What's in it for me? What's the takeaway? Susan Muto challenges us to turn away from the cultural impulse toward me-centeredness. By word and deed, Jesus teaches us not to place ourselves at the center of anything. Muto maps out the factors that work against our being one in the Lord - both egotism and self-criticism, the demands of modern worklife, technology's propensity to isolate us from one another, our preconceptions about the right way to proceed, and the difficulty of forgiveness.
She proposes intentionally orienting ourselves toward communion with God and others. Muto offers practical suggestions for how to discover the freedom of starting again when we've forgotten to begin each day looking for ways to 'love first' and to seek God's will in each daily action. Reflection questions after each chapter make the book perfect for sharing the journey toward communion in a parish or formation program.
"This is a lovely book with 32 short chapters that are each only a couple of pages long. Indeed I would even go so far as to call them contemplations, on being Christian and living that faith out, being part of the Christian Community as individuals, and facing ourselves in light of our faith an in reference to those around us. These are not shallow reflections, and the language used is not simple but challenging and deeply penetrating and reflective at its core. This is a book of real depth and enquiry and is beautiful for this. At the end of every chapter are a few questions for reflection--however they could also be questions for discussions, and this whole book would make for a really deep group study too. Personally I am going to re-use this book as a month long personal study because just reading it once straight through was not enough, and there is much here to take time over indeed.
The Good Book Stall Review,
March 2014
Critique Of special note are the 'Questions for Reflections' that conclude each individual chapter, making "One in the Lord: Living Our Call to Christian Community" a thoughtfully inspiring and highly recommended read that is especially recommended to any and every Christian seeking to live a faith-based life within their spiritual community.
The Midwest Book Review,
"Small Press Bookwatch", November 2013 "Dr. Muto nails the daily obstacles to living a faith-filled life in Christian community and invites readers to continue to take up the challenge. I will definitely use this resource for retreats and highly recommend it for parishes & small groups."
Sr. Sharon Richardt, D.C., Ph.D. Director, Mater Dei Retreat and Spirituality Center "Muto gives us clear guides for the formation, reformation and transformation that leads us to a Gospel life, centered in Christ and grounded in Christian community. This book is tremendous for personal reflection and as a tool for small group study and discussion. Any intentional community would benefit very much from reading it."
Mary Kay Lacke,
Former Dean of Evangelization at Franciscan University of Steubenville "As Novice Master, I have found essential formative elements for living in community in this book and have begun, with success, to implement the ideas as I introduce new postulants to the Benedictine understanding of Community."
Fr. Kenneth Katricak, O.S.B., Director of Formation, St. Andrew Abbey, Cleveland OH "Susan Muto's heart is so united to the heart of Jesus - One in the Lord - that she can teach us much about the love in His heart for us."
Fr. Ronald Lengwin,
Vicar General, Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh
