2014-10-26T09:44:24-05:00

Last updated on: October 26, 2014 at 9:44 am   By

Remember that God controls your destiny A correspondent had asked Theodoret an interesting hypothetical question. Theodoret’s answer quotes Jesus’ advice to persecuted Christians: do what’s reasonable to preserve your own life. Suicide is never an option because your fate belongs to God. You bring up the case of an unrighteous judge who gives two cham­pions of piety a choice: either sacrifice to the demons, or fling yourself into the sea. One chooses the latter and plunges into the deep with... Read more

2014-10-26T09:35:56-05:00

Last updated on: October 26, 2014 at 9:35 am   By

Learn to distinguish what really matters We can never know in this world why bad things happen to some people and good to others, says St. Augustine. But that very uncertainty should teach us what we really ought to value. In this world we learn to bear calmly the bad things that happen even to the good, and to hold cheap the blessings that even the wicked enjoy. So, even when we can’t see God’s justice, his teaching is beneficial.... Read more

2014-10-26T09:29:42-05:00

Last updated on: October 26, 2014 at 9:29 am   By

Feel pity for your persecutors The wise abbot Chaeremon told St. John Cassian that forgiveness and compassion are the signs of a soul purged from sin. If you forgive your persecutors as Jesus did those who crucified him, you really are following the Lord’s commandments. When anyone has acquired this love of goodness I was talking about, and the imitation of God, then he will be endowed with the Lord’s heart of compas­sion, and will also pray for his persecutors,... Read more

2014-11-04T09:23:28-05:00

Last updated on: November 4, 2014 at 9:23 am   By

This week publisher Lighthouse Catholic Media sponsors the CBB giveaway. One lucky winner will receive one copy of The Ignatius Pew Missal (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 Friday 11/14 with a winner being announced later that day. Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway Read more

2014-10-26T09:18:04-05:00

Last updated on: October 26, 2014 at 9:18 am   By

Make the right use of your worries We worry all the time, and with reason. Who can predict what will happen tomorrow? But we should remember our eternal destination, says St. Augustine. Everything we do in this life should ultimately be done with that in mind. Not even the saints and the faithful worshipers of the one true and most high God are safe from the many temptations and lies of the demons. But in this abode of weakness, and... Read more

2014-11-04T09:20:10-05:00

Last updated on: November 4, 2014 at 9:20 am   By

Lighthouse Catholic Media and Ignatius Press have teamed up to bring us The Ignatius Pew Missal. The Missal is produced a complete annual volume coming in at 525 pages. You might be asking yourself, Why do we need another missal? I will let the publisher answer that question before I get into the rest of my review: Its purpose is simple: to provide worshipers with a liturgical resource that is consistent with the directives of the Church and accessible to... Read more

2014-10-26T09:05:47-05:00

Last updated on: October 26, 2014 at 9:05 am   By

Let difficulties be your teachers The expulsion from Paradise was a bad thing. Yet look what good came of it, says St. John Chrysostom. The troubles of life after the Fall turned Eve’s mind back to God. Learn from the mother of Cain what a good result came from the expulsion from Paradise. Compare what Eve was before that to what she became afterward. Before the expulsion, she thought that the lying devil, that wicked demon, was more worth believing... Read more

2014-10-18T19:38:51-05:00

Last updated on: October 18, 2014 at 7:38 pm   By

Cultivate patience and be at peace If you cultivate patience, says St. John Cassian, you will be at peace not only with other people, but also with animals and even the inanimate objects that used to frustrate you. God, the creator of all things, considers the amendment of his own work above everything else. Because the roots and causes of our falls are found not in others, but in ourselves, he commands that we should not give up intercourse with... Read more

2014-10-30T19:17:29-05:00

Last updated on: October 30, 2014 at 7:17 pm   By

Welcome back to “The Laity Speaks”, a recurring feature here at The Catholic Book Blogger. This feature is the companion to “The Clergy Speaks” and takes us to the other side of the pulpit to hear prominent lay people’s answer to the same question. That question is: What five books would you recommend as must-reads for Catholics today? I left the responses open to current or classic books with the only restriction being that the Bible and the Catechism could... Read more

2014-11-01T15:16:38-05:00

Last updated on: November 1, 2014 at 3:16 pm   By

Here are some more wonderful talks from Lighthouse Catholic Media. Click the cover image above to purchase this talk as either a CD or MP3. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI considered Moral Relativism to be the most dangerous dictatorship existing in the world today. in this presentation, Chris Stefanick debunks the powerful and epidemic myth of relativism with honesty, relevance, humor, and logical validity, offering a much-needed perspective on the current status quo of morality. Click the cover image above to... Read more

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