The Roots that Clutch

Would Eve object to the presentation of her original sin in Genesis 3? Could Alexander Graham Bell possibly have foreseen the enslaving power of his great invention, the phone, over human beings today? In The Roots that Clutch, Thomas Esposito poses such questions directly by means of letters addressed to a host of deceased historical persons and literary characters. Esposito employs an eclectic blend of humor and honest curiosity in sharing insights with figures as diverse as the Greek goddess Nike, Saint Benedict, the holy city of Jerusalem, and Martin Luther King Jr. With each letter, the Cistercian monk and Catholic priest digs with the spade of his pen to unearth a dialogue on the roots or origins of realities such as sin, anger, prayer, monasticism, and his own family tree, among many others.

Undergirding every letter is an invitation to discern the seeds of the Logos, the Word made flesh, planted in the soil of human thought and history. By examining these particular roots of the human condition, the author aims at cultivating fruitful meditations on the mysteries of God at work in every heart.

""It is hard to find adequate words of praise for Fr. Thomas Esposito's letters to the living and the dead, to saints and sinners, to characters real and imagined, even to an animal and a city. Their theological richness and spiritual perception brings the Catholic faith to bear on the problems we all face today in an utterly winning way, and with astonishing clarity. Fr. Thomas is a scholar and a theologian who also promises to be among the finest spiritual writers of his generation.""
--Bruce D. Marshall, Southern Methodist University

Thomas Esposito, O.Cist., is the vocations director and subprior of Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey, and a Roman Catholic priest. He is Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas, and also teaches at the Cistercian Preparatory School. He is the author of Jesus' Meals with Pharisees and their Liturgical Roots (2015) and Letters of Fire (2015).