A LIBRARIAN’S ORIENTATION
What this book explores
Catholic priest Ronald Rolheiser begins spirituality with human restlessness and desire, then connects that energy with incarnation, prayer, community, justice, sexuality, fidelity, and mortality. Rather than offering a technique, he asks how ordinary longing is gathered into a life and distinguishes spirituality from private intensity or unusual experience.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Why it’s in the Library
It gives travelers a broad Christian account of spirituality rooted in embodiment and daily commitment. The starting point in desire can help people who assume they lack a spiritual life because they do not feel devout or mystical. Its role is integrative Catholic formation, showing how prayer, relationship, service, and limits belong together without claiming that one vocational pattern fits everyone.
Good starting place if…
You want Christian spirituality explained through desire, embodiment, relationships, community, and fidelity rather than mystical experience alone.
Know before you begin…
Rolheiser writes from Catholic sacramental theology and celibate priestly formation. Some language about sexuality, gender, vocation, and church may not fit queer readers, survivors, or people whose belonging was made conditional. The book is reflective theology rather than clinical psychology, and its call to fidelity should never override safety, consent, or necessary departure.