|  |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Mary Dec 29, 2009
Once I started, I did not stop until I finished The Society of Judas.
I was intrigued with this novel on a very personal level. Father Charles Murr invited a group of us, Jesuit Volunteers - BTW, love the book's s.j.ish title - from Fordam University, to his Mexican orphanage. We lived and worked at Villa Francisco Xavier Orphanage and Rancho San Miguel the summer of 1990. It was a fabulous and unforgettable time. I got to know many of The Society's main characters well: el Padre (Murr), la Madre (Gianfranca Casadei), el Medico (Jorge Mejia) and his wife, Rocio, and the Ama de Casa, Lupita. As shocking as the story was, it did not totally shock me. The characters were as I remembered them: Padre Carlos, the most humorous philosopher (or was it the most philosophical humorist?) I even met Madre Gianfranca, a past-her-prime, Italian nun, whose dislike and disapproval of us (young, American women) was palpable; Doctor Jorge, a Don Juan we avoided like the plague after he attempted a gynacological exam on a co-volunteer whose ailment was a sprained ankel!); Lupita, the little old-lady housekeeper, who thought she was twelve. I also remember and recognized most of the kids, especially the law student, Alan, who was kidnapped and tortured by the sadistic Doctor Jorge Mejia.
No mistake about it: this is one collection of characters you will NOT find right out of central casting!
The Society Of Judas is amazing. It is erry to think that for one whole summer, I walked between so much good and so much evil.
Bravo, to C. Theodore Murr!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Blessings in obedience... Aug 01, 2009
I have just completed reading The Society of Judas. I will assume, until informed to the contrary, that what I read was 100% factual! As sobering and frightening as that statement is, it again points out that truth is stranger than fiction. It also points out vividly the difference between truth and reality. Padre Charlie's experiences were every bit real, but did they always reflect God's truth? Obviously not (we need to be careful not to use these two words interchangeably... they really are literally worlds apart).
I can not begin to comprehend the feelings and thoughts that betrayal of this magnitude could engender in a person. I became incensed at what I was reading, yet can not fully imagine what ran through Padre's mind and spirit experiencing it as he did. The "friendly-fire" aspect of the book is perhaps what I found most disturbing. Allegiance to God means little in the economy of some in the church. They will, at some point in the future, feel the wrath of an angry God. Did they once stop and think about the consequences of their actions and the absolutely damning effect they had on their ministry and eternal destiny, or the lives of others? How could anyone, knowing what they knew, conduct themselves in such a despicable manner?!
I closed the book believing that Padre Charlie realized as few do, the absolute necessity of being obedient to God. The blessing is in obedience, not the end result. If he had totally focused on the fruit of his labor, he would have focused on the wrong thing. These truths are real to Padre, not that his ministry was lacking in fruit... for everyone he mentored, counseled, blessed and prayed over, will go forth with some of his anointing. They will all carry a shred of his mantel. His effect on his children will manifest geometrically over time, for as he touched 100's, they in turn will go forth and touch 100's, and they will go and God will be glorified and his Kingdom enriched. You did good Padre...
I recently delivered a talk on affirmation... who do we look to for affirmation? In most cases we allow the world to affirm us. But as Padre Charlie has so graphically shown, the world is fickle, unstable, self focused, corrupt, deviant and sinful. Yet we allow this same world to define us. We even seek out its affirmation... frightening, but true. A question the reader MUST ask is who did Padre seek for affirmation? The reader ultimately realizes that the question in Padre Charlie's case is rhetoric, for I know it is God himself who has and will continue to affirm him.
Thank you, at so many different levels. I view you as a true man of God.
Allow me to close with a quote from the Apostle Paul..."having done all, simply stand."
Shalom,
Dr. John Tierno
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 The Society of Judas May 23, 2009
The book narrates the fascinating story of a catholic priest exiled in Mexico after entanglements with Vatican officials. The story is truly captivating and obviously strongly autobiographical. This latter point, in my opinion, is the only shortcoming of the book: the author himself is still too immersed in the narration, as if he was trying to come to terms with his own life. At certain points, the arrogance and self-righteousness of the author-protagonist is hard to bear for the reader, but, after all, the story speaks for itself.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
The Society of Judas Apr 28, 2009
It is a fascinating study of corruption in high and medium institutional levels of the Catholic Church. As a human institution, greed, envy, jealousy and basic uncontrolled selfishness grow amidst the Church making Fr. Charlie, the protagonist, a Christ like victim in his commitment to people and to God.
The novel is well written and offers a very objective view of how apparently good human beings can become Judas, traitors, when their passions turn them against a true friend.
I strongly recommend the book.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
COMPELLING! Apr 23, 2009
This is the story of a human being, a man and a holy priest of the Catholic Church....."Charlie", a gentle power. He seemed destined to pursue his studies in theology, possibly in the Diplomat Corp in Rome but is unexpectedly sent to Mexico. His saga begins and Charlie falls into the trappings of human needs and fraility (his own and others), foreign politics, church politics, priests, bishops, nuns, sex, murder, greed and deceit above and beyond human endurance. Charlie works tirelessly to establish and finance an orphanage (for shocking personal reasons) near Guadalajara but is met at every turn by the personal agenda of everyone he thought close to him. Every page of this book is full. The book is impossible to put down. This talented, extremely intelligent and witty author will surpise and may even overwhelm the reader. A MUST READ for anyone with a dream or had a friend. Murr must have many stories to tell and I hope to heavens he shares them again. Brilliant!
|
| | |
|
|
