Breathed into Wholeness, by Mary Frohlich, RSCJ, is one of the original works in the Catholicity in an Evolving Universe series, edited by Ilia Delio. Frohlich weaves traditional Christian spiritualities with contemporary sciences in three well-organized parts, each of which systematically outlines given topics, critiques opposing academic views, and explains how her perspective can revitalize the field of spirituality.

Part 1, “Discovering Catholicity from Within,” argues for the method of observing God acting “from within” creation given the “Spirit of God has been, and is, active always and everywhere in creation” (11). Frohlich explores panentheism and explains spirit as a “field” of force in creation that “focuses not on individual particles, but on a total environment that exerts influences” (21). For Frohlich, the world, in itself, is already whole and at peace; however, human behaviors cause fragmentation and anxiety. Hence, all spiritualities address the human longing to return home to an immediate awareness of peace, authenticity, and communion (25). For Frohlich, the life of the spirit (like breathing) is a rhythm of inward and outward movements based on Genesis 2:7 and John 20:22 (29–30).

Part 2, “In Search of Catholic Personhood,” observes how new insights in social theory, psychology, and quantum physics can enhance traditional spirituality. Frohlich contrasts the current, rapid technological progress of postmodernity with her father's slower-paced life growing up a small town nearly a century ago. After briefly describing the characteristics of modernity, the author historically traces the mechanization of time that led to its separation from place, the development of communication technology, the cost of human pollution, and the commodification of everything (52–67). Chapter 4 investigates how contemporary understandings from psychology, neurophysiology, and philosophy can influence a model of human selfhood from “within.” Self-making encompasses both internalized stories and narrative stories. The self includes a multiplicity of voices, is fundamentally relational, and analyzes experiences. Chapter 5 reviews new insights from quantum physics, which perceives the foundation of reality as flowing and explains that all things are radically interconnected (103–104). Spiritual practice frees the self from the illusion of separateness to rediscover the radical attunement of matter and mind. Chapter 6 brings traditional Christian theology into the conversation as it traces the historical Christian notion of the person established by Jesus. The doctrine of God as Trinity upholds the conviction that “God is absolutely personal, that God's being originates in love, ecstasis, self-diffusion, and fecundity … God alone exists at every moment in perfect communion” (126). Created in the image of God, our ultimate destination is eschatological communion with God (128). The apophatic self is one who recognizes the ungraspable and unknowable infinity of God in us (130).

The author reiterates Gregory of Nyssa's famous doctrine of epektasis: each time we taste fulfillment in God, we are awakened to an even deeper thirst for more (131). Next, the chapter traces biblical notions of the Spirit who animates the materiality of creation, appears at key moments in Jesus’ life, works in and transforms human beings, and is at work bringing humanity and all creation to the fulfillment intended by God, which will be completely fulfilled at the end of time in the resurrection (134–37). Until then, we are called to surrender to the reality the Spirit breathes, to model Jesus’ actions of selfless love, and to fill the emptiness of the self with the presence of God (138–43).

Part 3, “Living in the Catholicizing Rhythm of the Spirit,” focuses on the Spirit's “breathing in,” which calls human beings to be drawn radically beyond ourselves, a state epitomized by John of the Cross, Meister Eckhart, and Jan van Ruusbroec. The next chapter accentuates the Spirit's “breathing out,” experienced when human persons create a self-narrative exemplified by the spiritual practices of Augustine, Julian of Norwich, Therese of Lisieux, and Ignatius Loyola. The final chapter concentrates on “Breathing with the Spirit into Mission” as embodied by the lives of Etty Hillesum, Howard Thurman, and Pope Francis.

This text would be excellent for professors teaching in a graduate spirituality program. It would be a good resource for an upper-level, multidisciplinary undergraduate course offered by a theology department in partnership with a psychology, biology, or physics department. I encourage university libraries to acquire the text as a strong resource for faculty interested in how modern sciences can influence the academic field of spirituality. My only suggestion is to include more diverse contemporary academicians and exemplars of Christian spirituality.