Catholic Cardinals and Pope Benedict XVI Commend Dr. Dan Montgomery's GOD AND YOUR PERSONALITY Book

The Cardinal's response caught me by surprise. A number of years ago, the Pauline Sisters of Boston (Pauline Books & Media) invited me to write a book that became published worldwide, titled GOD AND YOUR PERSONALITY. 

Dr. Dan Montgomery

I sent a copy to a Vatican Cardinal, with little expectation of a response, due to his impacted schedule. But a few weeks later, there came in the mail these comments:

“Dr. Dan Montgomery’s Christian personality theory 

demonstrates a good understanding of the human person's 

proper resting place in the embrace of a transcendent God. 

This is no New Age influenced waffle 

clouded in a mystique of blurb, 

but a useful tool for all those 

who seek to address personality issues 

and quench their innate spiritual thirst 

with the living water which truly satisfies. 

Well done!” 

Paul Cardinal Poupard

President Emeritus Vatican Council for Culture 

Paul Cardinal Poupard

How did I come to write this book in the first place? 

One afternoon I received a phone call from Sister Mary Mark, the  Pauline Books & Media Editor at that time. Since they enjoy an excellent worldwide reputation, I was pleased to hear from her. 

Sister Mary Mark said she had read some of my books and articles and felt guided to ask me this question: 

"As a Psychologist and Theologian, could you please write a book that we can publish that integrates spirituality with psychology, and that includes the Holy Spirit?" 

"I would be thrilled to do just that," I replied, remembering to breathe, "for I consider such a topic my life calling."

With my wife Kate's abundant assistance, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, I wrote God and Your Personality in three weeks.  

I felt honored to receive this commendation from Vatican Archbishop Robert Sarah, Secretary of the Vatican Council for the Evangelization of Peoples:

“This book is easy to understand and yet contains a profound understanding of the underlying elements of the human personality. It will surely be of much help to anyone who wishes to deepen their knowledge of the relationship between psychological and spiritual wholeness.”

 

Archbishop Robert Sarah

That year, other Cardinals also commended God and Your Personality: 
 

• Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Manila:

“God & Your Personality is a noble accomplishment and a gift to individuals who seek wholeness and holiness.”

Ricardo Cardinal Vidal

• Erdo Cardinal Peter, Budapest: 

“God & Your Personality is a fine achievement and wonderful contribution to the healing ministry.”

Erdo Cardinal Peter

• Stephen Cardinal Kim, Seoul:

“I am now reading God & Your Personality and find it very enlightening.”

Stephen Cardinal Kim

Kate and I were privileged to be invited to spend a weekend with the Sisters in Boston soon after the book's publication, where we met Sister Mary Mark, who offered to hire Kate as an editor! We participated in Evensong Mass, sharing the Eucharist together. We were deeply moved in hearing the Pauline Sisters Chorale, and in feeling a holy thickening of the atmosphere under the power of the Holy Spirit.

This story is even more extraordinary: While I am an Evangelical, Ecumenical, and Spirit-filled Christian—affirming the Apostle's Creed, the Divine Inspiration of Scripture, the Communion of Saints, and revere Mary, the Mother of Jesus, I am not a Roman Catholic. I was converted to Jesus Christ at 17. By the time I entered college, the Holy Spirit instructed me to become as well read in all things Catholic as I was in all things Protestant. 

During college, by the interior teaching of the Holy Spirit I understood that toward the end of life, the books God had chosen me to write would be sought by Catholic and Protestant Christians around the world, a living testimony to St. Paul's words: "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:4-6 RSVCE)."

So beyond John Calvin, Martin Luther, and John Wesley, the Spirit guided me to read the works of St. Augustine, St. Anselm, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, Trappist priest Thomas Merton, Catholic Philosopher Gabriel Marcel, Karl Rahner, Jesuit Philosopher of History, Frederick Copleston, and to attend many Catholic masses and Monastery retreats. 

I can therefore say with all my heart that I treasure all Catholics as my brothers and sisters in Christ. And I am humbly grateful for the fact that there is a copy of God and Your Personality in The Vatican Library, and (according to his personal theologian) a copy of this book in Pope Benedict XVI's personal library. 

Pope Benedict XVI

Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition as one of my sources, I recently wrote a revised and expanded version of the original book now available in both print and Kindle form on Amazon:

God and Your Personality