BEFORE working out who God is, the reader needs to know a bit more about Stephen McCarthy. A Roman Catholic layman, who read physics at Oxford, worked in development in Botswana and then for the European Investment Bank for 27 years, he counts priests such as Gerard Hughes — of God of Surprises fame — the Jesuit retreat director Micheal Ivens, the controversial Roman Catholic theologian Charles Davis, and the university chaplain Michael Hollings among the influences that he encountered along the way. Above all, he is a Jesuit old boy, and his initial formation eventually led him back to the beginning and to undertake Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises on retirement.

His book is subtitled Mystery and meaning in Christianity today; and so, with sections asking “Who is God?”, describing prayer in terms of relationship, examining the Church through the lens of Jesus’s teaching, and lived faith as engagement with the world, it aspires to unravel and to explain: one man’s involvement with the gospel laid bare with complete — and questioning — integrity. He has walked the walk and, in this book, talks the talk.

The reference to walking is not incidental. McCarthy is a devotee of the Camino, the path that leads to the Cathedral and shrine of the apostle St James in Santiago de Compostela. Indeed, since his original pilgrimage in 2006, McCarthy and his wife have set up a shelter for pilgrims on the way. He describes the pilgrimage experience in terms of encounter: again, words or footsteps translated into practical action.

This is a really useful book to lend to a friend, to a possible enquirer, to anyone interested in knowing how faith enables one to lead a grown-up life in today’s world. The blend of personal experience and theological reflection makes for an engaging read.

Lavinia Byrne is a writer and broadcaster.

God, Who on Earth are You?
Stephen McCarthy
Christian Alternative Books £11.99
(978-1-78904-943-5)
Church Times Bookshop £10.79