Posts

Showing posts with the label Books

Recalling Cardinal Ratzinger's Prophesy on the Future of the Church in Preparation for Lent

Image
With Lent just hours away, let us reflect on our lives as disciples of Christ and as members of His mystical body that is the Church on earth. Anyone old enough to remember the election of Pope Saint John Paul II, nearly forty years ago, can recall a Church markedly different from that of today. Growing up in a small New England town, I was blessed to have four native born priests in residence on the alter celebrating Mass each Saturday night. At present, that same parish is administered by a single pastor who is also responsible for the sacramental life of two additional Churches nearby. This is now the norm throughout the diocese. The future priest shortage predicted in the 1970’s and 80’s has come to pass in many dioceses in the United States. Moreover, the forces of secularization, like attacks on Christianity and individual Christians, increase on a daily basis. This Lent, we as Catholics must confront a post-Christian America where-in our Faith and beliefs are persecuted,

Gifts Every Priest Deserves

Image
Emmaus Road Publishing has put together six of their favorite titles which are sure to inspire, encourage, and enlighten our spiritual fathers. Buy the whole bundle, and you’ll receive $40 off . The bundle includes Jesus is the Gift by Regis Flaherty, Joy to the World by Scott Hahn, Reading the Sermons of Thomas Aquinas by Randall B. Smith, and Speaking the Love of God by Jacob W. Wood, plus: The Catholic Priesthood: Biblical Foundations : Fr. Thomas Lane’s probing examination of the changed understanding of the priesthood that followed Christ’s death and resurrection. The Sacred Conversation: The Art of Catholic Preaching and the New Evangelization : Fr. Joseph Mele’s engaging guide to the "why" and "how of sound homiletics. Looking for a bigger gift? Consider sponsoring your priest for their week-long priest's conference in July 2017. Check out the details here and ask your priest if he's interested in attending. Select Emmaus Road Publishin

Learning to Love With the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir

Image
Read our review of  Learning to Love With the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir . Mercy Press announces the release of author Jean M. Heimann’s new book, Learning to Love With the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir . It is available in digital and paperback editions at Amazon.com . Learning to Love with the Saints gives practical insight into the abundant love and mercy that flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus to our hearts when we learn to trust in His love and mercy. The lives of the saints convey precious lessons of love and guidance on how to live virtuous lives. When we befriend them and ask for their prayers, miraculous transformations can occur in our lives and the lives of those around us. Learning to Love with the Saints shows us how to develop a personal relationship with God, to grow more deeply in love with Him, to trust in His mercy and to use the saints as our supporters and spiritual guides. Learning to Love with the Saints is the inspiring personal witness of how Jean M. Hei

The Name of God Is Mercy by Pope Francis

Image
In conjunction with the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis has published his first book as pope. The Name of God Is Mercy is a series of interviews with Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielliin. Pope Francis reveals his vision of God’s mercy, a subject close to the pontiff's heart – which has long been the cornerstone of Francis' faith, and is now the central teaching of his papacy. Several extracts were made available by the publisher ahead of its official release on January 12. Here, Pope Francis says that like his predecessor, St. Peter, he is a sinner in need of forgiveness: "I [Pope Francis] said it sincerely to the prisoners of Palmasola, in Bolivia, to those men and women who welcomed me so warmly. I reminded them that even Saint Peter and Saint Paul had been prisoners. I have a special relationship with people in prisons, deprived of their freedom. I have always been very attached to them, precisely because of my awareness of being a sinner. Every ti

The Pope Francis Little Book of Insults [Satire]

Image
From Laurence England's most excellent blog, That The Bones You Have Crushed May Thrill , is his thoughtfully compiled satirical book [i.e. humorous, as in, a fanciful, not as yet commissioned work],  The Pope Francis Little Book of Insults . Written the year of Pope Francis' election, it provides a tongue-in-cheek glimpse into the mind of the 266th Bishop of Rome. Below are just a few of the pontiff's best imagined put downs: "Luscious cakes, sweet dainties. Delectable, but not real Christians!" "Existential tourist!" "Anesthetised Christian!" "Christian hypocrites only interested in their formalities!" "They disguise themselves, they disguise themselves as good people: they make themselves up like little holy cards, looking up at heaven as they pray, making sure they are seen—they believe they are more righteous than others, they despise others!" "Sloth-diseased, acedic Christians!" "I think

To the Martyrs: A Reflection on the Supreme Christian Witness by Cardinal Donald Wuerl

Image
In many societies today, the utterance of a simple phrase, "I am a Christian," is a crime punishable by death. So widespread is this persecution that Pope Francis called it a "third world war, waged piecemeal... a form of genocide." In To the Martyrs: A Reflection on the Supreme Christian Witness, Cardinal Donald Wuerl urges solidarity with today’s persecuted Christians and recounts the recurrence of martyrdom throughout Church history. His Eminence’s poignant insight into the spirituality of martyrdom will challenge all Christians to courageously emulate the steadfast commitment of those who have followed Christ—even unto death. Order To the Martyrs: A Reflection on the Supreme Christian Witness   on Amazon or through Emmaus Road Publishing . If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.  — John 15: 20 About the Author His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl is the Archbishop of Washington, DC. He serves on the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the

Four Synod Related Books Worth Reading

Image
For last year's Synod, in response to Walter Cardinal Kasper's book The Gospel of the Family,  five Cardinals (Walter Cardinal Brandmüller, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Carlo Cardinal Caffarra, Velasio Cardinal De Paolis and Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller) released Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church . The volume's editor, Fr. Robert Dodaro, O.S.A., President of the Patristic Institute in Rome, explains its purpose: [Walter Cardinal ] Kasper’s book contains the address he gave during the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals held on February 20–21, 2014. An important focus of that meeting was to prepare for the two sessions of the Synod of Bishops convened by Pope Francis for 2014 and 2015, concerning the theme "Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization". Toward the end of his address Cardinal Kasper proposed a change in the Church’s sacramental teaching and discipline, one that would permit