The Interior Carmel

In this Jubilee Year of Hope, we are encouraged to explore many pilgrimage opportunities, not only in Rome, but across our local dioceses and communities. Scholar and Author John Wu invites readers of The Interior Carmel to consider how our time on earth itself is a pilgrimage, and how each soul innately yearns for its true destiny: heaven. Through reflections on the beatitudes and insights drawn from Christian asceticism and Chinese luminaries, Dr. Wu entices readers to experience the joy of discovery and confront the inherent challenges of every spiritual journey. -✠ Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archdiocese of San Francisco John C. H. Wu's quiet and mystical genius will inspire and energize all those interested in the spiritual life and those dedicated to building friendship and mutual understanding between the people of China and the people of the U.S. -Fr. Hugh O'Donnell, C.M., the US-China Catholic Association The Interior Carmel is for Christians who are searching and contemplating the Blessed Trinity in the innermost depth of their being. This book gives peace, joy and clarity to the ones who are steeped in the learnings of the East and West and are living in life of the Spirit. -Cristoforo Josemaria C.S. Tou, Former Ambassador to the Holy See of Republic of China The eminent Chinese Catholic John C. H. Wu has bequeathed us a modern masterpiece on the nature and process of the Christian spiritual life. This work is not only a product of great learning but also the fruit of a holy life. -Huili (Kathy) Stout, Ph.D., University of Dayton This book is not merely a treatise on Christian spirituality; it is the living witness of an extraordinary man whose soul was transfigured by the boundless love of God, enriched by the profound wisdom of the East. Let us walk with John Wu along this radiant path of love. -Fr. Emanuele Angiola, Ph.D., Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei John C. H. Wu, a Chinese layman and a convert to Catholicism, brings his Chinese cultural inheritance to deepen his spiritual growth into the full stature of Christ. Rooted in the Word of God, this book shows the beauty of the lay vocation and invites us to see holiness as the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life. -Lucy Tongxin Lu, Ph.D., Crusaders of Mary In this one-of-a kind spiritual classic, John C. H. Wu turns our perspective on the seemingly abstract and distant goal of spiritual perfection, or purity of heart, from one that seems bitter and burdensome, and therefore both unattainable and undesirable, to one that perceives the heights of sweetness that come, in stages, from nearness to God, the One who loves us and whom we truly desire. Furthermore, he shows that some ancient Chinese masters and mystics spoke of an analogous journey, such as Confucius's path of aligning one's will to the will of Heaven over the course of a lifetime. In these pages we can see that God has always been stirring the hearts of those in the East as well as the West, and that Christ, the fulfillment of all human love and desire, belongs to all cultures. It is no wonder that one friend, an Asian and a deeply spiritual Catholic, remarked that this is the first book of Catholic spirituality that spoke to her deeply as an Asian person. The reprinting of this book now in our noisy and distracted time is nothing short of glorious. May it be a seed that (to use an idiom Wu himself used seven times in his Chinese translation of the New Testament, 暢茂條達 chang mao tiao da) flourishes and bears abundant fruit. -John A. Lindblom, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of the Practice at the McGrath Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame