaking is extraordinary and not one to pass up.

You can purchase this book here.