PETE: Your latest work The American Catholic Almanac is packed with 365 daily entries full of inspiring stories. How did you choose what to include and how long did this undoubtedly massive project take? EMILY STIMPSON: Honestly, the whole process was a bit like sausage making: terribly messy on the front end, but well worth it on the back end! Brian and I had a wonderful research assistant, Tom Crowe, who did yeoman’s work establishing the calendar. Tom started by... Read more
Everything takes faith St. Cyril of Jerusalem tells us that faith is by no means an exclusively Christian idea. It takes as much faith to plant a garden as it does to accept the Christian religion. We Christians are not the only ones for whom faith is very important. Everything that is accomplished in the world, even by those outside the Church, is accomplished by faith. By faith the laws of marriage bring together those who lived as strangers: because... Read more
Cooperation is a law of nature Working for the common good is a law implanted in our very nature, says St. Ambrose. The example of our own bodies shows that doing anything to injure someone else injures the whole, and therefore eventually ourselves. Think, human, where your very name comes from—from the humus, the earth, which takes nothing from any one, but gives freely to all, and supplies varied produce for the use of all living things. Thus humanity is... Read more
The American Catholic Almanac: A Daily Reader of Patriots, Saints, Rogues, and Ordinary People Who Changed the United States by Brian Burch and Emily Stimpson is one of those books you will return to again and again. A fine resource that could be used for homeschooling or self – enrichment the books daily readings are wide ranging and cover the gambit of Catholicism in the history of the United States. Image Books has asked me to participate in their blog... Read more
Stay on course If you flit from one activity to the next, the abbot Nesteros tells St. John Cassian, you’ll never get anything done. You can’t do everything well, so it’s important to decide what your calling is and stick to that. Those who are not yet settled in the occupation they have taken up, when they hear some occupations praised for different interests and virtues, are often so excited by the praise of them that they try to imitate... Read more
This week publisher Image Catholic Books sponsors the CBB giveaway. One lucky winner will receive one copy of The American Catholic Almanac by Brian Burch and Emily Stimpson (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 10/10 with a winner being announced later that day. Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway Read more
Find the best use of your talents Palladius of Galatia tells the story of a man who became a monk late in life. He couldn’t learn a new craft, and he couldn’t write well enough to be a scribe. But he found a way to be not only useful to the other monks, but essential. A man named Apollonius, a merchant, who had renounced the world and come to live on Mount Nitria, was unable because of his advanced years... Read more
Use the gifts God gave you rightly God gave you wonderful tools and abilities, says St. John Chrysostom. But it’s up to you to use them the way God meant them to be used. Look: you were given an eye, so that you could look at the creation and glorify the Master. But if you do not use the eye well, it becomes a servant of adultery to you. You were given a tongue, so that you could speak well,... Read more
This week the Pauline Books & Media Back to School Blog Tour continues with Britt Leigh. She is the author of Ten Commandments for Kissing Gloria Jean. Now I will bow out and leave the floor to Britt Leigh…….welcome Britt! Greetings! A special thanks to my fellow kindred spirit, Pete, for hosting me. Like Pete, I have a desire to learn about my Catholic faith, and do so through reading books. It is my belief that by writing books, I... Read more
Foreknowledge doesn’t cancel free will If God knows in advance what you will do, does that mean God is the cause of your sins? No, says Origen. Just because God knows the choices you will make doesn’t mean he causes you to make them. Suppose you get information from a person in no way responsible for the events. If you hear that certain things have happened or will happen to certain individuals, and you do not bear in mind that... Read more
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