Today I’m joining Carolyn Astfalk and Catholic Mom for An Open Book. Here’s what I’ve been reading and/or working on for the past month.
Nazareth Family Spirituality: Celebrating Your Faith at Home with Catherine Doherty
Synopsis: Bring your home and family life to Christ! Catherine Doherty, foundress of Madonna House and best-selling author of the award-winning spiritual classic Poustinia, talks straight to families in this compilation by one of her spiritual sons, MH priest Fr. Blair Bernard. Catherine first talks about Christ’s hidden “Nazareth years”, which made up most of his earthly life, and which prepared him for the three years and three days which would change the world. She elaborates on the profound spiritual significance of these years, not only for the Lord but for each of us and our families. With the Nazareth years as her point of departure, Catherine discusses the ways families can connect their ordinary lives with God. For her, Nazareth is “that hidden little village [where we] become whole again.” As the title of this book indicates, “Nazareth” is a whole way of life, especially in its hiddenness. For “hidden” is the life that most of us live. In simple, chatty chapters, Catherine demonstrates the spiritual depth of the hidden vocation of marriage and family: to form a community of love. The book also presents practical ways of passing on the faith, to celebrate it particularly for and with children. The unique and beautiful cycle of the church year customs celebrated in Madonna House is here adapted for use in your home. Over the years the MH community has drawn these customs from the East and the West, and from various countries; they have stood the test of time in their communication of the joys as well as the truths of our faith. Catherine discusses of various issues in family life: teen dating, the loneliness of living a faith life in a secular world, parents as co-creators with God, various difficulties of wedded life. Catherine introduced to her community of Madonna House a Russian idea of unity called “sobornost”; here she presents this idea of sobornost as a goal for family life as well. And fearlessly she addresses the end of life in the section “’Til Death Do Us Part”, completing the cycle of a life lived in the Lord. Nazareth Family Spirituality provides much food for families to digest, families whose sanctity and integrity is so questioned in our day and age. It also gives much encouragement to live a life of faith in our modern world.
My review: Catherine Doherty’s book, Dear Parents, has been out of print for many years. Madonna House republished it as Nazareth Family Spirituality. I’ve used Catherine’s quotes on “The duty of the moment,” and “I am Third” in my articles. This book is, in fact, three or four books in one. It includes much of Dear Parents, but also includes parts of Donkey Bells (Christmas and Advent) and Season of Mercy (Lent and Easter), which makes it a much more inclusive book for families. Every Catholic family should own a copy of this book. Highly recommend.
The Priests We Need to Save the Church by Kevin Wells
Synopsis: While dissolute bishops and priests around the world grab headlines for their untoward words and deeds, too many other unfruitful priests minister as little more than glad-handing bachelors doing social service work.
Top and bottom, is this the Church that Christ intended? Are these the priests we need?
No! cries author Kevin Wells in these compelling pages that showcase how heroic priests can faithfully tread the narrow path of holy self-sacrifice first blazed by the apostles themselves. From scores of insightful interviews with modern priests, exorcists, seminary formators, and even disillusioned laity, Wells here draws forth a blueprint for priestly holiness that can once again fill our Church with priests abounding with sincere, supernatural faith, on fire with God s love, and moved by the irresistible impulse to save souls, no matter the cost to themselves.
Reading this book will deepen your own faith and help you understand what all priests, by their vocation, are consecrated and called to be. Giving a copy to your parish priest will help him and encourage him as he strives to become a member of the small but growing contingent of holy priests we need.
Review: This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It’s engaging and yet drives the point home: without a holy priest and holy bishops, the flock is heading to perdition. One of my favorite lines: “Our society is fast achieving the diabolical flip — virtue is now sin; sin is virtue — and hordes of Catholic children and teens are wandering. Our youth have lowered their heads not in sorrow and pain but to genuflect to Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook in order to turn away from their unspoken confusion, torment, and hidden sin. But truth doesn’t live in social media, so their immortal souls further petrify in Satan’s relentless spiritual war for them. And because it seems as if many Catholic dads and moms have decided to canonize comfort — helicoptering every aspect of their children’s lives except their souls — their children are left unequipped to combat spiritual enemies. I highly recommend this wonderful book!
Vassals of the Valley by Robin Sebolino
Synopsis: Kalag suffers from the traumas of his life and deeds as a pirate in the seas of 16th-century Southeast Asia. Together with his warrior peons, he embarks on a journey to find a peaceful home and live a quiet life on his native island of Luzon.
A promising place he finds is the newly founded pueblo of Nueva Avila, where he discovers his sister and her family well adapted to its laws patterned after the Spanish legal system and Catholic morality. He thrives in Nueva Avila, adopts its customs and religion, and even releases his peons from servitude. But he soon realizes that even this town is far from the ideal place he hopes to live in. Nueva Avila’s governor, Don Fernando, has struck a deal with Ichijuo Kenki, an up-and-coming Japanese pirate lord. Kalag abandons Nueva Avila to live in the prosperous port city of Manila, where he establishes himself through trade and the support of the city’s clerics.
He returns to Nueva Avila after hearing that Ichijuo has begun enslaving its people. With warrior companions (his former peons), a Dominican priest, and strong, creative resolve, Kalag rushes to liberate the pirate-controlled pueblo in the least bloody way possible.
My review: One of the things I love about the 21st century is that I get to meet and work with authors from all over the world. Robin Sebolino is an author who lives in the Philippines, and he has written a beautiful historical novel that takes place in Southeast Asia. I helped Robin edit his book. This is a compelling and well-written book that takes the reader on a sweeping adventure. Highly recommend.
Second Edition Coming Soon from FQP!
Synopsis: It is well-known that St. John Paul II was a student of St. John of the Cross. The Pope, as a young man, decided to learn Spanish to study the writings of St. John of the Cross in the original language. As a young priest of only twenty-eight years of age, this future Pope wrote his dissertation on St. John’s philosophy of faith in the mystical contexts, Faith According to St. John of The Cross. The writings and spirituality of St. John influenced the Pope’s entire way of looking at spirituality and philosophy. St. John, as many other mystics and saints, looked at the Song of Songs as an example of God’s love for us, the souls He created. A very deep, passionate love for the soul is called agape, portrayed in eros, which is the love between man and woman. This love is mentioned by John Paul in his works The Theology of The Body as well as Love and Responsibility. The love that God has between Himself and the human soul is also the same kind of love that man and woman should exchange between themselves.
David P. Hahn explores the connections between St. John Paul II and St. John of the Cross, and their associated theologies, in Love’s Mystery. Follow along in the exploration of the concepts that both Saints use in guiding humanity into the love, union, and happiness that was meant for man and woman since the beginning.
My review: While we usually don’t publish non-fiction, we jumped at the chance to publish the second edition of this book (one that I edited many years ago). Highly recommend.
Synopsis: Father Paul is assigned to heal a parish scandalized by the former pastor’s involvement in underage sex trafficking. A gifted yet new priest, Father Paul gains the survivors’ trust and hears their stories, bringing healing and fatherly love. As he listens, he inadvertently puts together the clues to bring down the trafficking ring, one so lucrative that even the police are afraid to touch it. Or are some of the police in on the take?
Like every church, this one is full of suspicious characters, and someone nearby is clearly trying to harm Father Paul. The pastor endures all the usual church politics and ministry mayhem, while he races to bring down the crime ring. Can he stop the traffickers before they collar their next round of victims? Or will the traffickers be the ones to stop him?
Review: I enjoyed this thriller and read it in one sitting. Recommend. 4/5.
Synopsis: Patricia Sandoval’s life story is an unusually gripping, hard-to-put-down ride along a journey that leads to an extraordinary triumph of God’s mercy—the mercy that waits patiently for all of us. Patricia came from a broken home, good and bad boyfriends, three abortions, a job at Planned Parenthood (where she was told never to reveal what she saw), followed by methamphetamine addiction and homelessness. The way that Jesus came to her in the streets will leave you breathless, as will the heights to which God has since carried her.
If you know of someone who believes they cannot be forgiven or return to Church, this is the book to give them. (Watch the video of reader comments below.) Read Transfigured. Be Transfigured.
Patricia now travels the world as a pro-life speaker, sharing her story with millions in packed stadiums and on radio and television shows, such as EWTN’s Bookmark, Life on the Rock, Women of Grace, At Home with Jim and Joy; and in Spanish, on EWTN’s Cara a Cara, Nuestro Fe en Vivo, Ellas lo Dicen, De Dos en Dos—and now on her own show with Astrid Bennett Gutiérrez: Informe Provida.
My review: This is a powerful story, although a bit choppy with regard to the storytelling. However, Patricia’s story remains as powerful as her in-person testimony. Recommend.
Plot Line and Sinker (Ellen Gable, Author) 