CBB interview with Kathleen Beckman

Last updated on: January 10, 2015 at 12:47 pm By Pete Socks

PETE: What has been your inspiration behind the new book Praying for Priests: A Mission for the New Evangelization and apostolate of prayer for clergy and vocations? KATHLEEN BECKMAN: The Congregation for the Clergy in Rome is the inspiration behind this mission of intercessory prayer for priests and spiritual motherhood. I was first made aware of the Holy See’s initiative in 2007 through Magnificat, A Ministry to Catholic Women. Since 1991, I have served in leadership of Magnificat, an... Read more

Church Fathers, Day 174: St. Jerome advises us to find our defense against temptation in Scripture

Last updated on: December 28, 2014 at 8:13 am By Pete Socks

Find your defense against temptation in Scripture St. Jerome writes to one of his friends about a mutual friend, Bonosus, who has become a hermit on a remote island. The devil will tempt him, says St. Jerome, but Christ will defend him from those temptations. What nets do you think the devil is weaving for him now? What tricks does he have up his sleeve? Perhaps, remembering his old trick, he’ll try to tempt Bonosus with hunger. But he has... Read more

Church Fathers, Day 173: St. Jerome tells us reading Scripture is a foretaste of heaven

Last updated on: December 28, 2014 at 8:08 am By Pete Socks

Reading Scripture is a foretaste of heaven Writing to the bishop Paulinus, St. Jerome tells him that he should love nothing better than reading and meditating on Scripture. I beg you, dear brother, to live among these books—to meditate on them—to know nothing else, to look for nothing else. Don’t you think a life like that seems like a foretaste of heaven here on earth? Don’t let the simplicity of Scripture or its simple vocabulary put you off. These things... Read more

Weekly Giveaway: Praying for Priests

Last updated on: December 27, 2014 at 4:26 pm By Pete Socks

This week publisher Sophia Institute Press sponsors the giveaway. One lucky winner will receive one copy of Praying for Priests by Kathleen Beckman (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 1/16 with a winner being announced later that day. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway Read more

Church Fathers, Day 172: St. John Chrysostom advises don’t let confusing scriptures discourage you

Last updated on: December 28, 2014 at 8:00 am By Pete Socks

Don’t let confusing scriptures discourage you Don’t let the obscurities and difficulties in Scripture keep you from reading, says St. John Chrysostom. Keep trying, and ask for help when you need it. But (someone objects) are the parts containing the signs and wonders and histories also clear and plain to everyone? This is a pretense, and an excuse, and a mere cloak of idleness. You do not understand the contents of the book? But how can you ever understand, while... Read more

Church Fathers, Day 171: Origen says pray when you read the Bible

Last updated on: December 24, 2014 at 1:30 pm By Pete Socks

Pray when you read the Bible Writing to Gregory, later known as St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (“Wonder- Worker”), Origen, one of the first great Christian biblical scholars, urges him to study Scripture—and to pray when he studies. So, my son, apply yourself diligently to reading the sacred Scriptures. Yes, I say apply yourself, for we who read things that belong to God need to apply ourselves a lot to keep from saying or thinking anything about them too recklessly. Apply yourself... Read more

CBB Review – Praying for Priests: A Mission for the New Evangelization

Last updated on: December 27, 2014 at 3:44 pm By Pete Socks

“Perhaps, more than we realize, the lay faithful take a cue from a priest’s commitment to God. If we perceive authentic fervor, we are inspired. But if fervor seems lacking, we ca try to excuse our own mediocrity. Yet it’s also true that “holy Christians guarantee holy priests.” If we want to be inspired by our priests, we need to be people who inspire them.” You might ask yourself how is this possible? How can we be inspiration to our... Read more

Church Fathers, Day 170: St. Augustine tells us to approach Scripture with humility

Last updated on: December 24, 2014 at 1:24 pm By Pete Socks

Approach Scripture with humility St. Augustine discovered the Scriptures when he was a young man. He didn’t like them. He had been studying the elegant works of the great Latin writers. Much later he realized that you have to approach Scripture with humility, and only then does it reveal its most sublime truths. So I resolved to turn my mind to the Holy Scriptures, to see what they were all about. There I saw something not comprehended by the proud,... Read more

Church Fathers, Day 169: St. John Chrysostom warns us don’t neglect Scripture

Last updated on: December 24, 2014 at 1:18 pm By Pete Socks

Don’t neglect Scripture If we had not fallen through our own sin, we would have been in close communion with God, as Adam and Eve were at the beginning. Since we’ve lost that privilege, says St. John Chrysostom, we should be careful to make use of Scripture, through which the Spirit of God speaks to us. We ought to live so purely that we do not even need written words, but give up our hearts, as if they were books,... Read more

Church Fathers, Day 168: St. John Chrysostom advises us to pay careful attention to Scripture

Last updated on: December 24, 2014 at 1:15 pm By Pete Socks

Pay careful attention to Scripture About to begin a series of homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, St. John Chrysostom warns his congregation to pay careful attention. We are on the point of entering (if God permits it) a city of gold, and more precious than any gold. Let us mark her foundations, and her gates of sapphire and pearl—for we have an excellent guide in Matthew. His is the gate through which we shall now enter, and we need... Read more