Making All things New: Catholicity, Cosmology, Consciousness

Catholicity in an Evolving Universe

by Ilia Delio

Ilia Delio introduces a new word, catholicity, which is destined to become as discussed and familiar in this century as the word Catholic was in the 2nd century. A new paradigm for being catholicity, a conscious awareness of how everything - the sun, moon, starts, Kepler, Saturn, maple trees, muddy rivers, amoeba, bacteria and all people of the earth - for a whole. Catholicity is a dynamic, spiritual quality of being Catholic that literally means ""becoming whole."" It is an inner principle which first burst forth in the life of Jesus and has the power to reconnect all the dimensions of spirituality, religion, the new sciences, culture, and society. Catholicity is not an apologetics but an emerging unitive spirituality that is being expressed by Pope Francis and is manifested in the lives of sincere seekers everywhere. It is animating religion in a new direction and infusing key aspects of spirituality with the new sciences, and every aspect of society and culture. Catholicity is a spirit of love, a love of the Spirit, which resists ideology and attracts new followers. ""Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom"" (2 Cor 3:17). Catholicity makes all things new. ""If any be in Christ he is a new creature. The old way of living disappears. A new Way of living comes into existence"" (2 Cor 5:17)

Genres: Spirituality, Theology, Religion, Science, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Ilia Delio, OSF is a Franciscan Sister of Washington, D.C. and American theologian specializing in the area of science and religion, with interests in evolution, physics and neuroscience and the importance of these for theology. She was born in Newark, New Jersey and is the youngest of four children.


Fordham University
Ph.D., Historical Theology
M.A. Historical Theology

Rutgers University Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences
Ph. D., Pharmacology

Seton Hall University
M.S., Biology

DeSales University
B.S., Biology

Reviews

[Katybeth Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blew my mind!

[Don Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting read and particularly for Franciscans. Ilia Delio provides key insights into the creation story and the Incarnation. This is a refreshing re-examination of evolution that invites us not to view creation and evolution as a zero sum game.

[Edward Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A exposition of a Catholic Theology bigger than a denomination

This is a particularly satisfying book for those with a scientific background. Fides et Ratio revised. A way forward for us as Church.

[Elizabeth Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm finding that I need to read an Ilia Delio book every year or so to sustain myself through the catastrophes in our politics and environment. She gives me a good dose of the big picture, informed by Teilhard de Chardin, quantum physics, St. Francis, and her deep prayer life. MAKING ALL THINGS NEW is about Catholicity, a word with such baggage I imagine even few Christians would pick up this book, but which means, simply, "wholeness." Delio's exploration of wholeness as both an end to aim for and a means to get there is fuel for my journey.

[Barnabas Tiburtius · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear and cosmological understanding

This book is an eye opener towards the holistic meaning of being a Human and a Christian. The universality of spiritual experience or Catholisity is indeed an invitation to humanity to what Einstein termed as a transcendence from a personal God to a cosmic reality of consciousness.

[Tom Helmick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable read - thought provoking, creative, challenging, and welcoming. My first read by Ilia Delio

[Glenn Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult but Rewarding Read

A theological piece that traces its thesis from the the Big Bang through nuclear physics with stops at every theologian and philosopher.

[B Bevans · Rating 5 out of 5]

mind blowing and life changing. Everybody should read this book.

[JeanAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Evolution brings with it the rise of consciousness, and as consciousness rises, so too does awareness of God." Ilia Delio

[Ephrem Arcement · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first installment in the exciting new series by Orbis Books, Catholicism in an Evolving Universe, lays a solid foundation. Sr. Ilia continues her very impressive streak of books about Christ, Teilhard, evolution, holons, catholicity, and the future with this latest work which offers us a vision of a catholicity for all churches--even for all humans. With her previous book, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being (probably my favorite book I've read this year), Making All Things New proves that Sr. Ilia Delio has something incredibly vital to contribute to the theological and spiritual landscape of 21st century Christianity and religion, in general. Her unique gift is her ability to unite science, theology, and spirituality into a cohesive whole and create clear sign posts by which to move into the future. Hers is a luminous world that lures us toward a fuller, more integral and "catholic" existence.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suggest one begin reading Ilia's book beginning with Chapter 5 "Jesus and Creative Wholeness," especially if this isn't your first book on cosmology. Then again, if "Making All Things New" is your first book on cosmology, I suggest putting it down and picking up Judy Cannato's "Radical Amazement..."

Not only is Ilia Delio, OSF brilliant, her prose can be quite beautiful, when it's employed. "Making All Things New..." is definitely one of those books wherein you should read the Introduction and final chapter first. Delio is wonderful when she ties everything together; it's the getting to that point that can be painful for the non-scientific reader.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an AMAZING book that could change your mind about EVERYTHING.
But... It's very difficult. The first 3 or 4 chapters are straight quantum physics & philosophy. It takes 4 or 5 chapters before you start to see how it applies to you, here and now.
So I'm glad I read it with a group, with people way smarter & more knowledgeable than myself. Reading it this way definitely enhanced my understanding of this book.
Still, I encourage anyone interested in it to pick it up. There's a lot to be gained in reading this. Enjoy!

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to go ahead and mark this as read even though I'm only like 60 pages in. Ilia is brilliant but a bit too dense for me and my current brain status. Got a lot out of it but now it's collecting dust. :)

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this simple book to be quite stirring, and yet also quite familiar. It was so clear and straightforward, giving clear scientific detail, but also breathing life and firing the reader's imagination to see and understand the movement of love across time and space. As I read this I could feel the love of the creator, attracting us all toward that which calls us all from our beginning to our end, which is love.

I can't say that this is a book filled with great stories or colorful images. But it had a clarity and earnest concern for the growth of a new cosmological understanding and a true movement toward catholicity.

To me, it all felt quite familiar, like hearing a song that you had heard sung so long ago that while you knew that you knew it, you had forgotten all the words and most of the melody itself. And like when you hear a long forgotten song, reading this made everything fit together in a natural and organic way, but made it all seem new.