As an occasional continuation of our series ‘Lockdown Reading’, this week we are publishing an appreciation of a book once very well known, but now neglected…
Seán Ryan
Literature can generally be broken down to two forms – the easy-reading form encompassing the popular chic-lit, page-turner form, which high brows mightn’t even concede to be literature; and the more thoughtful form, where every word needs to be read and sometimes re-read, in order to be sure you have grasped its full meaning.
Of the latter form, books of theology surely occupy a prime space, as they try to unravel in a human way, the mystery of God. In these days of lockdown and cocooning, a book on theology can make a good companion. After all, there are only so many newspaper articles you can read on Covid-19, but a good book of theology can be life-changing and a welcome companion in dark days.
Such is certainly the case with Dom Eugene Boylan’s book, This Tremendous Lover, which I first came across when a new edition was issued in paperback in the 1960s and still find myself referring to 60 years later.
Uplifting message
First published, as one of their first books by the Mercier Press in Cork in 1945, it was two decades old by the time I came on it. It was regarded even then as a great spiritual classic and it doesn’t disappoint, with its uplifting message about Christ’s love for each one of us.
When people speak of having a relationship with God, they sometimes forget that God, through Christ, already has an individual relationship with each one of us. It’s a fantastic thought, something so great and mysterious that it can make your head spin when you meditate on it.
For instance, take the issue of forgiveness and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I heard a priest explain one day that, even as a person takes their first step to repentance, Christ has already forgiven their sins.
Such is his relationship with us, that his eagerness takes over in those crucial matters. How sad, then, to see how few avail of this sacrament nowadays, denying Christ that intimate relationship which he craves.
It is in the Eucharist, of course, where we see Christ’s love for us in action in a special way. Dom Eugene’s message, which I have always regarded as the most profound thought I ever read, was that, no matter how much we might desire to receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, his desire to come to us is such that our human minds can’t even begin to comprehend it.
With God, love is not a group thing… no, it’s personal. His love for us is a personal love…”
To try to put some perspective on that, think of a time in your life when you felt so holy and full of love for your Saviour that you couldn’t wait to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist.
Then consider that his love for you – and his desire to come to you – is infinitely greater than that.
As a concept, it’s worthy of regular meditation – and still you won’t get near to a proper appreciation of it.
Personal love
With God, love is not a group thing (as, for example, the whole human race). No, it’s personal. His love for us is a personal love. Dom Eugene’s book is worth reading for that insight alone, but there are many more treasures to be found in its pages.
Now that you have the time to bring your full attention to it, This Tremendous Lover is a book worth keeping on your bedside locker. Its enlightened contents make a welcome antidote to the grim news in our daily newspapers.