The Gift of Peace: Personal Reflections

by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin

Hardcover, 1997

Barcode

2111

Call number

282.092 BER

Status

Available

Call number

282.092 BER

Pages

153

Description

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin's gentle leadership throughout his life of ministerial service had made him an internationally beloved figure, but the words he left behind about his final journey would change the lives of many more people from all faiths, from all backgrounds, and from all over the world. In the last two months of his life, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin made it his ultimate mission to share his personal reflections and insights as a legacy to those he left behind.  The Gift of Peace reveals the Cardinal's spiritual growth amid a string of traumatic events: a false accusation of sexual abuse; reconciliation a year later with his accuser, who had earlier recanted the charges; a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and surgery; the return of cancer, now in his liver; his decision to discontinue chemotherapy and live his remaining days as fully as possible.  In these pages, Bernardin tells his story openly and honestly, and shares the profound peace he came to at the end of his life.  He accepted his peace as a gift from God, and he in turn now shares that gift with the world.… (more)

Publication

Loyola Press (1997), Edition: 1st, 153 pages

Original publication date

1997

ISBN

0829409556 / 9780829409550

Rating

½ (27 ratings; 3.8)

User reviews

LibraryThing member JosephCamilleri
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin completed this book just a few weeks before succumbing to cancer. It is a short but intimate account of the final two years of his life, years marked by emotional and physical suffering. The challenging road began with a false claim of sexual abuse (later recanted by the
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accuser), followed by a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer which would eventually lead to the Cardinal's death.

This could easily have been a bitter book or, if not, one marked by bleakness and/or self-pity. True to its title, however, this short publication exudes a sense of peace, the peace of a man of faith and prayer who whilst appreciating the good things in life accepts approaching death with serenity.

For obvious reasons, the book will appeal primarily to Christians, Catholics in particular. However, it contains vital life lessons for anybody, not least the importance of dedicating quality time to our dearest ones, whether family or friends, while we are still in time to do it.

I read this in a Maltese translation prepared by Francesco Pio Attard.
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