The "Little Books" and the late Bishop Kenneth Untener

The "Little Books" are a series of books, six minute meditations that arrive during advent, lent and easter each year. In the last several books of these kind I have read through I have been concerned with what I felt to be un-Catholic and non-doctrinal ideas by the writer or writers of the books. It is at least a reductionist viewpoint of the Holy Scriptures and symptomatic of poor cathechesis or worse, subtle unorthodox leftist activism.

The "Little Books" for those who do are not aware of them are published by the diocese of Saginaw in Michigan. Looking up more information I learned that the Diocese of Saginaw was the diocese of the late Bishop Kenneth Untener, a noted "liberal" or "left wing" Catholic Bishop. I then wrote a letter to the bishop of my diocese and expressed my concerns about these books but received no reply. Bishop Untener was noted for taking stands not in line with the Catholic Church and Catholic teaching on more than one occasion, most notably his alarming views regarding birth control and abortion, gay rights and the ordination of women priests. He also was also involved in what were apparently rather controversial activities regarding human sexuality at the seminary where he taught when he was then a priest. The "Little Books" are based upon the writings of Bishop Kenneth "Ken" Untener and they are dedicated to him.

I hope that more people will take a careful look at these "little books" before investing time in them. As I said, they are being distributed at the churches and I think that their content in somewhat concerning, if not outrightly alarming.

What is alarming in my opinion, is that anything would be based upon the writings of such a controversial figure as that of Bishop Kenneth Untener,(close friend of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, another very controversial figure that once lectured that homosexuality was an acceptable lifestyle!) Bishop Untener did not certainly at all times embody the beliefs of the Catholic Church and was perhaps very emblematic of so much that is wrong in the Catholic Church in these United States today. Bishop Untener would appear to have often flagrantly disregarded the authority of the Holy See of Rome embracing or condoning behaviors that were clearly at odds with Catholic teaching.

As an example... April 5th the writer talks about the Gospel of John in which "there is the lengthy story of man born blind who gradually able to see Jesus through the eyes of faith" as if Jesus' miracle of restoring the man's sight did not occur. Are we to take the restored sight of the man as merely a story that is a symbol for something? In another 'reflection' the writer speaks of Jesus walking on the water in John 6:16-21 merely as a "reassuring lesson" and claiming that the "point of the 'story' is simply the unexpected appearance of the Lord- there is no miracle other than this." John 6:16-21 is not a parable, nor simply an invented story, it is an account. In the Gospel it says, "It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true."

Among some of the other things that this particular "little white book" expressed were the folowing...

March 31... claims that it was possible that Mary might have said no to God at the annunciation of Jesus' conception. The author writes "I wonder if before Mary was asked, someone else has said no?" and "We have no idea of course, but it's possible" in regards to one of the most profound expressions in all of Christendom, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

April 5... reflection where the writer speaks of Jesus walking on the water in John 6:16-21 as a "reassuring lesson" and claiming that the "point of the 'story' is simply the unexpected appearance of the Lord- there is no miracle other than this."

April 8... tells us that "It appears that 'manna was a sweet resinous substance that oozed from some trees and shrubs. It was edible but not normally used as food."

April 18... refers to the Last Supper Discourse as a "great work of art" that "is best approached through prayerful meditation rather than intellectual analysis."

April 24... the meditation on "Belief in the Resurrection" is perhaps the worst example when it states, "What is compelling is that after the Resurrection, the Risen Christ appeared to the disciples" while it goes on to say, "While nothing forces us to believe that their experience of the Risen Christ was real, there is much that warrants belief in this". The writer calls the 'changes' in the disciples "only understandable in the light of an actual 'experience'" after the writer previously asks if the disciples had really seen the Risen Christ or had encountered "some kind of mystical 'experience'." Strange.

April 30... "Scripture gives us timeless truths, but the Bible is not a 'how to' manual with detailed directions on how to live those truths."

Past publications of these books have contained such peculiar items as well and yet parishes continue to distribute these "Little Books" to the faithful.