Jon SOBRINO Spiritual Writing. Selected with an Introduction by Robert LASSALLE-KLEIN, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2018. pages 203. $24.00 pb. ISBN 978-1-62698-300-7. Reviewed by Marie CONN, Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia PA 19118.

Jon Sobrino, a Spanish Jesuit is one of the original voices of liberation theology, and is considered by many as one of the most influential theologians in today’s church.

Lassalle-Klein’s introductory pages are a fitting way to enter into the theological, philosophical, and spiritual world of Jon Sobrino. They also introduce the reader to Dean Brackley, one of the first Jesuits sent to El Salvador in the aftermath of the murders six Jesuits in 1989.

Sobrino himself was away when his fellow Jesuits, the housekeeper and her daughter were assassinated. On two visits to Salvador, I had the privilege of sitting in the chapel in the UCA (University of Central America) in San Salvador and there meeting and listening to both Brackley and Sobrino. This book honors both of them in deep and meaningful ways.

Lassalle-Klein groups Sobrino’s writing thematically. Chapter One “explores Sobrino’s answer to the question, ‘Who are you?’” Chapter Two “reveals the gracious God who ‘appears’ as Sobrino ‘confronts’ the reality of El Salvador and his place in it.” Chapter Three focuses on the suffering people of El Salvador. Chapter Four looks at Sobrino’s sense of gratitude and also at the way he challenges traditional approaches to spirituality. The book concludes with Sobrino’s letter to Ellacuria, one of the martyred Jesuits, which Sobrino applied to Dean Brackley on the occasion of Brackley’s funeral.

Many of the writings included here have been published elsewhere throughout Sobrino’s long career. Some will be new even to those who know those writings well.

I recommend this book to all who already know and appreciate Jon Sobrino and to those for whom this will serve as an introduction. In a time when refugees from El Salvador and other Central American countries are experiencing such grave challenges and threats both at home and at America’s southern border, I urge everyone to dig into these writings. The book is recommended for all readers: for parish book club; for students from high school through doctoral programs; for parish Lenten and Advent series; and perhaps in a special way to priests who have the privilege of the pulpit. These writings provide material for powerful and meaningful homilies.