2025 Catholic Media Association First Place Award, Grief and Bereavement
2025 Catholic Media Association Second Place Award, Memoir
Deeply spiritual and personal reflections from distinguished theologian Richard R. Gaillardetz.
Diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, theologian Dr. Richard R. Gaillardetz started sharing his thoughts and reflections on CaringBridge and signed off each entry with the Latin phrase "dum spiro, spero" ("While I breathe, I hope"). In his chronologically compiled essays, Rick moves through his final season of life seeking insight from his Christian faith, while discovering new meaning in the signs and symbols that mark familiar liturgical seasons and celebrations. He explores fears and doubts, joys and sufferings, and the graces and blessings he encounters along his final journey. With shots of humor, a few sports analogies, and a sprinkling of quotes from Karl Rahner, Rick offers wisdom for all in his poignant exploration of what it means to be a person of faith, entering the paschal mystery, ever hopeful for the life to come.
Table of Contents:
Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xv
The Cancer Journey Begins 1
Into the Heart of the Paschal Mystery 7
Facing a Terminal Diagnosis 11
Cancer, Theodicy, and the Mystery of Divine Providence 15
Gratitude 23
The Blessings and Vexations of Embodiment 31
Marking Time 37
How to Inhabit Time 43
Praying My Way into Advent 55
Christmas and Epiphany: Seeking the Christ Child 73
The Logistics of Dying 79
A Difficult Remembrance 85
Notes from a Caribbean Cruise 93
The Consolations of Married Life While Grappling with Cancer 101
Death, the Clinging Ego, and . . . Purgatory? 107
The Interplay of Grief and Gratitude 115
Friendship 121
The Church 133
True Christian Hope and the Dark Night 145
Giving Away My Death 155
I’m Not Dead Yet! 167
From Christian Baptism to the Christian Funeral 175
The Consoling, Grace-filled Power of Music 185
A Meal Befitting the Children of God 195
O Love, I Rest My Weary Soul in Thee 203
Epilogue 209
About the Author :
Richard R. Gaillardetz (1958-2023), held the Joseph Chair of Catholic Systematic Theology at Boston College. He published numerous articles and authored or edited twelve books, including An Unfinished Council: Vatican II, Pope Francis, and the Renewal of Catholicism and Keys to the Council: Unlocking the Teaching of Vatican II (co-authored with Catherine Clifford), both published by Liturgical Press. He was a contributor to Give Us This Day. Gaillardetz was a delegate on the US Catholic-Methodist Ecumenical Dialogue and served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America between 2013 and 2014.
Review :
“Rick did not write because he was directed to do so by another. He wrote as a free act of love, opening the door of his mind and heart, offering insight to all of us living in the shadow of death, preparing us to make passage through dying and death to the new life for which we hope.”
from Foreword by Michael Downey
"With pastoral sensitivity, Gaillardetz reminds us that what we often need is 'the promise that we do not suffer alone.' This is a wise and moving final work that abounds with gratitude for life."
The Christian Century
"Richard Gaillardetz's final book is an extraordinary gift to the Church. This book will inspire all readers because it intensely connects us to that same hope that overcomes suffering."
Catholic Books Review
"I wholeheartedly recommend this book, and I also hope that many of us will benefit from its wisdom."
Irish Theological Quarterly
“A brilliantly written and intimate portrait of Christian hope in the face of terminal illness. A must-read for all those who will, or care for those who are, dying.”
“Gaillardez walks the reader through his final months with a terminal diagnosis, revealing the heart of a theologian who spent his life getting to know God. It was an honor to read his words, which seemed drenched with holiness.”
Catholic Media Association
"Authors like Atul Gawande, Abraham Nussbaum, and Victoria Sweet have called for a renewed art of dying to meet our cultural despair. Here, Gaillardetz accomplishes more than a personal ars moriendi. By showing us transfiguration is possible, he calls us to follow him and the risen Lord into a new humanity."
Worship
