Casey Cole is a Franciscan Monk, er... Friar, who first came on my radar for the Youtube video: Five Words a Christian Shouldn't Say. One of those words was "blessed" and in this short book, he explains how the word means something so much different from the way it is most commonly used by Christians (and non) in our day.

In just over a hundred pages, Fr Cole walks us through each of the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5 with a devotional style that is simultaneously simple, profound, and challenging. You could probably read this book cover to cover in a couple of hours, but I strongly suggest you don't. Instead, tackle a chapter a day (or week) and let stir up your soul toward God and away from the narcissism that is so prevalent in our world today.

Some quotables:
"Everywhere I look, I see people highly passionate about a particular issue, lifestyle, or belief system, while at the same time extremely sensitive and easily triggered. The mere mention of someone's name can be enough to set some people off and derail a conversation... I don't think it is said enough today, but we have much more control over how we feel and, perhaps more important, how we respond to our feelings than we often acknowledge... for most of us, there is no intrinsic reason that we <i>must</i> feel angry and even less reason to accept that we need to keep feeling angry... We can, and really must, take control of our emotional lives... we must remind ourselves that we have agency in the matter. However limited, we still have choices about how we respond."

"As much as we like to think of ourselves as self-made individuals, that we've earned everything we have accomplished through hard work and determination, this is never the case. Not even close. Our very existence is a gift from God and a reminder of his promise to be faithful to us."

"I cannot simply believe that anyone chooses evil as an end in itself. They choose evil, not because it brings them happiness or fulfillment, but because they have a distorted sense of the good... This is not to let people off the hook for their evil deeds or to suggest that good intentions make up for hurting others. Rather, it is a reminder that people are complicated. Even evildoers might be victims in need of help."

This was the perfect read for Lent. The writing was truly sincere and the author's love for other people shone through the book. I really appreciated the reflection questions at the end of every chapter and suggestions for how to live the Beatitude values. The author combines his experience as a faith leader with Scirpture and practical advice about how to embody Beatitude values. I also truly appreciated how this book avoided political, black and white thinking or an us vs them mentality. This Lent season has been particularly hard for me and this book really resonated with me because of it. I would definitely recommend this to any Christian looking for a practical way to deepen their faith and live their values. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful, significant and meaningful book. How can we take to words of Jesus and use them to strive towards healing ourselves and our troubled world. Challenging, yes, but the things that pull us away from our egos and the voices of the world are always going to be challenging. But this book will help guide you towards a better way of being.

Using The Sermon on the Mount from the gospel of Matthew, Casey Cole addresses many of the social issues of today. The only thing that will truly change people and thus change our world is love. We tend to look at what is wrong and blame or get angry, instead Cole advocates we approach with sorrow for what needs to be righted. Social justice and radical change are advocated. If we live in despair or with total apathy, we change nothing and just add to the problems of the world rather than sharing the hope of Christ. An uplifting message in a defeatist world.

The Question:

What if we looked at the things we see wrong in the world with empathy, dug below the surface of people’s disappointing actions to experience their pain, and understood hurtful words as a cry for consolation? What if we responded with sorrow instead of outrage, and love instead of hate?

The Promise:

If we could do all that, we’d be living as Jesus taught us in the Beatitudes.


The Expectation (mine after reading the promise, etc):

I chose this book because I love the beatitudes and wanted to see a fresh perspective. A friar wrote this one & I thought this would be an excellent perspective. This book exceeded my expectations.

This book is for: Anyone with a desire to walk a closer walk with God through acts of intentional poverty or gain the perspective and insight from someone who has.


Favorite/Summary Quote:

Entry into the Kingdom isn’t granted based on the status of one’s bank account, but by the wholehearted commitment to God’s love.

What I connected with:

This was a gentle, loving. & comforting read. It’s eye opening to revisit the beatitudes during the course of a pandemic and an angry world. This was such an easy, flowing read. I felt at ease in a comforting presence of the Holy Spirit as I read through this one.

Each chapter was dedicated to a beatitude & provided real life observation as well as strategy grounded in Scripture to invite in each beatitude attribute.

I absolutely enjoyed and transformed through the reflection questions at the end of each chapter.

The real world observations & the experiences of life as a friar gave this particular read on the beatitudes authenticity & depth that was easy to follow & grasp even though I personally don’t live from the poverty perspective. The author did an amazing job at making the content both relatable and relevant to today’s world.


What I Struggled With:

Normally, this is where I insert an aspect of the book that I struggled with but there was nothing about this book that I struggled with except for the challenge it is to my soul with choosing to life a life that embraces the beatitudes vs what I have grown comfortable with in the eyes of the world.


What I learned:

The approach of intentional poverty. .. I’ve never been challenged to choose to live in a facet of poverty before. He gave the example of in spite of owning his own car, for a year he took public transportation to and from his classes. I don’t know that I’m ready to do this, but it’s given me a lot to consider… be closer to poverty than entitlement.


How I was transformed:

Be extremely mindful of the fact that others have different perspectives than I do from my own experience and how that isn’t the best thing. That to strive to embrace the beatitudes into my lifestyle … will mean choosing a life less comfortable and contradictory to what the world throws up as being successful or worthy etc. and that Jesus in His time on earth lived an example of every one of these attributes.

I will recommend this to friends and family (I already have). I definitely want a hard copy of this book!

The Way of Beatitude: Living Radical Hope in a world of Division and Despair is the perfect book for our soul-weary times. Author Casey Cole, OFM provides us with "a path to true blessedness."

As the Introduction states, "For Jesus, there is something about poverty, mourning, meekness, hunger, mercy, purity, peace, and persecution that not only prepares one for the future reality of the kingdom of heaven, but makes one blessed in the here and now."

The Beatitudes are, indeed, a prescription for hope in our difficult times. Through compelling personal examples, Cole offers readers a highly relatable guidebook for navigating the sometimes troubled waters of life.

Through Cole's expert spiritual guidance, we can indeed find the spiritual life we are thirsting for.