OUR GREATEST GIFT A Meditation on Dying and Caring

The Franciscan priest, professor, and scholar spent his last 10 years as pastor of a community for mentally handicapped people. Reflecting on deaths there and elsewhere, his 1994 book explores two ideas--that death can be a welcome return to our spiritual source and that impending death offers us opportunities for intense and heartfelt love. "Death leads to new life," he says, because it gives us a chance to express gentleness and kindness toward others. Narrated respectfully but unremarkably, the down-to-earth writing will mobilize our love for the least among us and help listeners embrace the realities of death in a humble and spiritual way. T.W. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 05]