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 […]
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to read The Story of a Soul by Saint Thérése or True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort in their original French? Doing that with new copies was formerly a distant dream or an expensive reality, since there were next to no Catholic books published […]
The college semester is upon us again, and at most universities the new academic year is either now beginning or has recently begun [1]. For the returning students, this means a return to familiar stomping grounds and reunions with friends before the courses really buckle down into the semester grind. For the new students, it […]
Just as the movie Brokeback Mountain paved the way for widespread acceptance of homosexual love affairs, the novel The Lion’s Heart is poised to do the same for the Catholic view of homosexuality. Almost certainly the first of its kind, this gay Catholic romance novel was written by Dena Hunt (also author of Treason) and published by Full […]
Karin Niemeyer has penned her first children’s book.
This week I started teaching a class to prepare a small group of teens to be confirmed at the Easter Vigil this year at St. Basil the Great Parish in Kimberton, PA. So for the next few months — through Lent — I’ve decided that “A Mother on the Road Less Traveled” will be taking […]
Are you in need of some daily inspiration? Do you love to learn about the saints? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, then Sisterhood of Saints by Melanie Rigney (Franciscan Media, 2013) is a book you will want to keep close by. Rigney writes that researching all these women changed her life. […]
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 […]
Truth told, I rarely read fiction. My coffee table is covered by theology books, and when I do need a good “story” I get it the way God intended – the SyFy Channel. When I heard “pro-life novel” however, my interest was piqued. I am thrilled to report that Kari Burke’s The Life I Dreamed […]
As parents, we have so many responsibilities when it comes to our children. We need to feed, clothe, and nurture them. We need to raise them in the faith and make sure that they are educated. But in the midst of all those responsibilities, it is also important to have fun as a family. Moments […]
For the past few months, I’ve had the great pleasure of a biweekly radio chat with Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak, Directors of the Pastoral Solutions Institute and authors of Beyond the Birds and the Bees: Raising Sexually Whole and Holy Kids. As a major fan of Dr. Greg and Lisa’s work, their writing, and […]
Like any good Catholic kid growing up in the ’60s, I had favorite saints, those holy people who brought me comfort and fed my curiosity and imagination. How I loved the Blessed Virgin Mary! Then there was Saint Anthony, who stood there in his plaster glory, with all the old ladies standing around the base […]
Fiction is as instructive as non-fiction, maybe even more so. The best fiction catches us up in a world outside our own all the while teaching us truths about ourselves and humanity. The pleasure of reading a great story cements those truths into the deepest corners of our mind. Dean Koontz has been quietly reeducating […]
One of the most vivid childhood memories is sitting in my parish church, gazing up at a large fresco of the Child Jesus and St Josephworking in their carpentry shop. I wondered what the pair discussed amid the rasping of their tools and fragrant wood shavings. My childish faith imagination helped me forge a deep […]
Some of the perks of being a Catholic blogger all these years have been the friends I’ve acquired and the lessons learned from them. Stamina, fortitude, and grace, are the gifts of these friends during my short career as a writer of which I am forever changed. One of these new friends is Donna-Marie Cooper […]
