GODSTUFF: YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A SAINT TO BE A SAINT For most of my life, I haven’t had much use for saints. At least not the ones that appear on little medals or on prayer cards at funerals. I do, however, fondly recall as a little girl stopping in front of a statue of St. Theresa to look at her young, holy face, the flowers in her hands. To smell the incense, take the long match from my... Read more

COMING TO A RADIO NEAR YOU: GOD GIRL’S INTERNATIONAL (IF YOU COUNT CANADA) SATELLITE RADIO TOUR On Tuesday and Wednesday this week (April 11-12), and next Monday (April 17), you can hear Cathleen talking about The God Factor on AM, FM, and satellite radio programs all over the U.S. and even in parts of Canada. Below are her appearances so far, all listed in Central Time (CST). Tueday, April 11: 6:40 am WJLZ-FM/Virginia Beach-Norfolk VA live with JP Morgan 7:05... Read more

HARTFORD COURANT ON TGF From a round-up of spirituality and religion books, Hartford Courant scribe Susan Campbell mentions The God Factor, last but hopefully, not least. An Examination Of Religion In Our Country And In Our Lives April 9, 2006 By SUSAN CAMPBELL, Courant Staff Writer The latest in books on religion and spirituality run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime. . . Finally – and in a spirituality-in-a-hurry class by itself – there is “The God Factor:... Read more

FALLING ASLEEP TO:I must be an acrobat, to talk like this and act like that . . . Don’t believe what you hearDon’t believe what you seeIf you just close your eyesYou can feel the enemyWhen I first met you girlYou had fire in your soulWhat happened your faceOf melting in snowNow it looks like this And you can swallowOr you can spitYou can throw it upOr choke on itAnd you can dreamSo dream out loudYou know that your time... Read more

GETTIN’ LUCKY IN KENTUCKY: LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER TGF REVIEW Religious musings of famous people can surprise you By Paul PratherHERALD-LEADER CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST I’m filing this one on my shelf under “books I wish I’d written.” Recently, I picked up The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People, by Cathleen Falsani. Falsani is the religion writer for the Chicago Sun-Times. I’d never heard of her. But The God Factor ranks among the better books on spirituality I’ve read in ages.... Read more

GODSTUFF: PASSOVER COMEDY MIXES FAITH, FAMILY AND FOOD Tra-di-tion, tradition. Tradition! Family rituals are as complicated as they are idiosyncratic, aren’t they? Like how my family can’t officially start Thanksgiving dinner until someone’s dislodged the scary, gelatinous log of tinned cranberry “sauce” (preferably with the ridges from the can still visible) onto a saucer, even though no one eats it. Or how my husband’s family will play this toss-the-bean-bag-through-the-hole-in-the-box game on the front lawn for hours — HOURS! — at... Read more

ABIDING IN CHRIST with Jim Wood on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio A really lovely, surprising (happily) conversation Jim Wood and I had last week aired today on Jim’s Christian-themed talk-radio program, “Abiding in Christ.” You can listen to the whole program HERE Read more

BREATHE. PRAY. BE KIND. STOP GRABBING. Annie Lammot. Her words have been running through my mind all week.She just knows, bless her diamond meatball heart. First it was . . . “I thought such awful thoughts that I cannot even say them out loud because they make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of the cat dish.” And then . . . “I’m doing whatever I can that I think would not horrify Jesus . . . I just... Read more

BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU,PRAY FOR THEM THAT CALUMNIATE YOU:YA KNOW, JUST IN GENERAL . . . “We have to have a deep, patient compassion for the fears of men and irrational mania of those who hate or condemn us.”— Thomas Merton “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”— Dalai Lama Read more

JILL CARROLL RELEASED!!! THANK YOU, JESUS! Kidnapped reporter Carroll freed in IraqThu Mar 30, 2006 7:53 AM ET By Alastair Macdonald BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Journalist Jill Carroll was freed in Iraq on Thursday, nearly three months after being kidnapped in Baghdad.“I’m just happy to be free. I just want to be with my family,” Carroll, wearing a headscarf, told Baghdad Television in English. “They treated me well. They didn’t hit me or threaten me,” she said in comments translated into... Read more