The Mystery of Christ and the Apostolate by F. X. Durwell (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 263 that a religious counselor should let his personal values be known while preserving the freedom of the client. The client seeks out a religious counselor because he has a set of values, and the counselor who hides his values does a disservice. His writings draw on Scripture, but its use is somewhat forced at times. Collins gives some consideration to spiritual counseling or direction. It is unfortunate that he did not incorporate some insights from masters of the spiritual life such as Francis de Sales and Theresa of Avila. Perhaps he will co-author a future volume in the series with a spiritual or ascetical theologian. Although Collins gives an occasional illustration from his pastoral practice, some church leaders may find his books too theoretical. It is hoped that future volumes will be enriched by case studies drawn from his pastoral experience and that of other church leaders. The outlines, summaries, and charts throughout both books are excellent for immediate understanding and future reference. Each chapter has a short annotated bibliography, and the general bibliography and indices in each volume are good. Man in Transition and Effective Counseling are very good as an introduction and overview and should be beneficial to the student or church leader with little background in pastoral counseling. It will be of limited value to either the experienced pastor or trained counselor who has kept abreast with the field. For Roman Catholic church leaders it may have the special value of introducing them to some writings which may not have been a part of their pastoral training. Oluater of Independent Theological Schools Washington, D. 0. WILLIAM J. NESSEL, O.S.F.S. The Mystery of Christ and the Apostolate. By F. X. DURWELL. London and New York: Sheed & Ward, 197Q. Pp. 190. $7.50. Among the most discussed problems in the post-Conciliar Church has been the question of the Church's apostolate and the role of those who are engaged in it. Durwell frankly states in the preface to this book that his interest is not to give a novel answer to the nature of this apostolate but to restate it in terms of the person of Jesus Christ: "union with Christ in his mystery of salvation." In Chapter One Durwell treats of the paradox of God's greatness and infinite power, emphasized in the Old Testament image of God and the 264 BOOK REVIEWS humility of God made visible in the paschal mystery of Christ. " In this image of God the divine being is expressed simultaneously by these two extremes: power and weakness, universal lordship and absolute humility." (p. 5) Throughout his earthly life, Jesus, in his self-giving, consummated in his death, reveals that the greatness of God is ever combined with a loving service of his creatures. From this great revelation of Christ, the Church receives its mission to love by giving one's life and, in this very giving, it lives anew. Participation in this apostolate demands today, as it has always demanded, a descent into " the glorifying death of Christ " where one receives God's saving power. In Chapter Two Durwell treats the relation between creation and redemption , human and Christian values. In his exegesis of Pauline theology he suggests " that the apostle knows the Son of God only by his intervention in the work of God, both creative and redemptive. In this sense he is the incomparable image and the first-born of creation both by his transcendence and by his immersion into our world." (p. 25) There is a cosmic role for Christ but the full subjection of criterion, while present in its source, must await the last day. Hence, there is only one plan which is both creative and redemptive. This unity of plan does not reduce the mission of the Church to a merely horizontal plane. The Church's apostolate is to announce to men the reality of Christ's redemptive death and to enable men to enter into that mystery by incorporation into Christ. In Chapter Three Durwell explains that a juridical theory of redemption fails to emphasize the full meaning of the glorification of Jesus in the Resurrection, the drawing of men...