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Reading Catholic Classics

  /   Sunday, October 30, 2022   /   Comments(0)

I admit I haven’t had the best time trying to read the classic Catholic writings of the saints. I read the Imitation of Christ a long time ago but wasn’t really ready for it. I didn’t even appreciate St Therese of Liseux’s Story of a Soul when I read it. I gained a greater appreciation for her reading other stuff about her. I read an abridged version of St Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout life, and that went much better for me.

Ascension Press has been putting together some great podcasts with Fr Mike Schmitz’s Bible in a Year, and coming next year, Catechism in a Year. Now, they’ve published a new edition of Introduction to the Devout Life and have a podcast where they are reading through it. From what I have read so far, this is a very accessible edition of the book. If the print version they are selling is too expensive for you, they’ve also published as an ebook. It’s available now, while the print version isn’t shipping yet.

The podcast, by the way, is going to run in seasons. It looks like they are going to spend a period of time reading a certain classic and then stop for a while. From what I see, Ascension must be planning to publish updated translations of a number of classics, and each time they do, we will have a podcast where we can read through it. The season for Introduction of the Devout Life is expected to last 42 days. You can follow along each day as you read the section, and I’m sure for me the days won’t be consecutive. You’ll have an opportunity to catch up on the break between seasons.

If they keep this up, and I hope they do, it’ll be an awesome way to study the classic writings of our faith.

Category: Books, Resources


Preparing for Eternity

  /   Saturday, December 17, 2016   /   Comments(0)

In life, we know there are things for which we must prepare. If we are in school, we prepare for exams. If we want a good grade, we don’t write a term paper at the last minute. In the business world, we prepare for an important meeting, appointment, or presentation. Even a theatrical performance or a baseball or football game requires practice in order to prepare for the performance or game.

We in the Catholic Church don’t just carry out business as usual and then one day say “Oh, hey, it’s Christmas today” or “Oh, I guess today is Easter.” We have this season of Advent now to prepare us to celebrate the coming of Our Lord at Christmas. In a fairly short time, we will have the season of Lent to get us ready to celebrate Our Lord’s resurrection at Easter, or, really, the entire Paschal mystery in the Easter Triduum. Both seasons have a penitential aspect, with an emphasis on repentance of sins. We want to be holy in order to fully celebrate the great feast days. We don’t let these great and holy days sneak up on us.

When the day is over, we don’t just go right back to business as usual either. We celebrate the Octave of a Christmas and the Octave of Easter, and then we have a season in the Church afterward. In fact, the season of Easter is longer than Lent. We know that these days are not ordinary days in our lives. They are the celebration of the central events of our eternal salvation. The secular world, trapped in endless restlessness because its heart is not resting in God for whom we were made, just moves on.

Really, though, with the stores having Christmas stuff available just after Halloween, or even before, you’d have to live under a very heavy rock for Christmas to be able to sneak up on you. There will be plenty in the secular world – Christmas music, parties, gifts to buy. None of it is bad in and of itself. We just need to be careful not to be distracted from living the season of Advent for what it is.

Perhaps this Advent we can take a look at how we prepare for the daily things in life so that we live them out on purpose, and we live them for the purpose of serving God. If we don’t do some kind of preparation, we open ourselves to the possibility of just drifting along and/or being knocked in every direction like a pinball. How do we prepare ourselves for the day ahead of us?

Do we wake up promptly for our duties of the day? I can’t recommend the heroic minute enough. Do we pray in the morning and offer our day to God? Some people may do their daily prayer in the morning. For me, it’s the only time possible. Others may make a morning offering and save their main time with God for later.

There are a lot of moments while getting ready in the morning that you can stop to say a quick prayer. Take a look at Fr. Thomas Dailey’s excellent book Live Today Well for suggestions. This book has a lot of good rules to use for keeping the presence of God all day.

A particular area to look at is how we prepare ourselves for Sunday Mass. Is it the center of our Sunday, or is it just one more event on our agenda? Sunday Mass is the most important thing we do all week and needs to be treated that way. Do we pray about what we are to participate in? Do we make an effort to dress properly for it and arrive promptly (really, a few minutes early)? Do we keep reverential silence in the church before Mass starts? It is hard to keep little ones quiet, but I am really referring to not having unnecessary conversations in the church so that people can pray.

What are we doing in the morning before we head to Mass? God commanded a Sabbath rest on Sunday. We need not pray the whole time before or even a large part of it as we need to have breakfast, get dressed, and get to the church. Sometimes the kids don’t cooperate with keeping an atmosphere of preparation for Mass (or even getting there when we’d like). However, if we are conducting our usual business first and then rushing off to Mass, almost as though it’s an afterthought, something is really wrong. Also, what are we doing with the rest of Sunday? Remember the Sabbath rest, and beware of activities that interfere with the nature of Sunday. There are some things you may have to do because they are unavoidable or even because you enjoy them, and some jobs are essential (or people have no choice). However, there are a number of other things that can be avoided with, yes, you guessed it, appropriate preparation for Sunday.

All of this preparation can serve as a reminder to us that this life is a preparation for eternity. How we live now determines how we will be forever. It will determine whether we spend eternity forever in the presence of God in Heaven or separated from him in Hell. Even if we are saved, we won’t be all equal. Read Matthew 5:19 to hear what Jesus said about some being great and others least in the Kingdom. The sanctifying grace in our souls can be lost, but it can also be increased, making us able to experience more of the beatific vision. We need to strive to be as holy as we can be.

Category: Books, Catholic, Spirituality


Something Other Than God

  /   Friday, May 16, 2014   /   Comments(0)

I have heard, and I believe, that there is a “God-shaped hole” in each of us. If we don’t give our lived to God, we are going to give our lives to something to try to fill that hole. That something will never satisfy us because we were made for God. However, I wonder how it is perceived by people who do not believe. I have to think that God would make it possible to know what it is that is missing as he is madly searching for us. He loves us. I wonder if many atheists have such anger against believers because deep inside, they know they are wrong.

Earlier this week, I finished reading Jennifer Fulwiler’s Something Other Than God, and I want to join the release party. Fulwiler is a very witty and gifted writer. A couple of good examples can be found here and here.

She was not a notorious sinner, but she was an atheist. Faced with the feeling of the logical conclusion that she would one day cease to exist, she tried to drown out that feeling with exciting life experiences and a career. Then came motherhood. Her experience drove her to explore the questions by starting a blog and getting people to discuss his with her. She tries going to Mass and even living the moral teaching of the Church, even though it really affected her life through a serious medical condition. In the end, she became Catholic. At the same time, her husband was exploring as well and came into the Church with her.

Too bad I have to sleep and go to work. It was hard to put this book down. The book is both funny and fascinating, and I’d especially recommend it to anyone who struggles with not only belief in God but also trust in him.

Category: Books


           



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