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 […]
Looking to make the most of the new year? Thinking that your life needs an attitude adjustment but aren’t sure where to begin? The Best is Yet to Come: Living Fully in Each Moment by Sr. Anne Bryan Smollin (Sorin Books, 2016) offers a wonderful guide to squeezing the maximum amount of joy out of […]
You may be familiar with the book, 33 Days to Morning Glory which prepares readers for a consecration to Jesus through Mary. In this follow-up, 33 Days to Merciful Love: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Preparation for Consecration to Divine Mercy, Fr. Michael Gaitley of the Marian Fathers invites us to make a consecration to Divine […]
Ave Maria Press recently published two books on chastity. While the books come to the same conclusions, the authors do so from very different viewpoints. The first, Chastity is for Lovers: Single, Happy, and (Still) a Virgin, by Arleen Spenceley, is by a twenty-nine year old woman who is still looking for Mr. Right. She […]
In the Foreward to Three Moments of the Day by Fr. Christopher Collins, Fr. James Kubicki reminds us that “every precious moment of time has eternal significance, either contributing to the salvation of our neighbor or not.” Given that each moment of our life has this eternal value, how do we make the most of […]
Resolve to read “By What Authority?” in 2014.
Have you ever looked at a priest or religious and wondered how it was that he or she came to be there – what made that person willing and able to say “yes” to God’s call? Susie Lloyd, author of Please Don’t Drink the Holy Water and Bless Me, Father, For I Have Kids, decided […]
Known for their work on the Manga Hero edition of Habemus Papem which told of Pope Benedict XVI, the creative team of Regina Doman as writer and Sean Lam as artist has once again joined to tell a pope’s life story. This time the attention is on Pope Francis. Intended for teens and young adults, […]
Fear not. The title, 7 Secrets of Confession, is designed to grab attention not break the seal. In fact, Vinny Flynn has penned his own “books of numbers” as author of 7 Secrets of the Eucharist and 21 Ways to Worship. This latest book serves as a helpful guide to Confession for those who have […]
The path to Hell is paved with good intentions. I don’t get that. It seems to me that good intentions ought to be worth more than a ticket to Hell. Having said that, I definitely get that the good intentions I have for any number of things can always be a hellish path. Exercise comes […]
Being father to five young boys and maintaining both a university teaching post and a busy clinical practice would seem to be a prescription for physical and emotional meltdown. Yet in addition to all this, Catholic psychiatrist Dr. Aaron Kheriaty found time to write a very practical and much-needed book on depression. The Catholic Guide […]
Pray for Me: The Life and Spiritual Vision of Pope Francis, First Pope from the Americas (Image Books) was published a mere six weeks after the election of Pope Francis. As a writer, I can only imagine what a monumental task that must have been for Dr. Robert Moynihan, but the founder and editor of […]
We still buy the lie. Women are told that if they want to be successful in the world, they have to be more like men, or like a how-to-succeed-in-business stereotype: aggressive; detached from commitments; and self serving. No softness, no vulnerability, and certainly no thinking of others. We have to put ourselves first or we […]
Just as it is helpful for women to talk to women now and again regarding the spiritual life, the same holds true for men! David N. Calvillo’s book, Real Men Pray the Rosary: A Practical Guide to a Powerful Prayer, is a forthright conversation with men (and us women who sneak a peek) about his own […]
Our present culture does not value and esteem womanhood very much. Catholic writer, speaker, and podcaster Pat Gohn is working to change that. With Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood (Ave Maria Press, 2013) , Gohn “seeks to celebrate womanhood by exploring a woman’s dignity, gifts, and mission.” As one might […]
Stephanie Wincik is a registered nurse who doesn’t consider herself pro-life, or subscribe to any particular religious belief, yet after 25 years of working with the medically fragile disabled patients, she stumbled upon an article which galvanized her into writing a pro-life book, Making the Case for Life, which has in its enhanced second edition, […]
When I was in graduate school studying theology, I took a course on the Trinity. It featured a very large scholarly book and lots of Greek words. I found it fascinating, but understood relatively little. There is a reason why the Trinity is considered a mystery. In The ‘One Thing’ is Three: How the Most […]
God does not call the equipped, he equips those he calls. That is, if they answer his call. Mother Angelica used to say that any dodo will do—those not worried about their lack of ability, but willing to say yes to God. She was just such a dodo who volunteered to serve him. In spite […]
Years ago, a local newspaper columnist praised the fare of TV prime-time viewing. She supported modern examples of broken families as being the sitcom subject of choice. Betty, the columnist, cheered the portrayal of brokenness in place of idealistic programs such as “Leave it to Beaver,” “Father Knows Best,” or the “Brady Bunch.” There were […]
Oftentimes the seasons of Lent and Advent are filled with our good intentions about what we will do, what we will read, and the changes we will make in our daily lives. The weeks stretch out ahead of us and we begin with great plans and an eagerness to experience the holy season in a […]
We live in a busy world that is changing at the speed of light. Yet, good manners never go out of style. Most of us parents emphasize the importance of please, thank you, and excuse me, and do our best to insure that our children are polite, but when it comes to the finer points […]
When I received a review copy of the newly-published book, Facing Infertility – A Catholic Approach, I was a bit surprised there wasn’t already a Catholic book which specifically dealt with the topic of infertility. When I searched online, I could only find secular or Christian books on this subject. Jean Dimech-Juchniewicz’s new book is […]
The weather was still chilly on the May morning when I found myself pacing in a northern-Wisconsin parking lot, trying to find a sweet spot in the gray sky overhead where my cell phone would work. My mother and I were traveling together, taking a break from visiting my grandmother in her Green Bay nursing […]
A woman asked me how to start a Bible study for her friends in her parish. After that a young college girl inquired about starting a Bible study in her sorority. That was followed by a mother wanting to begin one, in her home, with her friends. It got me thinking…How many women would like […]
