Religion and Spirituality

The Jesus Spy

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Is Jesus the Nazarene preaching peace or revolution? Pontius Pilate wants Musan Deleig, his spymaster in Roman-occupied Judea, to find out. As Deleig tracks this challenging and captivating figure, he becomes enmeshed in a complex web of power struggles that threaten to destroy them both.

This compelling novel offers a vivid account of the Jesus story, with a rich cast of historical and fictional characters. Deleig’s Zoroastrian belief in a single God makes him an outsider in the pantheistic Roman Empire. So, he is a compassionate if impartial observer of Jesus’ preaching, trial and crucifixion. But the spymaster increasingly finds himself torn between his obligations to Rome and his moral duty as events conspire toward the inevitable outcome.

Read an extract from Chapter 14 on Issuu.com.

Review: I read “The Jesus Spy” with rapt attention and the greatest of pleasure. Jones is a writer of outstanding ability and fluency; the book is difficult to put down. Jones’s knowledge of the times and places of his story is most impressive, and the reader feels that he is THERE. His characters have a commendable reality – well-rounded and believable. Most important, Jones knows how to tell a story, a skill too little seen these days. This is a new take on an old, oft-told tale, with variety and freshness, and a wonderful surprise ending. Highly recommended. – William Bettridge, Amazon.com review

Review: What a marvelous read, filled with great characters, action, suspense, history, wit, and a surprising, satisfying ending. Musan is a Biblical James Bond, with his varied talents and skills, shrewd decision-making, and beautiful love interest. You’ll never read a more interesting novel that explores the “murder” of Jesus. – Cheryl Bubier, Amazon.com review

Review: Outstanding historical novel of the rulers and politics behind the life and death of Jesus. The writing is taut and the details of the times are outstanding. I would highly recommend this historical novel. – S. Ward, Amazon.com review

Review: Facts and fiction are woven into this fascinating novel by Arthur Jones. His knowledge of geography and first-century politics in the church and Roman government made the characters come alive. I was compelled to finish the book even though I knew the outcome. – Mary S., Amazon.com review

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An ‘Ecology Advent’ Based on Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Sí: An Aid to Meditation

A response to Pope Francis’ ecology encyclical, Laudato Sí (2015), this booklet provides daily reflections for the four weeks of Advent. Each week offers a different way to meditate on a similar set of topics.

A meditation is not a course of study. It does not involve memorizing or learning. Rather, what we read should help prompt us in the direction that our heart and soul and mind want to go and as a consequence have the spirit develop to lead us.

The first three weeks focus on the difficult issues surrounding the planet’s ecology and environment. The fourth week, following the encyclical’s pattern, eases to a calmer and more comforting – though still challenging – Christian appraisal. In doing so, it flows easily towards Advent’s hopeful anticipation.

This aid to meditation was written for the community of St. Vincent de Paul Church, Baltimore. In 2019, the National Catholic Reporter published it as the five-part series Advent Mediations on Laudato Sí (free to read online):

Mary, A Mother Waiting: Raising the Messiah

Mary was the only person Jesus knew who had been called and “touched” by God as he himself had been. This original and insightful book, written in blank verse, provides compelling new insights to Mary’s role in Jesus’ growth and formation. It explores how Mary’s understanding of Jesus’ call shaped, in great measure, his development and preparation for his ministry.

Anyone who seeks deeper insights into the unique person who was Jesus’ mother will be intrigued by Mary, A Mother Waiting. Questions for individual or group use further draw the reader into this story and into reflecting on its wider implications.

Review: “Mary, A Mother Waiting draws us imaginatively into the time, place, and culture in which Jesus and Mary lived, and in which the reader – wondrously – lives for a little while. It is dynamic, full of surprises, and finally full of grace. Not only as Jesus and Mary revealed in a unique way, so are we, the readers.” — Dolores Leckey, author of The Laity and Christian Education (Rediscovering Vatican II series)

Review: “Haunting and humorous, Mary, A Mother Waiting allows us to see the mother of Jesus in all her humanity. This beautifully written tribute to the girl who accepted the challenge of an angel and grew into the woman who could command God gives us a new perspective on Mary as she playfully enjoys life with her son, even as she anticipates the future she knows neither of them can escape.” — Cokie Roberts, author of We Are Our Mother’s Daughters

Notre Dame Magazine, August 2003, cover — Notre Dame Magazine’s August 2003 issue: cover illustration by Ken Orvidas

Literary Scamp Evelyn Waugh

Article: Notre Dame Magazine, August 2003 (free to read online)

In the late 1940s, Catholic novelist Evelyn Waugh, the author of Brideshead Revisited, was desperate for a respite from the rationing and privation of post-war England – and from his five children, all under eleven. He convinced Life magazine to publish his report of a two-month tour of the United States during the winter of 1948-49.

Jones’s article describes how Waugh went about getting someone else to cover the costs of his first-class ocean-liner ticket to the U.S. and his luxurious journeying while there. And how he even had other people do most of the research for him.

For this article, Jones contacted the Catholic colleges where Waugh spoke, but only at the University of Notre Dame did he find someone who had attended Waugh’s presentation – the President, Father Ted Hesburgh. Jones also read the Waugh papers at the University of Texas and contacted an American family the Waughs were close to. Following a major conference on Evelyn Waugh at Loyola University Maryland, at which he presented a paper (March 2012), Jones gave his own collection of Waugh first editions, photographs, and correspondence to Loyola University Library’s special collections.

The National Catholic Reporter at Fifty: The Story of the Pioneering Paper and Its Editors

An independent, award-winning, lay-run newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri, the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) has been a powerful progressive voice in the Catholic Church. Its investigative approach to the Church and its activities at the national and international levels altered forever how journalists would report on the secretive organisation.

Founded in 1964 during the Second Vatican Council, NCR has broken a number of challenging stories. It was the first to report the nationwide clerical pedophilia crisis. It published the secret Papal Birth Control Commission report that recommended ending the ban on birth control, which Pope Paul VI vetoed.

This book covers the highs and lows in NCR’s history, with a focus on its important editors and key themes: race and poverty, peace/foreign policy, women’s issues, sexuality, and the church/papacy. The biographies reveal how individual editors’ backgrounds shaped their approaches to their editorship.

Review: “This book could be called ‘Fifty years of scoops,’ as it is about the history of the paper that revealed the findings of the secret papal birth control commission Pope Paul VI overrode in 1968 and that broke the story of priestly sex abuse scandals 15 years ahead of the Boston Globe. When in the 90s, it uncovered the story of African nuns raped by priests ‘looking for AIDS-free sex,’ as Jones says, ‘it was NCR that carried yet another story no one wanted to hear, and none could ignore.’

“Of course, NCR is so much more than the sum of its many exclusives, founded during the Second Vatican Council and defending the spirit of the council in the five decades since. These days, no one covers our church better, and Arthur Jones tells us how that happened; all it took, it turns out, was 50 years of faith, love, work, and … fearlessness.” — Melinda Henneberger, Washington Post

Review: “Over the last fifty years, many of us have often said ‘thank God for NCR!’ What would we have known about our Church, and about many issues in public policy, without NCR‘s help? Arthur Jones helps us celebrate this remarkable half century of American Catholic life with a lively, interesting, intelligent ‘personal story — the inside story told by an insider who cares.’ Jones cares about the paper and its people, and he cares too about the good causes they have tried to serve and helped us to serve.” — David O’Brien, professor emeritus, College of the Holy Cross

Hardcover and eBook: 2014, Rowman and Littlefield, 312 pages, ISBN: 9781442236110 (hardback), 9781442236127 (eBook)

Facing Fear with Faith
by Arthur Jones and Dolores Leckey

Who are we and what can we be? How have we changed after the tragic events of September 11, 2001? Where does faith fit in? How has our basic philosophy of life been altered? Are we more present in our relationships with each other, and with God?

Sometimes things happen and everything appears in a different light – life, love, hope, even relationships. Redefining the bedrock of our beliefs, finding meaning, requires the energy of a compassionate heart that wants to reach in, in order to reach out. Facing Fear with Faith is the collaborative effort of two such compassionate hearts who address the thoughts that permeate our days and offer resting stops for prayer and contemplation.

Review: “As a poet I am certain that poetry is the freshest and deepest form of prayer. Facing Fear with Faith is a living beatitude: the authors offer a feast of healing words for the naked, hungry, and weary heart and soul. True medicine.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estés, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves

Paperback: 2003, Thomas More Press, 192 pages, ISBN: 9780883474860

New Catholics for a New Century: The U.S. Church Today and Where It’s Headed

How has the role of women changed through the history of the Church? What can we look forward to as the number of priests continues to rapidly decline? Arthur Jones answers these and other questions that prevail in the minds of sixty-two million Catholics about their expectations and the future of the Church.

Review: “Arthur Jones provides a fascinating glance at roads we have traveled in the history of the Cathoic Church. His hope of a Catholic public presence founded on issues around life, dignity and creation for a new century is enlightening and encouraging.” — Annette Kane, Executive Director, National Council of Catholic Women

Review: New Catholics … is a very appropriate book for our time. For anyone who cares about what the Catholic Church in America is today and is personally concerned about where it is going in the future, this book is well worth reading.” — Rev. Theodore M Hesburghm CSC, President Emeritus, University of Notre Dame

Hearts on Fire: The Story of the Maryknoll Sisters
by Penny Lernoux with Arthur Jones and Robert Ellsberg

The Maryknoll Sisters were the first community of American Catholic women to serve abroad as missioners. Hearts on Fire recounts their extraordinary history and their efforts to remain faithful both to the gospel and to the times.

Through the voices of Sisters themselves, the book draws an inspiring and moving portrait of a community in constant transition during a critical century in the history of the American Catholic church. Hearts of Fire shows how – in their process of growth and conversion – these women religious left their indelible mark on the church and the world.

Penny Lernoux wrote five chapters of the book before her death, and Jones and Ellsberg completed the other 10 chapters. The book won the Catholic Book Award.

Review: “Through quotes from letters, diaries, and personal interviews, a powerful narrative of faith and courage emerges, ranging from the first American Catholic women missionaries to go abroad to today’s members. The sisters learned, loved, healed, taught but especially shared the lot, even to death, of those they served. From the carefully edited fragments of personal accounts of work in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the United States, there emerges a realistic picture of a community ceaselessly challenging itself, ever in transition, ever opting to help the poor.” – Anna Donnelly, Library Journal

Review: “An extremely good book on the story of the Maryknoll Sisters written by a professional journalist who herself has a deep passion for the Maryknoll mission … Those who helped finish the book are no less than the author in the depth of research, knowledge of Maryknoll and passion for the mission.” – K.F. Chan, Amazon.com review

Hardcover: 1993, Orbis Books, 294 pages, ISBN: 157075019X; centenary edition, 2011, 350 pages (with new foreword by Desmond Tutu)

Capitalism and Christians: Tough Gospel Challenges in a Troubled World Economy

This book may change the way you think about capitalism. Arthur Jones has produced a scathing critique on capitalism, the way it’s practiced in the United States and most western nations today. Even as it stands triumphant on the world economic stage, capitalism, when measured against Christian precepts, is detrimental to the common good, injurious to the planet, and promotes the false god of materialism. It has turned the United States into the newest Third World country and corrupted the American ideals of human equality and the dignity of the individual. Jones compares the reality of western economic life with the prophetic teaching of Catholic and other church leaders in North and South America.

Review: “Many books are available on the relationship between capitalism and Christianity … but this latest provides a distinctive point of view … Jones sees business as good but easily corrupted and opines that the undesirable form of capitalism has become dominant. He proposes three solutions.” — Larry Seilhamer, St. Paul’s College, in Library Journal

Reassessing: A Piety of Possessions and Relationships – Reflections with a Rosary

How do we cut through the attractions of material allurement to find ourselves properly today? How do we develop our own Christian perspective? It involves wholesome detachment from a society that measures itself and its people by their material possessions. It also involves a loving embrace of people and a reverence for all Creation. We need to find a fresh way of looking at our material goods, and of reassessing our relationships with other people.

First published in 1980 by Celebration Books, ISBN: 978-0934134057, copyright © Arthur Jones
Reprinted in 1980 by Sheed & Ward without “Reassessing” on the inside title page, ISBN: 978-1556120831 and 1556120834, copyright © Arthur Jones