If you do an Internet search for “Catholic Fatherhood” how much data would you find in comparison to Panda Bears, Applied Linear Algebra, and Welding Theory? According to John Clark, author of Who’s Got You, Catholic Fatherhood comes in last. The results respectively were 1,914, 1,706, and 284. Catholic Fatherhood netted 270 results. Clark surmised […]
Do you know a rebellious teen? How about an agnostic or a workaholic? Those sorts are frustrating people aren’t they? Instead of accepting the truth and peace of Jesus Christ, they run and reject. Oh, and do you happen to know Randy Hain? He is the co-editor of the Integrated Catholic Life (along with Deacon Mike Bickerstaff) […]
The title of Teresa Tomeo and Cheryl Dickow’s new book, Wrapped Up: God’s Ten Gifts for Women refers to our being “wrapped up” in God’s love. That can be a hard concept for us women to accept. After all, the world spends a lot of time telling us all the reasons why we are not […]
Healed through Cancer by James Littleton is a treasure trove of faith, scripture quotes, and brotherly advice, as well as a personal account of one man’s journey through cancer and the fruits of that journey. With depth and understanding, Littleton takes his readers through the physical, spiritual, and emotional “valley of death” as he learns of […]
In these final few days of election season, wouldn’t it be a relief to read something informative, constructive, and positive? The political scene this year is filled with negativity and misinformation; yet, we are presented with two very clear choices, at least when it comes to the presidential race. The book Indivisible provides a positive […]
How can your family find healing, strength, and protection in the sacraments? They can learn how in the book, Seven from Heaven (The Crossroad Publishing Company) by Elizabeth Ficocelli. As a matter of fact, that question is the exact subtitle of her book. “God’s powerful presence in the seven sacraments is the reason they hold […]
A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy: Walking with Mary from Conception to Baptism is the book I wish I had owned and read when I was going through my own pregnancies. Sarah Reinhard, a self-described “non-baby” person – even though she has three lovely children of her own, takes an honest and faith-filled look at […]
As we endure another “Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” it would be good to review how many people are touched by this life-threatening disease. The statistics offered by the American Cancer Society show that there are approximately 230,000 new breast cancer cases annually, and 95% of those incidents are in women above the age of 40. […]
“About this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of God’s Word. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk is […]
Two new books by thoughtful Catholic authors take deeply different views of the future of American Catholicism. Both deserve serious pondering. One of them is called Why Catholicism Matters. The subtitle tells it all: “How Catholic Virtues Can Reshape Society in the 21st Century” (Image Books). It’s the work of Bill Donohue, feisty president of […]
In recent weeks, as we’ve celebrated her feast day and the 101st celebration of her birth, we’ve been pondering the life and amazing contributions of a tiny woman who made a huge impact on our world. While the Church refers to her as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, many of us already believe her to […]
Like it or not, our country was founded on and sustained by the notion of a Creator. Furthermore our founding documents affirm that this Creator endowed us with certain inalienable rights. Our system of jurisprudence was rooted in English common law, which itself was dependent upon the informed discretion of individual judges to establish legal […]
Thanks to David Bovee’s new book about the illustrious history of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, The Church & the Land, one of the luminaries who helped shape the rural church in America once again resurfaces: Msgr. Luigi Ligutti. His classic book Rural Roads to Security, published in 1940 [and reissued this year] , thoroughly […]
Nineteen eighty-two was not a happy year for freedom. A severe and protracted recession gripped America. Many were beginning to wonder if Ronald Reagan was going to be a one-termer. Unemployment in Britain hit a postwar high. Across the Channel, François Mitterrand was busy nationalizing banks and raising taxes. Daniel Ortega’s Sandinistas were firmly in control in […]
Elizabeth Ficocelli, an adult convert to the Catholic faith, is a woman in love with the sacraments. That love shines forth in her latest book, Seven from Heaven: How the Sacraments Can Heal, Nurture, and Protect Your Family Today. She believes that teaching about the sacraments is “the perfect catechetical tool . . . to […]
The movie, October Baby became a successful symbol in the prolife movement. Like so many small voices refusing to be defeated against the mammoth abortion industry, neither could October Baby be defeated. This faith-based film went where Hollywood rarely ventures—into pro-life waters. It traveled another route where small films rarely go—opening #8 at the box […]
I don’t often reread books. As a book reviewer, I always seem to have more good books in my “to be read” pile than I could ever have time for. Therefore, for me to read a book twice, it really needs to be something extraordinary and helpful to my life. A Little Way of Homeschooling […]
It is now well-recognized that boys are not reading. What is the problem? Most commentators want to say that boys have an aversion to books. But the problem is quite the opposite: books—modern books, that is—have an aversion to boys. A recent edition of The New York Times Sunday Book Review featured a Robert Lipsyte article that […]
The Mass: The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition by Cardinal Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington D.C. and Mike Aquilina is a well-written and concise book about the Holy Mass. Though it was written to coincide with the implementation of the new translation of the Roman Missal last year, I think it can also be a great tool for […]
Would the type of person you are praying to meet and fall in love with find you attractive? When and if it should happen that you meet someone special, fall in love, and get married, the process starts with you. This is the premise of my first book, Would You Date You? I appeared on […]
The world of academia during the Seventies opened our minds so wide that our brains seemed to fall out. False teachings often undermined faith and morals. Yet, we came away believing we were more highly evolved than when we went in. I recall one professor warning a class of seniors: “You will be surprised that […]
No, that isn’t one of my misleading provocative titles. I’m not going to be all clever and then reveal that I, like every woman my age, think Darcy is just the most wonderful thing ever. He’s not. He’s kind of awful. If you haven’t read Pride and Prejudice–or at least seen the BBC movie–you might […]
I opened my mail and found a review copy of The Broken Path: How Catholic Bishops Got Lost in the Weeds of American Politics by Judie Brown. I decided I was probably too busy to even read it. Three chapters into it, I felt I had no choice but to write a review. When I […]
In Eco-Tyranny, author Brian Sussman sounds a timely and important warning: The radical “greens” are not in retreat. With the defeat of cap-and-trade legislation in 2010 and the increasingly discredited alarmist theory of anthropogenic global warming, the greens may have lowered their public profile; however, with the full cooperation of the Obama administration, they are […]
