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
Take Christ as your model of love Christ taught us how to love by loving us, says Aphrahat, the Persian Sage. By looking to Christ, we can know what it means to love God and our neighbors— the two commandments on which Jesus said the Law and the prophets depended. This is how our Savior taught us diligently to manifest love: first he perfected it in himself, and then he taught those who heard him. He reconciled our enmity with... Read more
PETE: How did you develop the concept for the Kingdom of Patria? DANIEL McINERNY: Some years ago, when my two daughters were small, I was reading Humphrey Carpenter’s biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, where Tolkien is quoted as saying something to the effect that, in imagining a new world, it was important for him (the professional linguist) to start with a name. So, for example, he began with the strange name “hobbit,” and extrapolated an entire mythological universe from there. That very... Read more
The Magi left their barbarian country and followed the star to find Christ. We, too, should leave our old world behind us, says St. John Chrysostom. Let us also follow the Magi. Let us separate ourselves from our barbarian customs, and put them far behind us, so that we may see Christ—since they, too, would have missed seeing him if they had not been far from their own country. Let us depart from the things of earth. For the wise... Read more
The Magi and Herod both had incorrect ideas about Christ’s Kingdom. But the Magi were willing to learn from Scripture, says St. Gregory the Great, whereas Herod was not. The three wise men, stirred up by God through the light of a strange star, followed its twinkling light as a guide, thinking they would find the child it pointed to in Jerusalem, the royal city. But when they found that they were mistaken in that idea, they learned through the... Read more
This week author Daniel McInerny sponsors the CBB giveaway. One lucky winner will receive one copy of his book Stout Hearts and Whizzing Biscuits: A Patria Story (you can read the 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 8/29 with a winner being announced later that day. Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway Read more
Jesus Christ, the Word incarnate, was true God and true man. When we hear or read the Gospel stories, says St. Gregory the Great, we need to see both natures at work, because we need to understand that both natures are vital for our salvation. When you read or hear the Gospel, you find some things in our Lord Jesus Christ subjected to injuries, and some things lit up by miracles. In the same Person now the humanity appears, now... Read more
We can’t thank God enough just for creating us and giving us the world to live in, says St. Augustine. But the really mind-boggling thing is that, in spite of our sin, God so loved the world that he sent his only-begotten Son. We have already seen what good things God, who controls nature, lavishes on good and bad alike. But besides these, he shows the good an even greater love that belongs only to them. Now, we can never... Read more
As you know, this blog is about Catholic books; however, this particular review is a children’s book written by a Catholic author. Although, the story itself is not “Catholic”, the author is. I stumbled upon this book and the author, Daniel McInerny, while at a Catholic Homeschool Conference earlier this summer. He gave a great talk on the importance of literature. My tween and teenager fell in love with this book, as well as, my wife, Laura!! So here is... Read more
The Son of God took on the humility of our flesh to conquer the devil—and he did it, says St. Gregory the Great, so that we could imitate his righteousness in humility. The glory of the Lord’s Passion, dear friends, is most wonderful for its mystery of humility. It has both ransomed us all and taught us, so that he who paid the price might also pass on his righteousness to us. The omnipotence of... Read more
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