Imitation of Christ or My Way of Life

[eschator83]

For many months I've found myself shifting between these two books, but not making much progress in either.  I'd be very grateful for comments on which of the two you prefer, and especially whether you feel one or the other is more in keeping with Church teaching and Jesus' Word.  Also, your comment on whether you recommend either or both to others, and at what age you would encourage young Catholics to read them.
Hopefully you might also consider commenting on what you feel are the most important teachings of the two.  Many thanks.

[Shin]

I had not heard of 'My Way of Life'?

The Imitation of Christ is simply priceless!

[odhiambo]

I too have not heard of "My Way of Life".
Who is the author? and what is the subject of the book in a nutshell?
I have a copy of the Imitation of Christ. I have also given out a few copies.
I have not read the book from cover to cover; I have in fact read only a few chapters so far
and just marvel how blessed  Father Thomas Kempis must be to have written such a beautiful and inspiring book. 

[eschator83]

The essence of both books is to answer the questions: What is our Catholic Faith and What is the Catholic Way of Life?  In a way they are shorter Catechisms.  Both are very highly regarded by many Catholic leaders.  A quick web search will tell much about both books, but I hope the following comments will be helpful.
My Way of Life is a contemporary English (1952) summary of the teachings of the Summa Theologica of St Thomas Aquinas, begun by Walter Farrell, OP, STM (Master of Sacred Theology), who died after completing the first part, and finished by Martin Healey, STD.  There is irony that the Summa was unfinished at St Thomas' death in 1225.  I received my copy from a priest in our parish during or shortly after RCIA.
There is also irony that Imitation comes from approximately the same time period, apparently written by Gerard Groote but unpublished at the time of his death in 1384.  He was a deacon and founder of the Brethren of the Common Life at Zwolle, but deprived of his licence to preach, which is reportedly the reason Thomas a Kempis edited and published the document. (see J McSorley, History of Catholic Church).

[odhiambo]

Thank you eschator83.

[eschator83]

I pray that we and other readers will be encouraged to finish reading these books, and consider the comparison, even if some passages are difficult.  I suppose each of us must seek our own, unique path to communion with the Divine Trinity.

[eschator83]

Please forgive my repeating this request in a separate post.  I didn't think I could find this one, and I certainly don't want to be pushy or stubborn.

[Benedict]

I have read a little of the Imitation of Christ, and what I have read was profoundly humbling.

[eschator83]

I have the Imitation book, but not with me here at camp.  I was given both Imitation and MWL at the same time by a retiring priest, and I started separate notebooks to encourage me to read both of them.  The writing style of MKL seemed more clear, and the authority of St Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica seemed more certain than the apparently unclear authorship of Imitation.
I was hoping to start discussion of the concepts of soul and conscience, as well as predestination, using MWL.  As soon as I can I will review these in Imitation.  Do you have other issues in Imitation you'd like to discuss?

[Benedict]

I have the Imitation book, but not with me here at camp.  I was given both Imitation and MWL at the same time by a retiring priest, and I started separate notebooks to encourage me to read both of them.  The writing style of MKL seemed more clear, and the authority of St Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica seemed more certain than the apparently unclear authorship of Imitation.
I was hoping to start discussion of the concepts of soul and conscience, as well as predestination, using MWL.  As soon as I can I will review these in Imitation.  Do you have other issues in Imitation you'd like to discuss?

The Imitation of Christ or just The Imitation was written by Thomas A. Kemp, a priest and monk living under a religious Order, "At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done." — The Imitation of Christ, Book I, ch. 3
The Imitation is considered a "spiritual" work not a theological work. The Imitation of Christ is a guide for religious and lay people to adopt a sense of radical humility and good works.

So I read bought My Way of Life published by the Confraternity of the Precious Blood it's subtitle is "Pocket Edition of St Thomas" "The Summa Simplified for Everyone" By Walter Farrell, O.P., S.T.M who lived 1902-1951 49 years on this earth 7 cycles of 7 years.

The MWL is a book written by Walter Ferrel, writer of Companion to the Summa "The mansions of hell, no less than the mansions of heaven, are not makeshift shacks thrown up after the darkness of death has come down upon life. Both are built slowly, carefully, stone by stone, through all the abundant moments that measure the length of a man's life. A man does not achieve hell by a last minute quirk of divine judgment, but when he embraces sin; a man does not win heaven when God embraces Him eternally but when he embraces God despite the alluring promises of all that is contrary to God. Heaven or hell, in other words, never comes as a shock; it is the harvest that was planted so long ago, watched, cultivated, defended and now reaped in all its fullness. It is the house at the end of the road that could lead nowhere else. In the case of heaven, it is home; and all along the road there were signs marking the path, help proferred to pilgrims, and directions to be had for the asking. Arriving there, man has come home to the God Who made him." From Walter Farrell, OP., "Companion to the Summa", Chapter XX -- Eternal Beginnings.
MWL is  lay-person theological summary of Christian Dogma as systematize by famous speculative and systematic scholastic theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas, Dominican friar and priest, Doctor of the Church, entitled Common Doctor or Angelic Doctor.

In My Way of Life Fathers Walter Farrell and Martin J. Healy champion a brilliant summation of the Thomistic doctrines that offers the reader an encounter with wisdom and the use of that wisdom in understanding and knowing our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.

My Way of Life presents small, concise portions of the Summa in a manageable format. This work will allow the reader to consider some of the highest thoughts of one of history’s greatest minds and apply them to the modern world, including:

• The Oneness of God
• The nature of Angels (p. 63)
• The hierarchy of angels, demons, and humans (p. 121)
• Man’s disposition to pursue happiness
• The Divine Life in man
• The Incarnation Jesus and its ramifications (p. 443)
• The Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell)

With My Way of Life the timelessness of the Summa is now accessible to all. In a world that seems to simultaneously advance in some areas and regress in others, the Summa Theologica powerfully reminds the reader that by definition, the true, and the good, and the beautiful never change.