This week author Fr. Dwight Longenecker sponsors the giveaway. One lucky winner will receive one signed copy of his new book Slubgrip Instructs: Fifty Days with the Devil.(you can read my review here). I use Rafflecopter to run my giveaways which makes it simple for you and me! Enter below. The contest starts at midnight tonight EST and will end 12AM EST 3/06 with a winner being announced later that day. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway Read more
Expect better returns from the poor If you do something good for a rich man, says St. Ambrose, he just takes it as his due, or thinks you want something out of him. But the poor repay you not only in their own gratitude, but in the promised reward from Jesus himself. What good does it do you to show favor to a rich man? We ought to think far more of the weak and helpless, because we hope to... Read more
In 2009 Fr. Dwight Longenecker first introduced readers to the diabolical Master Templar Slubgrip. In the book The Gargoyle Code: Lenten Letters between a Master Tempter and his diabolical Trainee, Slubgrip writes daily to his trainee devil Dogwart. He gave advice to Dogwart on how to tempt a young Catholic. The book is clearly a tip of the hat to C.S.Lewis’ classic The Screwtape Letters. If you enjoyed your first encounter with Slubgrip you will be pleased with Fr. Longenecker’s... Read more
Invest in heaven Are you asking me to give my money away for nothing? No, answers St. John Chrysostom: I’m asking you to invest it at the highest possible rate of interest. “But what do you want me to do?” someone says. “Do you want me to give someone else all this money I’ve saved, which is useful to me, and demand no return?” Far from it! I don’t say that at all. In fact, I earnestly desire that you... Read more
Be moderate and reasonable in clothing God gave us all we need to make good and comfortable clothes for ourselves, says Asterius of Amasea. If we go beyond that and spend huge sums on luxurious garments, we’re not just being wasteful; we’re being proud and boastful. “There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen” (Luke 16:1). By two brief words Scripture ridicules and satirizes the prodigal and unmeasured wastefulness of those who are wickedly rich.... Read more
There are so many great books out there that I cannot possibly keep up with all of them. From time to time I bring in a guest reviewer to share their thoughts on what they have read. This time around I welcome my friend author Maura Zagrans. You may recall my review of her book Camerado: I Give You My Hand. The book details the story of Father David Link and his work in the prison system. You can find... Read more
Use what you’ve been given for good Neither wealth nor poverty is good or evil in itself, says St. John Chrysostom. Everything depends on what use you make of what you’ve been given. Now listen carefully to what I’m about to say, because it will help you gain knowledge of religion, and get rid of invalid reasoning, and make the right decisions about the truth of things. Some things are morally good by nature; others the opposite; and still others... Read more
PETE: In your latest book 40 Days 40 Ways: A New Look at Lent you provide readers with 40 tasks they can do during Lent to make the period a time of spiritual growth. How difficult was it to come up with these forty activities? Did you struggle to get 40 or were you on the other side of the equation, having to pare it down to 40? MARCELLINO D’AMBROSIO:The difficult thing was to keep it to forty! There are so... Read more
Beware the life of ease It is simply impossible, says St. John Chrysostom, to live a completely untroubled life on earth and still make it to heaven. Even if you don’t live in poverty, temptations constantly assail you. If you live a trouble-free life, you’re not resisting temptation. Wait a minute! Is it not possible, they say, to enjoy ease both here and hereafter? This, ladies and gentlemen, is unattainable; it is one of the impossible things. It simply cannot... Read more
See the real power of wealth Preaching on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (see Luke 16:19-31), St. John Chrysostom pauses at the point where the rich man dies. See now, he says, what good all his possessions did him. Dear friends, do not carelessly pass by the words “and was buried,” but let us think of the tables inlaid with silver, the couches, the carpets, the wardrobe, all the ornaments throughout the house, the oils, the perfumes,... Read more
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