Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Nancy Piccione

Not Far From the Kingdom of God: UPDATED

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best cartoon I've seen Remember Steve Jobs. #thankyouste... on Twitpic

Thomas Peters’ cartoon of Steve Jobs at the Pearly Gates, going viral on Twitter today, really sums up my feelings today about Steve Jobs–that he in reality is not far from the Kingdom of God.  ( For some reason the “TwitPic” link is not working well, or at least it doesn’t look like very good resolution as I write this in draft form–you can visit this link to see this simple but practically perfect cartoon in much better resolution.)

I am uber-geeky about the death of Steve Jobs, and basically warrant some of the criticism people are having of the outsize reactions to Jobs’ death.  Last night, I subscribed to the Twitter hashtag #apple so I could show our family all the tweets streaming in for Jobs.  I laughed loudly when a Facebook friend, fond of putting up photos of the wrong celebrity when one dies (Liam Neeson instead of Leslie Nielson, for example), put a photo of Bill Gates up with the caption, “Steve Jobs, you will be missed.”

And this morning, I actually, truly, tweeted and put on Facebook, “At Mass this am, saw 2 others wearing jeans & black, but I was too shy to ask if they were, like me, geeky & doing it for Steve Jobs.”

From what I can discover, Steve Jobs professed no faith, but he is one of several famous people I consider “not far from the Kingdom of God” because of their desire for truth, beauty, and goodness.  Another example is Clint Eastwood–he says he does not believe in God, but how can a person make the movies “Gran Torino” or “Invictus” without some kind of yearning and desire for the Good?

Steve Jobs or Clint Eastwood remind me of the Calormen soldier Emeth in C.S. Lewis’ The Last Battle, last book in the Chronicles of Narnia series.  For those who have not read it, Emeth arrives in Aslan’s country to Aslan’s welcome, but Emeth protests that he has always followed and sought Tash, the demonic “god” of the Calormens.  How could Aslan accept him as a son?  Aslan replies, “Beloved, .. unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly.  For all find what they truly seek.”

There are tons of Web reflections and tributes to Steve Jobs today. I especially enjoyed Jeff Geerling’s tribute: “Steve“, in which Geerling reminds us of Jobs’ opposition to porn on the App store, and many of his other terrific qualities.   His love of beauty and a clean design for Apple products, even the parts customers would not generally see, shows there was something in him that sought and delighted in goodness. The Anchoress also had a great reflection and roundup of various reactions around the Web.  And Marc Cardaronella, a local friend we know in real life (I featured his wife Shannon as a “Meet a Reader” early this year), shares Steve Jobs “life lessons for Catholic leaders.”

A friend on Facebook responded to my “wearing jeans and black at Mass” status that today’s Gospel, from Luke 11, was great, and in re-reading it, I thought about Jobs and his relentless searching and knocking, and how the Lord promises that the door is always opened.  May it be so, and may Jobs’ soul, through the mercy of God, rest in peace:

‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’


UPDATE:  I don’t know how I missed several points in my original post.  One, that I (and our whole family) has multiple, multiple Apple products.  I am not going to even count them because I fear it would be embarrassing.  And I have never gotten rid of one.

For instance, when a nephew told me Apple offers a 10 percent discount at the Apple store if you bring in an old iPod or other device, I brought the first iPod (now nonworking even after my cardboard fixes) my husband got me years ago, to an Apple store in the plans of getting a discount, and I accidentally on purpose forgot to turn it in.

That reminds me that it is my husband who loves and points out to me all the new Apple products and how beautiful they are.  So I am in gratitude to him for getting us started on the Apple path, because  Apple products have saved me so much time and angst from my Windows days, I can’t even begin to add them up.

Finally, how did I neglect, when I was retweeting the fact profusely, about the fact that Steve Jobs was adopted, and what his unplanned conception might have meant in the post-Roe world?  MacBeth has a tear-inducing reflection about that here.  Dare you to read it without tearing up.

Meet a Reader: Rebecca Sitte

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Many thanks to the new campus minister at Peoria Notre Dame, Rebecca Sitte, for agreeing to be my Meet a Reader this month. 
How we know you:  Originally from North Dakota, I moved to the Peoria diocese six years ago while working with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). Currently, I’m working at Peoria Notre Dame High School as a full-time campus minister, where I plan class retreats, start small group Bible studies, and offer mission trips. PND students receive a great religious education, and with campus ministry, we hope to provide more opportunities for students to truly encounter Jesus Christ and to see just how relevant He is to their daily lives.
Why I love reading:  Reading opens the mind and heart to new ideas and can help us grow. I’ve loved to read since I was a small child, and I still enjoy gaining new knowledge and new perspectives from different books. And it’s a great way to unwind! In the past couple of years, most of the books that I’ve read are about the faith in some way or another. I especially love to read the lives of the saints and to hear how God has worked in their lives—it helps me to see how He’s working in my life today.
What I’m reading now:  I usually have a stack of eight books on my nightstand! Right now I’m reading The World’s First Love by Fulton Sheen. I love the way Sheen writes—it’s engaging and insightful, and this book has helped me to see Mary in a new light. I’m also reading Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe. It’s a wonderful book with practical advice on how we can maintain peace in our hearts even in the midst of exterior trials.
My favorite book:  My favorite book is the Bible. Even though I’ve read some passages time and time again, I still learn something new every time I pick it up! A few of my other favorites include Story of a Soul (St. Therese of Lisieux), God is Love (Pope Benedict XVI), The Lamb’s Supper (Scott Hahn), and Letters to a Young Catholic(George Weigel).

First, What Are You Reading? Volume 14, October 2011

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Here are my answers to the four questions I ask on the first of each month:

first, what are you reading?
what do you like best about it?
what do you like least?
what’s next on your list to read?
As always, I hope you’ll consider your current reads on your blog and/or sharing here in the comments or on Facebook.  Happy reading!
First, what are you reading?
The Wilder Life:  My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.


What do you like best about them?
The Wilder Life is so wonderful—it’s writer Wendy McClure’s poignant, meandering and very funny months-long pilgrimage to Laura Ingalls Wilder sites and re-reading the books and related books.  McClure had grown up loving the books (not the television show, as she continually tells us), like I had, so I found her perspective so … me.   And I know I’m not the only one–those of us who loved the Laura books as a girl are featured in this book, primarily McClure herself.  We’re a varied bunch, but it’s a fun sorority to be a part of.

Heaven is for Real is very poignant and sweetly written story from a Dad’s perspective about his son’s near death experience and visions of heaven.  Todd is an evangelical pastor, but nothing in the book contradicts the Catholic faith that I could tell.  In fact, he makes a point of mentioning Catholics several times in a respectful way, which I find refreshing.  I did enjoy reading this quick, inspiring read after a fellow school mom recommended it (See, I actually do ask people in person, what are you reading? Thanks, Jeanne!).

What I love most about this book is not the book itself.   When my 5th grade daughter saw it on my nightstand, she mentioned that her teacher was reading it, and was it okay for her to read?  I said sure.  Since she is a fast reader, she finished it by the next day and was ready to talk.  Wow, the conversations, especially late-night conversations, we have had about this book.  I also just found out in recent days that a junior high teacher is reading it with all the upper grades, and so my 8th grader has read it and discussed it as well, so we’ve been able to share a lot about it.

My husband is a theologian, and I’ve been known to joke on many occasions, well, I’m not the theologian in the family.  Turns out my husband has some more competition in the theologian department.  This is a fact we already knew with the Zen-like questions our son used to ask when he was 4 (such as, “Can you spell Jesus without any letters?”).

What do you like least about them?
Oh, I cried and cried at the end of The Wilder Life, not only because I finished the book on my late father’s birthday, as McClure reflected on her own mother’s death a year before.  I also cried because I expected a plot twist that didn’t happen.  That may sound odd, but I don’t want to give anything away about the book.  If you have read it and were also waiting for a  certain “plot twist,” let’s talk about it in the comments, and see if you agree with me that the ending is so poignant on many levels.  Crying at the end of a book is not really a bad thing, so it’s not really something I “didn’t like.”

This isn’t really a think I disliked about Heaven is For Real, just an interesting point that came up in discussions with a young theologian in our house.  Todd Burpo keeps mentioning that his son couldn’t possibly know some of the details from Scripture that describe heaven.  What occurred to our 5th grader was that as a Catholic, even a 4-year-old would have heard some of those Scriptures at Mass, in particular around the certain feasts like we just had several days ago at Mass on the feast of the Archangels.

What’s next on your list to read?
Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire by Rafe Esquith.  Already partway through and enjoying this one.

I truly wish I could be reading Gone With the Wind along with my 13-year-old daughter, but I’m not.  I brought home a handsome new edition from the library thinking I might try to read it, but she absconded with it and I quickly realized I would not have time for this huge read right now.  So I did the next best thing and asked a dear longtime online friend, author and GWTW lover, Cay Gibson, for any “content issues” I should keep in mind.  And because she is dear, she gave lots of great ideas and also comfort, as 13 was the age she first read GWTW.  Much as I would love to keep up with everything my kids read, sometimes you have to outsource, and I’m glad to have friends to count on for this.

So, what are you reading these days?  Any books to share?

A Therese for Everyone

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Did anyone else notice how many Teresas are connected to October?  No matter how she is spelled, Therese or Teresa has a hold on this month.  The month starts with St. Therese, the “Little Flower’s” feast on October 1; St. Teresa of Avila’s feast is  October 15; and at least two others Teresas were beatified or canonized in October—Mother Teresa and St. Teresa Benedicta a Cruce, better known as St. Edith Stein.  And books, including several newer titles, abound on these great holy women.

If you must choose only one book about the Teresas, make it Shirt of Flame: A Year with Saint Therese of Lisieux  by Heather King.  This is kind of a spiritual biography of St. Therese, and partly a memoir of King’s Catholic life.   King is best known for her memoir Parched about her life recovering from an addition to alcohol, and Redeemed, chronicling her conversion to Catholicism.
Each chapter of Shirt of Flame is a month and a theme from Therese’s life—for instance, October’s theme is “The Story of A Soul (On Offering Up Our Work). “  You will see Therese in a deeper and different way after reading Shirt of Flame, and you yourself will be different.   Consider this quote from July:  The Little Way (On the Martyrdom of Everyday Life):
“We can try, at great personal sacrifice, to be perfectly righteous, a perfect friend, perfectly responsive, perfectly available, perfectly forgiving.  But at the heart of our efforts must lie the knowledge that, by ourselves, we can do, heal, or correct nothing.  The point is not to be perfect, but to “perfectly” leave Christ to do, heal, and correct in us what he wills.”

The end-of-chapter prayers (written by King) are worth the price of the book alone.  The prayers, like the reflections throughout, help us learn from St. Therese about the brokenness in all of us, and how Christ is there, too.
Shirt of Flame had me noticing how similar were the spiritual darknesses of St. Therese and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.  Both experienced a dryness that persisted until the end of life, after times of consolation; both sought holiness through little actions.  As Mother Teresa wrote to a spiritual director, “If I ever become a saint—I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’  I will continually be absent from heaven—to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”  Here, she deepens as she echoes St. Therese’s famous promise, “After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth.” 
This Mother Teresa letter, and many others, are collected and organized by MC (Missionary of Charity) Father Brian Kolodiejchuk in 2007’s Come Be My Light:  The Private Writings of the “Saint of Calcutta.”  The book is quite comprehensive, almost overwhelming at times, in its recounting of Mother’s retreats, letters and other assorted documents.  Gems like the “saint of darkness” quote above, make it worthwhile.
A completely different, and much lighter, book, than either of the above, is the engaging new Mother Teresa and Me by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, about the author’s many encounters over the years with Mother Teresa, from a chance meeting in Washington, D.C., to a long-running correspondence.  Each chapter is charmingly framed with a reprint of a letter Mother wrote to her. 

Some of my favorite parts of Mother Teresa and Me:  Blessed Teresa was fond of “express novenas,” (yes, that’s what Mother Teresa called them) saying the Memorare nine times in a row, instead of over the course of nine days.  Who knew? As one who frequently forgets about mid-way through a novena, this has definite appeal to me.  I also found Cooper O’Boyle’s memories of Fr. John Hardon, S.J. enlightening, and a nice addition to this volume.
This is my October column that appears in this weekend’s Catholic Post.  Come back all month long here at the book group blog for discussion on books about saints named Teresa, author interviews, and more.

QR Codes as a Tool for Catholic Evangelism

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I’ve been seeing QR codes everywhere, and after reading about it this past summer in a David Pogue column explaining new technology trends.  QR codes are, as Pogue writes:

:those weird, square, pixelated black-and-white bar codes that are cropping up on billboards, movie posters, signs, magazine ads and business cards. Nobody ever bothered to explain them. (They’re QR codes — quick response bar codes. You can scan them with your iPhone’s or Android phone’s camera, using a special app that translates it into an ad or takes you to a related Web page.)

So earlier this summer, I downloaded an App that “reads” them, and our family has been finding them everywhere.  We were at the grocery store at the beach, and there was a QR code on the box of watermelon.  One of the kids scanned it and it had a mobile-ready recipes, information.  It was cute!

One of the things we all noticed about the QR codes is usually how useless they are–they bring you to a web page that might not even be mobile-ready, so you can’t even read it, or just not that helpful.   Many marketing pros and others have written about this on the web, and even highlighted the many unhelpful or just plain bad QR code “landing pages.”

As we kept discovering them, the good, the bad and the ugly QR codes, depending on where the code “landed” you, I thought, why couldn’t this be an opportunity to invite people to prayer?  Or find a way to spread the word about something Catholic?

So I proposed to my editor that we put a QR code in the Catholic Post.

Fortunately, he’s always up for trying out new ideas.

It would be related to my September column featuring 9/11 books, but “land” people who scanned the QR code at a page with the prayer of Father Mychal Judge.

The blog is mobile-ready, so the prayer is easy to read on a phone or other mobile device.  I actually back-dated the post/prayer to September 11 last year, since my column reaches some people before my column posts on the blog.

Here is the QR code I generated using one of the many free sites that offer QR codemaking:

My thinking was that a person who might not read the Post normally might see the QR code (at their parents’ or grandparents’ house, perhaps?), and, if they were familiar with using them, still scan the code for fun, as we have done so much in our family in recent months.  And then perhaps that unnamed person would pray the prayer, or at least be inspired to read more of the Post and learn more about the Faith.

Before the Post QR code printed, our local parish bulletin featured a QR code, a pretty cool one with the “Word on Fire” logo in the middle, which landed my iPhone at the promo video for Father Robert Barron’s Catholicism series.  I was so glad to see this great use of a QR code, better than pretty much any of the ones to promote a product that I have seen.

I am hoping to do this again in the future, perhaps along with my October column on books about Teresas, landing at a prayer by St. Therese or Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.   Any suggestions on a good prayer for that?

What do you think about QR codes?  Do you use them?   Do you think they have the potential to be a tool for evangelism?

Q&A with Kelly Ann Lynch, author of "He Said Yes: The Story of Father Mychal Judge"

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I’m so grateful to author Kelly Ann Lynch for doing this Q&A with me this month about her book He Said Yes:  The Story of Father Mychal Judge, considering her busy schedule this month marking the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.    Thanks, Kelly!


Father Judge was your family friend for many years.  After his death on 9/11, how did you get the idea to write a book about his life?

One of the first thoughts I had after Father Mychal’s death was that his story needed to be shared, especially with the next generation of children who might otherwise never know of the man who changed the lives of so many.


I was at a weekday Mass when the words, He Said Yes, came to me, and I began picturing Father Mychal’s life and all the ways he said yes … from the time he was a little child in Brooklyn and began shining shoes to help make ends meet for his family; becoming a priest; ministering to the homeless, recovering alcoholics and the dying; becoming the fire chaplain to the New York City Fire Department; befriending NYPD Detective Steven McDonald and his family; blessing my daughter before her surgery; and ultimately saying “yes” on September 11, 2001 when he gave his life.  I believe the inspiration to write this book came directly from the Holy Spirit.  I was “on fire” when I left Mass that day after hearing those words (He Said Yes) and began writing notes immediately.  I could see the story unfolding before my eyes.  I called a friend – an artist who created the first logo for Mychal’s Message – M. Scott Oatman – and I asked him about getting together to create a book.  He said, “yes” and then explained how he had an idea for an illustration, using doves in place of the Twin Towers, to depict that fateful day.  That illustration, the last page in my book, was the first painting completed.  I believe the book was a product of divine inspiration and two friends who said, “yes.”


After showing the book to Franciscan priest, Father Cassian A. Miles, OFM, he said, “this book should be published.”  We contacted Paulist Press, and … well, they said, “yes” too.  The book has sold over 6,000 copies since its release in 2007.

I write in my review that I felt your children’s book was more successful than other bios of Fr. Judge in capturing Father Judge’s essential work and how he “said yes.”    Thoughts on that?  Was it easy or difficult to write?

It was always my desire to share Father Mychal’s story with children.  I believe in children – their prayers, their presence, their witness – they are the next generation.  To teach them about a man who lived simply by loving others (while passing judgment on none) was my way of allowing God to work through me and leave a beautiful legacy for Father Mychal – the man, the friend, the priest who changed the life of my family.  The book is written simply and shares the story of the priest I knew, the stories I knew.  It is written to encourage and inspire children to be the best they can be, to say, “yes” and to allow God to work through them.  I believe it also teaches children that they can become anything they desire when trusting in God’s Will for their lives and that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when following God.

Your website (www.kellyannlynch.blogspot.com) shows a range of activities that you are currently involved in—speaking, presentations, storytelling—to spread the Catholic faith.    Are you planning to write any more books in the future?

I have written another book that is currently in the process of being published (by Paulist Press).  It is a children’s book and encourages children to be who they are.  It is okay to be different because God has a special and unique plan for each of our lives.  It’s a unique book, unlike any others on the market, in that it is a fictional story based loosely on actual accounts in my own life.  This book was also inspired by the Holy Spirit.  Two others that I am also working on are written for children.  I work with children all year in “Armata Bianca” (White Army), a children’s rosary group, where we discuss and learn the beauty of growing up Catholic in today’s world.  I encourage the children to wear a scapular, pray the rosary, and know their saint friends, while teaching them the importance of prayer, penance and the sacraments.  

Tell Catholic Post readers more about Mychal’s Message, a non-profit you started to help the homeless and poor.

Mychal’s Message was founded in 2002 by my daughter, Shannon Hickey.  It is a non-profit organization created to honor the life of Father Mychal F. Judge, O.F.M. (From our website, my words):  During his life, Father Mychal shared his message with the rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick, firefighters, police officers, and friars, and the many men, women and children who called him ‘friend.’ His message was simple, interdenominational, and touched many lives. It is the mission of Mychal’s Message to continue sharing that message with others. It is a grace to walk in his footsteps and encounter the homeless and poor, meeting basic needs, while restoring dignity with love.
Mychal’s Message began in January 2002 as 11-year-old Shannon marked the anniversary of her liver transplant. Every year she celebrated her anniversary with a party, presents and cake. That year, Shannon decided to mark the anniversary in a more meaningful way. In lieu of gifts, she asked for socks for the homeless. “I’ll give them away in memory of Father Mychal,” she told us. Father Mychal, a dear family friend, was an inspiration to Shannon and on her transplant anniversary in 2002, she wanted to celebrate her life by remembering his.
Word spread quickly and before long, Shannon collected 1,500 pair of socks. A printed card with Father Mychal’s prayer was attached to each pair. As those first socks were being distributed to the homeless, we realized that the prayer was as important as the socks. The prayer became Mychal’s message. Father Mychal inspired Shannon, Shannon inspired us, and Mychal’s Message was born.
On the Breadline at St. Francis Church in New York City where those first socks were distributed, a man approached my mother (Shannon’s Nana) and asked her for underwear.  My mom could not forget that man or his request all day.  That night, she told us, “I know what I want for my birthday this year … men’s underwear.”  And “Blessed Bloomers” was born … and we return to the streets of New York City every year on the anniversary of September 11 with new underwear for the homeless.
Mychal’s Message is a family-run ministry.  My dad hand writes a personal thank you note to each person who sends a donation.  My husband sorts and packs the vans each time we travel into the city.  My mom does the shopping and packing.  I write the newsletters and press releases.  My children distribute the items to the homeless.  And there are no salaries paid, no overhead expenses other than printing of prayer cards, newsletters and postage.  

It’s been 10 years since 9/11.  What did you do to mark the anniversary?

We attended the annual Walk of Remembrance in NYC last weekend, and that is always a special day for our family as we remember and honor Father Mychal and all those who gave their lives on September 11.  


On the anniversary of September 11, as a family, were on the Breadline of St. Francis of Assisi Church in NYC to distribute our annual “Blessed Bloomers” to the homeless.  This year, we also distributed a full-size chocolate candy bar to each of the men and women we encounter – something “sweet” on a “bitter” day.  We attended the 11:00 Mass at St. Francis Church (the firefighter’s Mass) with FDNY Chaplain Father Christopher Keenan, OFM.  We  then went to the Firemen’s Museum for the 1:00 dedication of Father Mychal’s helmet and bunker coat (found after 9/11 at Ground Zero, unharmed and intact).  We had hoped to visit Totowa, NJ, just outside NYC, where Father Mychal is buried, but the recent flooding in that area prevented us.

Is there anything else you would like to share with Catholic Post readers, or anything else you wish I would have asked?


It has been a blessing for me and for my family to walk in the footsteps of Father Mychal Judge.  We are always aware that none of this would be possible without the generous donations of people all over the country.  And we are grateful, so grateful, that others allow us to use their donations to help others in Father Mychal’s memory.


I had hoped to share with Catholic Post readers a photo of Father Mychal’s grave, so when Kelly Ann Lynch mentioned she would have liked to have visited his grave on 9/11, I knew this was the right day.   The reason I  have a photo of Father Mychal’s grave (this one from last summer) is that my husband’s grandparents are buried just a few yards away in the same cemetery, and so for years, when we make a visit East to visit family, we visit his grave, as well.  His grave is always decorated.