Unlock Your Dreams: Charting a Course for a Brighter Future

Grandma Jay C: Inspiring

United States on Aug 26, 2023

ju: Great book and in good shape.

United States on Feb 24, 2023

Yaroslav Demkiv: I like hearing God's message. This book is for anyone who is a fan of Pope Francis. Worth the money.

United States on Feb 17, 2023

Amazon Customer: All leaders , in all institutions & businesses and at every level of society should take consideration of how providing dignity to all ‘peoples’, through availability of land, lodgings & labour will make our society a better place for everyone. Such labour can include protection of the environment.

United Kingdom on Jul 21, 2022

Alex: This was my book of choice for Lent 2022. I looked for inspiration and this book appeared from nowhere in my recommended list. Such a great read. Austin Ivereigh is a great writer. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a change in their life but not sure where to go next.

United Kingdom on Apr 12, 2022

greyowl: If ever a book could trigger a real, grassroots social revolution to set the world to rights, this is it. Pope Francis dares to see the world as it is. He then proposes to choose a path that is consistent with the message of the biblical Prophets and the Gospel. And finally he offers a way to act, with a view to turning on its head the indifferent, materialistic attitude to life that many of us in the West have hitherto nurtured. He dares to dream of a better future.
Pope Francis is not only a learned and wise prelate with a huge following. In this book, he also emerges as a humble, broad-minded, canny observer of both current events and prevailing attitudes. His message is clear and relevant for all people who are concerned about social issues.
Some quotes from the book bring out the message:
Rich and powerful elites currently run our so-called democracies. Francis opens the possibility of true change by emphasizing the worth and power of marginalized people. They form caring social groups, not motivated by personal profit or luxury but concerned for each other and the environment. As such, they have the potential to introduce a vibrant new social order.
Francis...

United Kingdom on May 19, 2021

cheapie pie: Historian Austen Ivereigh has written a brief exposition of Pope Francis's understanding of what Christians in today's world must prioritize. The book is divided into three major parts: To See, To Choose, and To Act. It will come as no surprise to those who follow Francis's papacy that to promote life and to respect creation that Christians must look beyond personal salvation alone and work for a social transformation that brings the Kingdom of God closer to fulfillment on earth. If readers have struggled to read through Francis's encyclicals, they will be delighted with the accessible presentation by Ivereigh, which is based on his conversations with the pope. This book is highly recommended and I have gifted copies to friends and family who used the book for their Lenten spiritual reading.

United States on May 07, 2021

J. T. Cooper: This is a book for our time. Simple and wise.

Pope Francis encourages us not to resent the disruption brought about by COVID19 but to recognise it as a time of sifting and purification. Life brings to us all these necessary periods of “stoppage” (indeed the Pope shares three examples of his own) from which we should aspire to emerge improved after a period of reflection and discernment.

Presented in three easy sections – A Time to See, A Time to Choose & A Time to Act – the book starts with a review of the pressing issues facing our world (climate change, pandemics, inequality, discrimination), continues with a discussion of the process of discernment the pandemic has allowed and finishes with some suggestions from the Pope about areas where the world might next choose to act.

The simplicity and brevity (160 pages) of this book belies the wisdom of the author. It is a quick, refreshing and uplifting read. Pope Francis reminds us “Where the danger is, also grows the saving power” (Holderling)

The Pope is obviously widely read and experienced. He uses passages of scripture and quotes from eminent philosophers and poets throughout the book...

United Kingdom on Mar 22, 2021

Kenneth L. Matheny: This is a book of hope. Pope Francis describes a better world that could emerge after the Pandemic. He concentrates on the core Catholic Social Teaching principles of solidarity, the preferential option for the poor, and the right (and duty) of all to contribute to the common good. To these core principles, the Holy Father adds his own emphases on the importance of dialogue and the necessity to get beyond the incendiary rhetoric of populist politics. The Holy Father points to recent synods as a very helpful example of dialogue that can lead to consensus on controversial issues. Pope Francis emphasizes that we need to focus on the example of Jesus in our politics and economics. We must start by standing in solidarity with those at the periphery of society. Indeed, the Holy Father states that the health of a society can be measured by how it treats those on the margins. I want to emphasize--this is very important--that this book is not a compilation of impossible goals that humans can never achieve. On the contrary, Pope Francis' blueprint for a just society and sane politics is well within our power to achieve; in fact, we have no choice but to embrace the Holy Father's vision of...

United States on Dec 31, 2020

Geoff Crocker: It’s very welcome that a major religious leader enters the fray and addresses real political, social, ecological, and economic issues. This is incarnate Christianity. Pope Francis lifts hope for a post-Covid radical re-think of our shared way of life, following Heidegger in quoting Friedrich Hölderlin ‘where the danger is, also grows the saving power’, (p6). He targets poverty and oppression, inequality, climate change, discrimination and exclusion.

His argument suffers from some inconsistencies. He welcomes dialogue, but often denounces others’ positions. He advocates women’s roles as economists and administrators, but not as priests (p62ff). He opposes abortion (p115), but doesn’t address the church’s own ruling against contraception, which condemns women in Latin America to multiple childbirth and poverty. He presents a dualism of oppressor and oppressed, where a closer truth is that everyone shows better and worse characteristics. He doesn’t consider whether the church’s ruling on celibacy contributes to sexual abuse. If the church won’t re-consider its own moral position, its call for others to do so is diminished.

Francis critiques...

United Kingdom on Dec 28, 2020