Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Nancy Piccione

Much More than a Virtual Holy Land Pilgrimage

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Here is my column that appears on the book page of this week’s print edition of The Catholic Post. 

Most everyone who knows me is aware that high on my “life list” is a whole-family Holy Land pilgrimage, once all my children are teenagers (should my husband and I survive parenting teenagers. But I digress.).

I’ve heard from those who have been on a Holy Land pilgrimage that it can be life-changing and spiritually transformative.  I’m a little scared but also truly excited by the prospect. Since my own pilgrimage is still several years away, I seek out books, shows, and other resources about people who share their Holy Land experiences, so I can virtually-if a little enviously-follow along for now.

No surprise, then, that I would gravitate towards James Martin, S.J.’s newest book, Jesus: A Pilgrimage. But this is a remarkable book by any measure, and for just about every reader.

Fr. Martin, the cultural editor of America magazine and a gifted spiritual writer, tells the story of Jesus through selected Gospel stories, woven through his own faith life and his travel to the Holy Land.

But throughout and within, this book is energetically about the person of Jesus, what makes Him so attractive and compelling to Martin, and to those who follow Him.

Jesus: A Pilgrimage is kind of like an extreme version of Ignatian contemplation, or prayer using the imagination. Fr. Martin picks out key moments in the Gospels and tells those stories through his own Holy Land travels and musings. It is a simple concept, but by no means a simple book-it’s rich in stories, wisdom, and inspiration.

As Fr. Martin shares, when he was asked by a friend what he could say “new” about Jesus:

“ ‘I’ll write about the Jesus whom I’ve met in my life. This is a Jesus who hasn’t been written about before.’ It may be similar to hearing a friend tell you something expected about a mutual friend. ‘I never knew that about him,’ you might say wonderingly. Seeing a friend through another pair of eyes can help you appreciate a person more. You may end up understanding your friend in an entirely new way.”

Read this book to get a fresh and timeless perspective on Jesus, and be inspired to look at Him—and your faith— in a new way.

If you’re also intrigued by visiting the Holy Land as I am, you might be interested in the “The Faithful Traveler” DVD series by the young husband/wife team of David and Diana von Glahn . The series has aired on EWTN, and with the charming Diana as a host, virtual travel through the Holy Land is enjoyable and edifying.  I’ve written  about this series before.

Some notes, post-column:

**I actually read and wrote about Jesus: A Pilgrimage before I realized that my column would appear in print just as Pope Francis was about to be in the Holy Land.  I’ll be following along, and I do think this book would make an excellent companion to it.

**I also wrote about several other “recent reads” in my print column, but I will share those as separate posts because they are unrelated to the “Holy Land” theme of this post.

Random Thoughts, Volume 2

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Last weekend, I was on a two-night campout with my younger daughter’s American Heritage Girls troop.  And truly, I had a great time.  I would say so even if my whole family, children included, did not read my blog.

But, to be honest, before this, I used to say to people, “You know, the closest I get to camping is Hampton Inn.”  I love the outdoors, but I really like to come home to my own bed, or a Hampton Inn.  Some of you will know what I mean.

Even though I was officially having fun, after the first restless night with lots of little girls tossing and turning and needing to go use the latrine, I was pretty tapped out during a lull on Saturday afternoon.  So I might have hiked the half-mile to the minivan to take refuge for a little bit of quiet and non-outdoors.  I am sooo glad that I did.  That’s because I caught the very end of The Moth Radio hour. I generally stay away from The Moth, as I generally find it a more pretentious and annoying version of This American Life.  While I love and find   so Catholic and catholic, so many of the stories on TAL, it can also occasionally veer into the annoying category.

So my first random thought is to share this and invite you to take a few minutes to listen to “Before Fergus,”  Lynn Ferguson’s story of when she was pregnant at an “advanced maternal age.”  Listen if for no other reason than to hear her Scottish brogue.  Lovely.  Sitting there listening to it, and having a few minutes of quiet, was just enough to help me get back to several dozen energetic girls, the campfire, and sleeping in a bunk.

More randomness:

Do our Kids Get Off Too Easy? –Alfie Kohn, The New York Times.I found his book Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes

that I read many, many years ago, utterly fascinating, and it really informed how I parent, I think because I was parented this way, without my parents having the benefit of such a book.  “Other researchers, meanwhile, have shown that high self-esteem is beneficial, but that even more desirable is unconditional self-esteem: a solid core of belief in yourself, an abiding sense that you’re competent and worthwhile — even when you screw up or fall short.”

Always Hungry? Here’s Why–The New York Times “If this hypothesis (that “rapidly digestible carbs” are the cause of hunger & weight gain) turns out to be correct, it will have immediate implications for public health. It would mean that the decades-long focus on calorie restriction was destined to fail for most people. Information about calorie content would remain relevant, not as a strategy for weight loss, but rather to help people avoid eating too much highly processed food loaded with rapidly digesting carbohydrates. But obesity treatment would more appropriately focus on diet quality rather than calorie quantity.”

The ‘Casket Catechesis’ of John Paul II–National Catholic Register.  Not new but read-worthy.  A man inspired to start a simple casket business after seeing the casket of John Paul II. “I hope that Marian Caskets is a part of this spiritual awakening, where death is accepted but where it won’t have the last word. That’s what the casket catechesis of soon-to-be St. John Paul II is all about: facing reality with humility, acknowledging our sins and asking for God’s mercy.”

18 Reasons Why This Skeptical Pediatrician Came to Love Homeschooling Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann, Aleteia.  My brother sent me this article and I found it really interesting and well-argued.  I still felt a little exhausted just reading about this family’s schedule though!  Neat connection: Kathleen attended the 2012 Behold Conference.  I got to meet her but not spend much time with her.

Who Gets to Graduate? –Paul Tough, The New York Times magazine.  Helping the most-at-risk kids to graduate.  I haven’t finished this one yet, but I find it fascinating, and want my teens to read.

What have you read or listening to randomly this week?

Haphazard Random Thoughts

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We have a family joke that whenever Mom (that would be me) says, “I have a random thought,” everyone runs screaming, because it’s usually followed by, “… we should clean out the garage” or ” or some other maybe-not-too-pleasant thing that will happen since I am Mom and moms are all-powerful.  That’s not really how it works, but I love that my husband and kids enjoy making fun of me in a cute way.

So, I keep sharing articles and various other links on Facebook or (less often) Twitter, and then when I want to find them, I have to scroll back through my own feed to find them.  And my husband often (very often) shares articles via e-mail with me, and sometimes I get to them, and share them.  But it’s all haphazard.

The “haphazard” way I read and share online isn’t going to change, but there will be a post here every so often with a random assortment of links that have had me thinking and pondering, or that moved me in some way.

I don’t have a catchy name for this yet–thus, the “Haphazard Random Thoughts.”  But I want to get this started.   Any thoughts for a good name are welcome here.

So burdened last week with the news out of Harvard, and I was unbelievably glad when it was all over, saying prayers of thanksgiving at Mass & Adoration on Tuesday:

“Holy Hour in Reparation for Acts Committed Against the Eucharist”

and some follow-up:

“Describer of Planned Black Mass-Guess How He Died?” Elizabeth Scalia at The Anchoress. I was all set for this to be sad, and then it wasn’t.  Praise God.

“Satan: A Small Skirmish Won, but the Battle Goes On.” –Thomas MacDonald. “And while we do this, we must remember that the battleground of Satan is within us as well. As Solzhenitsyn wrote, the line separating good and evil passes right through every human heart. I’d rather not lose a single soul to Hell. Not one. Not even the soul of my worst enemy.”

“The Problem with Confidence” –David Brooks, The New York Times. Sometimes my husband e-mails me articles, and then when he tells me about them in person, and sends me back to my neglected in-box to read them, I know it must be very good.  This one was, and there is almost too much good to quote. “The person with the confidence mind-set is like the painfully self-conscious person at a dinner party who asks, “How am I coming across?” The person with an instrumentalist mind-set is serving a craft and asks “What does this specific job require?”

 

“Tolstoy and Miss Daisy,” Frank Bruni, The New York Times.  I cried at this one, and this was one I shared with my husband first, and then I forgot to share on Facebook and Twitter and to tag all my siblings and their kids.  “They were proof, these two, that a family can pass its painstakingly nurtured closeness down through the generations, and that there comes a moment when the values impressed on the youngest members of the brood — the values imposed on them, really — become the values they actually elect.”

“Running  Back from Hell” by Christine Fennessy, Runner’s World.  I read this in the paper version back when it arrived in our mailbox–Runner’s World is one of my favorite magazine subscriptions.  Many (not all) of the long articles in Runner’s World are top-notch.  This was one recent standout.  How running is helping soldiers manage and overcome PTSD.

And let’s throw in a recipe for good measure:

“Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp Bars” Deb Perlman, The Smitten Kitchen. Our garden is producing lots of rhubarb this years from ancient plants we inherited when we bought our old house 20 years ago. I am looking for new recipes to try. I adapted this from another recipe of hers (I didn’t want “crispy” bars in any way–just yummy) and we cannot stop eating this one.

What’s Your Favorite Mom-ism?

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Wasn’t she gorgeous?

In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend and my own mother, who was–rather intentionally– the Mrs. Malaprop of Mom-isms, what is your favorite mom-ism?

My favorite mom-ism from my own mother is

“We’ll jump off that bridge when we get to it.”  

So much so that my children have all asked me at various tender ages, “Mom, why are we going to jump off a bridge?” My child, I was wondering the same thing…

Do you have a favorite mom-ism, either from your mom, or one you say to your kids? I definitely want my kids to remember this one, and use it with their kids.

[Note on the  cropping of the photo.  When I had the idea to honor my mom and also have fun with mom-isms, I thought of some of these early photos of my mother, who died in 2008, and who was lovely in every way throughout her life.  The photos we have of her from the 1950s and 60s are just so wonderful.  This was the first one I could easily find, but the four siblings also in the photo (the two youngest, me included, weren’t born yet) look a little on the extra goofy little-kid side, complete with one sister unhappily trying to crawl out of some beach stroller-type contraption.  It’s hilarious, but since I’m the most “online” person in my family, I wanted to err on the side of caution.]

Dear Moms, Will You Go To a Movie With Me? #MomsNightOut

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If you’re having deja vu: yes, this is an expanded version of my prior post, now that I can reveal more details about the movie.

True confession: I’m not the greatest at self-care.

Like many moms, I tend to take care of everyone else around me before me. The needs/wants/crises of kids, dogs, husband and house can seem so vital, and it’s easy to let those take over the majority of our days.

As I’ve gotten older, and my kids have gotten older, I have gotten better at self-care, but mostly in a solo way. I run, and I make the time to read a lot of books, and I make sure to get my daily quota of chocolate (especially now that Lent is over).

But I’m not very good at self-care of the “getting together with friends” variety.

As I get older, I realize how important that kind of self-care is: being intentional about fostering friendships that nourish us.

Last month, I got the chance to see a screening of Moms Night Out, a movie coming out this Friday. (!!!)

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I get invitations to a fair amount of movie screenings, usually family friendly ones, often by faith-based filmmakers. I wrote about October Baby here , and I loved that one (coincidentally— or not—Moms Night Out is made by the same filmmakers: the Erwin Brothers.) But I haven’t written about very many others.

Sometimes the movie, even if it’s pretty good, doesn’t seem like a good fit for a review here, or I run out of time. Sometimes it wasn’t a good fit for me—I tend not to like violence in films, or too slow-moving films. Sometimes the movie is good but not great, or it’s not very good at all.

Moms Night Out is a good, good movie. It’s a super-fun, going out with your friends, laugh-out-loud movie.

It’s not just a fun “faith-based movie,” or a fun “clean movie.” It’s a fun movie, period.

If I haven’t convinced you already, I loved Moms Night Out so much that I’m not only going to see it again when it comes out on this Friday, May 9 (Mother’s Day weekend, natch), but I’m organizing a group of moms to go see it.

This movie made me laugh, smile a lot, and even tear up a few times.

Loves:

*Sean Astin as one of the dads. Because I’m such a LOTR geek.

*Trace Adkins. I don’t know much about country music, so I didn’t realize that Trace Adkins is a country star. I would not have known he wasn’t a “real actor” at all. He’s does well and carries several pivotal scenes admirably.

*Patricia Heaton is super enjoyable as the “older mom.” I realize that I’m now “that older mom” and so it’s great to have an attractive, funny actress playing that role for us.

*the term ”stress paralyzed.”  Yes.  Often.

*a cameo by musician Manwell Reyes of Group 1 Crew as a tattoo parlor concierge. In a family friendly movie. That’s all I’m going to say there.

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*nothing contrary to our Catholic faith. Sometimes faith-based films can have something a little “off” in theology, but there’s none of this here. It’s just good fun, and the message of moms practicing self-care, being supportive of one another, and mostly moms knowing that we are all doing the best we can, and that God loves us unconditionally.

*I don’t know the rules for spoilers in movie reviews — I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to give away. So, being as non-specific as possible, let me say that I loved Donny Osmond as a child, and I still do? In another rare moment of self-care, not too many years ago I went to a Donny Osmond concert with my best friend from kindergarten (we LOVED Donny back then) and another similarly aged-friend, and it was SO.MUCH.FUN. This relates to an extremely funny line in the movie, but I felt the need to share this here.

Did I mention? The film comes out on May 9, the beginning of Mother’s Day Weekend.

Mother’s Day day (and weekend) at our house usually involves Mass, a family hike (or, as my kids like to say, a forced march, but it’s my day), chocolate, and lots of down time at home. I don’t often want to go out to eat, in general, as the restaurants are crowded, so we’ll make something delicious at home.

Added to that mix, this Mother’s Day weekend will kick off with a showing of Moms Night Out, and I hope a big group of friends will be going with me.

My friend Lisa Schmidt of The Practicing Catholic also reviewed Moms Night Out. I wish she were close enough to come along with us! Read her review here.

Some questions for you:

Are you good at self-care or not? What kind are you best at?

What do you plan for Mother’s Day for yourself and your family?

Will you go to Moms Night Out with me?

Here is the trailer, in case you’re not convinced:

7 Quick Takes About #2PopeSaints

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1. Did you know there is a hashtag for the canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII? It’s #2popesaints.

2. John Paul II was the pope for most of my teen years, and most of my adult life, as well. John Paul II was the first pope I remember being pope, and such vivid memories—when he was elected, when he was shot, how he traveled the world and was so full of life.

As a young adult and beyond, I read his encyclicals, his poetry, and his books. HE’s influenced my life in so many ways. I wrote about the then-upcoming conclave that elected Pope Francis here: and reflected back on when John Paul II died and what we did. I will be getting out that scrapbook again this weekend.

To be honest, I don’t know as much about John XXIII.

I’ve had a post “in draft” for more than a week with books by/about the two popes, and I was feeling bad about not finding tons of books written by/about John XXIII, like there are of JP II. Then I was out to dinner several weeks ago with my husband and a dear friend (a bit older than both of us, who has seen more popes). He pointed out that Pope John XXIII was only pope for five years, contrasted to JPII’s 26 years as Holy Father.

This article from the Knights of Columbus “Columbia” magazine:

“Good Pope John and the Knights” was a helpful introduction to me.

Also: “Jokes, quips, wisecracks-John XXIII lived with a keen sense of humor.”  Sweet.

3.  So, books.

John XXIII is best known, book-wise, for Journal of a Soul: The Autobiography of Pope John XXIII.

This was a very moving and inspiring book.  It’s a collection of a lot of different elements–the bulk is formed of his diaries, arranged chronologically from when he was a seminarian  (for some reason, written as “seminarist” in this book) through when he was Holy Father. Things that impressed me:

*John XXIII’s deep holiness. He’s always reflecting on how to grow in holiness himself, and inspire that in others. His ideas for retreats, outreaches and

*his spiritual testament and will, showing the state of his life and faith towards the end of his life.

*prayers that he wrote for various occasions and various saints. Just one out of many that is impressive and sweet: One written in 1960 to “St. Joseph the Worker.” A lot of the language in it prefigures a major theme of the Vatican II documents: holiness in everyday life.

*in the appendices, a section of “maxims heard or gleaned from various sources” that Pope John XXIII made as a seminarian.  It contains quotes from Scripture, the saints and church documents, all pointing towards  holiness and heaven.  I have been a huge quote fan since I was young–some of my most prized possessions are various quotation books, like a number of Bartlett’s Quotations, that were gifts from my father, also a huge quote lover.  For some time, I’ve had a goal to collect various scraps of things into a commonplace book, or inspire my children to start one of their own.   Reading John XXIII’s selections is giving me a nudge to get that going this year.

4.  Books by John Paul II. So, so many. Just two of my favorites:


This was answering a series of questions put by journalist Vittorio Messori about the Catholic faith, truth in other faiths, and just human life over all.  I love this one; I haven’t read it in years but I’m pulling it off the shelf to read again.

I love the poetry of John Paul II.  I have several versions of his poetry, and I think this book includes most of them. I shared two of his poems  (read them here and here) three years ago when JPII was beatified.

5. Books about John Paul II.  Again, there are so many, but here are three (plus one not quite “out” yet).


George Weigel’s Witness to Hope is the definitive biography of JPII.  It is fantastic, and really a must-read by everyone college age on up. But at more than 1,000 pages, it is a long read.  For those who want a more popular and good introduction to the heroism, holiness and charisma of John Paul II, may I suggest Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves by Jason Evert.


I really enjoyed this book.  The short biographical chapters remind us just what a remarkable man John Paul II was and why he is “the great,” and it works really well to organize the rest of the book into JPII’s five loves: young people, human love, the Blessed Sacrament, the Virgin Mary, and the Cross.  And this one is just a bit over 200 pages–much more manageable.  I plan to have my kids read this book, and hope that it whets their appetite down the road for tackling Witness to Hope.

Peggy Noonan’s John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father was a gift to me by one of my sisters many years ago, and I must confess I’ve never read it.  Pulling off the shelf to give it a go this summer, perhaps?

This book looks so promising: The Story of Saint John Paul II: A Boy Who Became Pope by Fabiola Garza. I downloaded this on Kindle because I didn’t think (rightly) that a print review copy would arrive before writing about JPII books.  Regrettably, there are some glitches with the e-version.  You can read and listen to it, but the illustrations aren’t there.  I think it being worked on, and I can’t wait to see a physical copy of this book, and an improved e-version.  I’ll be writing about it once I do.

6. Links about JP II

*21 Awesome Facts about John Paul II.

*Loved this “Letter to Artists” excerpts read by students at John Paul the Great University. “Beauty will save the world.”

7.  Finally, I couldn’t resist sharing–yet again!– John Paul II autotuned.  I just LOVE this one.

Linking up with Jen Fulwiler for 7 Quick Takes.

What books/videos/resources/links can you share about 2popesaints?