Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an Age of Anxiety

Award winner! Catholic Book Awards (Catholic Press Association) Spirituality (Hardcover edition won) “‘Let us begin again, for up to now we have done nothing.’ That enigmatic sense of beginning again at the end of life, at the end of an era, in the middle of so much failure, when you just want to rest and put the past behind you, that is the gift for reconstruction that we want to discover in this book. It makes Francis a man for all seasons….”-from Chapter Seven Richard Rohr is a modern prophet calling us to change our ways. Rohr paints a critical picture of the prevailing thought, culture and attitudes of the present-day West-which he calls “The Postmodern Opportunity”-including our cultural biases, our embrace of victimhood, our often fearful attitudes toward one another and toward the Church and religion in general. Rohr offers hope in introducing the Franciscan path of transformation, the “new way of being that would change the face of history.” Rohr describes how following Saint Francis’ way to forgiveness and love, and “owning the darkness,” can bring us out of the postmodern pit in which we find ourselves.