Good Friday Meditation

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), German Composer and Musician of the Late Baroque Period

Heaven Does Not Block All Roads by Anna Beth Keim

About the book: Heaven Does Not Block All Roads: A History of Taiwan Through the Life of Huang Chin-tao (17 April 2025) is a hundred-year history of modern Taiwan’s challenges and triumphs, through the inspiring life of one man who saw it all.

Huang Chin-tao was born in 1926, when Taiwan was still part of the Japanese Empire. By the time he died in 2019, Taiwan was a bustling, high-tech democracy–and Huang had lived through every twist and turn along the way. He served as a Japanese soldier in China during World War II; joined an armed uprising against Taiwan’s Chinese Nationalist post-war government; spent twenty-four years imprisoned during the island’s decades of martial law; and finally emerged to help lead the pro-democracy movement of the 1980s in his hometown, Taichung.

Drawing upon archives, memoirs, interviews and more, Anna Beth Keim tells the story of Taiwan through the journey of one extraordinary individual. From his childhood scuffling with Japanese children to his transformation into a ‘democracy farmer’, Huang’s life vividly reflects contemporary Taiwanese history, and continues to inspire young Taiwanese today who are fighting to keep their home independent.

Over roughly a century, the island transitioned from an imperial outpost to an authoritarian state to a democracy–one still at risk of being snuffed out by China. 

This story is uniquely Taiwanese, yet illuminates experiences shared by countries everywhere: of colonisation and its aftermath, and the ongoing struggle to be free.

About the author: Anna Beth Keim is a freelance writer and translator, who has been reporting on Taiwan since 2015. Her work has appeared in ChinaFile, Foreign Policy, YaleGlobal and The Foreign Service Journal. This is her first book.

Torn and Thumbed For Comfort Just Designed

Purgatory by Fr Faber

About the book: Is Purgatory almost like Hell? Or is it a place of peace and even joy? The famous Fr Faber explains both of these classic Catholic views of Purgatory, basing his discussion on Catholic teaching and the revelations of saintly souls, especially St Catherine of Genoa, in her Treatise on Purgatory. 

This now famous work (from his All for Jesus) is both sobering and inspiring. For here, Fr Faber discusses whether it is better to pray for the conversion of sinners or to pray for the Souls in Purgatory, how the fear of Hell helps save souls, the influence through supernatural means which God has given us on those in Purgatory, how helping the Poor Souls shows our love of Jesus, how it increases our fear of offending God, how the Holy Souls tenderly love God and are loved by Him, their yearning for God, their desire for purification, their pain of loss, their pain of sense, their joy, their helplessness, the length of their suffering, the Angels' role in aiding them, our false confidence in our own goodness, how some on earth are angered by the thought of Purgatory, how our charity toward the Poor Souls benefits us by increasing Faith, Hope and Charity in us, the other beautiful effects of this devotion on us, and the example of the Saints toward the Poor Souls.

Over all, Purgatory (1854, 2002) is a book to help us appreciate the supernatural treasures at our disposal, both to help the Poor Souls, and to help us avoid Purgatory ourselves: to inspire us to use wisely the rest of our time on earth so that we ourselves one day will not have to go there.

About the author: Father Frederick William Faber (1814-1863) was born in Yorkshire, England in 1814. He was converted from the Anglican ministry to Catholicism in 1845. Ordained a priest in 1847, he joined the Oratorians in 1848 under John Henry Cardinal Newman. In addition to numerous fine hymns, Fr Faber authored nine books: Spiritual Conferences, All for Jesus, Growth in Holiness, The Blessed Sacrament, The Foot of the Cross, The Precious Blood, Bethlehem, The Creator and the Creature and Notes on Doctrinal Subjects, plus a volume of poems, essays and other minor works.

In addition, he published a series of 49 Lives of Modern Saints (the "Oratorian" Lives) which highlight the Saints' growth in sanctity under the operation of grace. Fr Faber died in London in 1863. He is considered a master of the theology of the spiritual life.

How Much You Learn

The True University