The Mystery of Things, among other things, is an exploration of the effect of a full spectrum of Christian and Catholic beliefs on the lives of contemporary young people thirsting for meaning in an often violent and chaotic world. In a faith tradition as old as Christianity, and especially given its missionary calling to bring the “Good News” to the ends of the earth, it should not be surprising that a religion of over a billion and a half adherents, two-thirds of whom are baptized Catholics, should produce a “spectrum” of belief, which, though based on a single creed, nonetheless admits of a Joseph’s coat of theological orientations, vocations, communities, and spiritualities, a few of which prove over time to be dark. Jesus said as much when he told his disciples that they would be able to tell the light from the dark (or the “wheat” from the “chaff”) by way of their “fruits”. St. Paul, too, counseled the churches under his care to “test the spirits” when they were confronted by new situations or ideas or leaders.
Aspects of Catholicism explored in the novel include (click on the links for more information):
- the phenomenon of “Catholic cults” and their potential impact on individuals. (This theme is exemplified by the fictional group SANA, or “Student Apostolate of North America”)
- sex and “Theology of the Body” (coming)
- the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Christian Personalism and the ethics of “love” vs “use” (coming)
- “God is a God of human mediations” (coming)
- the “Culture of Death” (coming)
- Beauty in relation to Goodness and Truth (coming)
