Fr. Robert Gamel, Pastor of St. Ann's in Ridgecrest, has written "Called to Holiness: The Spiritual Journey to Heaven." Fr. Gamel came to the eastern side of the diocese in 1997, when he was assigned to Our Lady of Lourdes in California City and St. Joseph's in Boron. During this desert experience, the writing process began as Fr. Gamel reflected on the work of 13th century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas. Since the saint never wrote a complete book dedicated to the spiritual life, Fr. Gamel knew the process of research would be difficult. He took a more modern approach from the works of the late Bishop Fulton J. Sheen's "Treasures in Clay." As each Christian is called to a particular vocation in Christ, so Fr. Gamel addresses both a general call to holiness and a particular call to vocation. He examines the lives of the saints, the role of the devil in disrupting that journey and the role virtues play in the call to holiness. He writes about the necessity to seek repentance and further conversion and about the problem of being lukewarm in faith and the soul killing "acedia" or spiritual sloth.

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