Anyone need a good book for teenage boys? That’s inspiring, short, and hilarious? If so, you’re in luck. Ignatius Press has just the thing: Humility Rules: Saint Benedict’s 12-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem by Brother J. Augustine Wetta. Recently a friend of mine gave this book to me, and I read it in a day […]
Susie Fulton, bombshell girlfriend during my graduate school days, had a phrase which perfectly summarizes Tom Wolfe’s early journalism and late novel-writing: “Those of you who think you know what’s going on are really beginning to annoy those of us who do.” TW broke through fakery, excuse-making and hero-worship. American letters has lost a keen […]
As we’re now in the Easter season and summer is just around the corner, I want to strongly encourage all of you to sign yourselves up for a silent retreat this year. Yep, just look at your summer calendars, and do it. Unfortunately for me, I’ll have to wait until my latest baby is done […]
Today is Good Friday. Now I know that I ought to be focused on the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and I am, but I am also a mother. Therefore, I must plan ahead for my family accordingly. And this entails preparing any necessary music that my family will want to sing and listen […]
Meeting a Future Saint In the 80s, my husband Cliff, a news photographer and reporter, accompanied Bismarck, ND Catholic Bishop John Kinney to Rome to record his five-year Ad-Limina visit, which is an obligation of church hierarchy to visit the tombs of the apostles, and to meet with the pope, in this case, Pope John […]
In 2004, I was making my way through the canned goods aisle at my local supermarket when I heard the opening chords of MercyMe’s hit song “I Can Only Imagine” being broadcast over the store’s sound system. I had two conflicting responses: 1) this song doesn’t belong in a grocery store, and 2) I think […]
Pain is powerful when it’s transformed by redemption, hope, faith, and God. It is the story that inspired the song, I Can Only Imagine the best-selling Christian single of all time, selling 2.5 million copies. The touching ballad which considers what heaven and meeting God will be like, is the only song ever to go […]
Which of the two forms of the Roman Rite, as Pope Benedict XVI called them, best encourages active participation, is most emotionally satisfying, and unequivocally equips the worshiper with the graces necessary to confront the modern world? Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s answer may surprise you. In his book Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness: that the Mass of […]
Christmas is the birth of Jesus. And right behind that is Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol. For me, anyway. One is the reason for the season and the other is the spirit of the season. The movie The Man Who Invented Christmas, opening in theaters, Friday, November 22, chronicles the story behind the classic […]
Forgiveness leads to happiness and the beauty of renewed relationships. It also led to the new movie, Same Kind of Different as Me. Studies show that the happiest people are the ones that can forgive. This movie shows what it looks like to forgive what many consider the unforgivable—an extramarital affair. Based on the New […]
Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh are unique among the most widely loved storybook characters of all time. They were actually real. Until I previewed the movie Goodbye Christopher Robin, I did not know that the Winnie-the-Pooh stories by A.A. Milne were based on a real person. And the assortment of animals such as Piglet, Eyore, Tigger, […]
The word selfless appears to be an oxymoron at first glance, a contradiction if you will. We are encouraged through Scripture in both the New and Old Testaments on numerous occasions that, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love yourself too much, and risk being an egomaniac and your neighbor is literally invisible much […]
“Good teachers provide good answers, but exceptional teachers ask great questions.” In the Gospels, Jesus asks over 100 questions. Allan F. Wright, academic dean for evangelization at St. Paul Inside the Walls and an adjunct professor of biblical studies at Seton Hall University, chooses 25 of these questions to dissect and reflect on in 25 […]
Lift up Your Heart: A10-Day Retreat with St. Francis de Sales by Rev. John Burns (Ave Maria Press, 2017) is an updated version of St. Francis de Sales’ meditations, originally published in 1609. Fr. Burns discovered these meditations during a time of his own spiritual searching and seeks to share them with a new generation. […]
Just how far off the mark is the music at your parish? The question seems unfair, yet the vast majority of parishes in the United States engage in liturgical deviations of the musical variety. Everything from folk music to heavy metal has been heard at Mass, despite having no official approval by the Church. Curiously, […]
The movie, The Promise about the Armenian genocide, was viewed at the Vatican’s 50-seat screening room on April 4 with director Terry George, producer Eric Esrailian and some of the talent. The Pope was not able to attend however senior Vatican officials were in attendance at the screening. According to Variety: “When there was awareness [within the Vatican] […]
Several years ago, I had a spiritual director who encouraged me to reflect on the following question: “Where did you find God today?” That is the question at the heart of Andy Otto’s new book, God Moments (Ave Maria Press, 2017). Otto, who has a master’s degree in theology and ministry, is a Catholic writer, […]
What’s your relationship to the Catholic Church? Are you devoted? Dedicated but doing the minimum required? Dabbling? Discouraged or done with the Church? Unsure? In All In (Ave Maria Press, 2017), Pat Gohn invites readers to reconsider their relationship with the Church, whatever that relationship might currently be. Gohn is a cradle Catholic, but truly […]
In nine years, I’ve never gone into my Catholic Mom’s Bible Study / Book Club and said, “We need to read this book today,” but I did that with the latest book by Kate Wicker. If you are always perfectly fulfilled in your role as a mother and you have a group of well-behaved children […]
How ironic that Pontius Pilate who sentenced Jesus Christ to death, should give testimony to the existence of Jesus 2,0000 years later through a stone bearing Pilot’s name. The decision of the prefect of Judea to crucify Jesus, clinched salvation history and was both the greatest good and the greatest evil—killing God and saving mankind. […]
John Henry Newman’s longest poem, The Dream of Gerontius, is a spiritual work rich in theology. Composed at the time in which he had the presentiment of an impending death, the reality of Last Things was very present to the author. The poem, written in 1865 when Newman had been a Roman Catholic for twenty […]
As I read Benedict’s Daughter, by Philip C. Kolin, I was treated to the talent of a veteran author who has already published several books of poetry. With poetic rhythm and stunning imagery, Kolin’s poems manage to get to the heart of the matter. With his gift of poetic sight, he is able to bring the reader […]
she: robed and wordless I opened this jewel of a book, hoping beyond hope that it would be filled with the type of poems that would inspire my prayers. I was not disappointed. After reading through the poems in Sister Lou Ella Hickman’s new collection, I am pleased to say she has done a wonderful job. […]
The news media is just another arm of a politicized entertainment industry.
