Welcome back to this recurring feature at The Catholic Book Blogger. As a book reviewer I get access to early or hot off the presses books from many Catholic publishers. My goal is to share a few titles each post that have either just released or are soon to be released. These are books I am looking forward to reading and think you might be too. When Saint Francis Saved the Church by Jon M. Sweeney Release Date: September 8,... Read more
Praying the Our Father Tertullian tells us that practically the whole teaching of Christianity is summed up in the Lord’s Prayer. On that foundation we can build our own private prayers for whatever we really need. Just a few succinct words, but how much they contain of what the prophets, the Gospels, and the Apostles said! How many of the speeches, examples, and parables of the Lord! How many duties are dealt with at once! The honor of God in... Read more
Watch for distractions when you pray It’s far too easy to get distracted when we’re trying to pray. St. Augustine was a great observer of nature, and one of the foremost scientists of his day—but he warns us not to let curiosity distract us from more important things. Our curiosity is tempted every day in the most minute and contemptible things. And who can count how many times we succumb? How often, when people are telling idle tales, do we... Read more
Be reconciled before you pray Writing an instruction book for monks, St. John Cassian amplifies the Gospel’s advice; if you go to pray and remember that anyone has anything against you, even unjustly, drop your prayer and run to be reconciled with your brother. We often spurn the brethren who are injured and saddened, and despise them, and say that they were not hurt by any fault of ours. Because of that, the Healer of souls, who knows all secrets,... Read more
This week publisher Pauline Books and Media sponsors the CBB giveaway. One lucky winner will receive one copy of each of the following titles from their Encountering the Saints Series. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha: Courageous Faith; Saint Gianna Beretta Mola: The Gift of Life; Saint Thomas More: Courage, Conscience, and the King; and Saint John Vianney: A Priest for all People (you can read the Saint John Vianney review here). I use Rafflecopter to run my giveaways which makes it simple for... Read more
Clean out your heart before you pray The Egyptian abbot Isaac gave St. John Cassian some practical advice on praying: before you start, get rid of all the things in your mind that will distract you from your prayers. To be able to offer our prayer with that earnestness and purity with which it ought to be offered, first, all anxiety about carnal things must be entirely got rid of. Next, we must leave no room for not just the... Read more
The Encounter the Saint Series that Pauline Books and Media publishes is a fantastic resource on the saints that my children love. The series has grown to over 30 plus volumes. We have featured titles from the series here at The Catholic Book Blogger before and look forward to more in the future. Here is my wife Laura’s review of the volume on St. John Vianney. As less and less young men answer the call to the priesthood, becoming a... Read more
Make time for God There were many workers in St. Basil’s congregation, and he knew how much they had to sacrifice just to come to church. But he promises them that their sacrifice of time will have a rich reward. I know that many craftsmen who work in mechanical trades are crowding around me. A day’s work is hardly enough for them to earn a living. So I must shorten my sermon, so that I won’t keep them away from... Read more
Rely on God to make your soul fit for him If your home is a mess, how can you invite guests to come in? If your soul is a mess, how can you invite God to come in? But God, says St. Augustine, will clean up your soul and make it a fit dwelling for himself. The dwelling of my soul is cramped—expand it, God, so that you may enter it. It is in ruins—restore it. Some things about it... Read more
Welcome back to “The Clergy Speaks”, a recurring feature here at The Catholic Book Blogger. “The Clergy Speaks” is a column focusing on one question I have asked various members of the clergy. 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 not be used as they are a given. This week we... Read more
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