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Time for a Mid-Lent Re-Set

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Following is my column that appears in this weekend’s print edition of The Catholic Post. I invite your feedback.

It is a truth not universally acknowledged—but it should be—that the best ideas are often difficult—not easy— to explain in a meaningful way. The hallmark of good writing or speaking is simplicity, but nearly always getting there is very hard work.

Case in point: I have a vivid memory from years ago of a good friend, a mom of many, sharing her annoyance at a talk she heard about how mothers always live the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. For instance, the speaker argued that when we feed our children, we are “feeding the hungry,” and so on. My friend was bothered by how gimmicky the talk sounded, and how spiritually unsatisfying it was, despite the promising subject matter.

When I read and love a book like Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned and Keep Your Day Job by Kerry Weber, I might be tempted to think, “Well, that must have been an easy book to write—try to live out the corporal works of mercy during Lent, and write about it.”

But the book excels not just because of a “good idea,” but Weber’s fresh voice and clear Catholic perspective—and a lot of hard work.

Mercy in the City indeed tells the story of how Weber, managing editor of “America” magazine, tries to live out the Corporal Works of Mercy one Lent in New York City, but it succeeds because of her spiritual maturity and natural ability to share her life and faith.

There are clever touches, like each chapter’s witty title, reminiscent of a 19th century novel, describing what will occur (“In which I attempt to create a Lent-appropriate date”). Those make me smile. But her reflections, some poignant, some gently ironic, on how and why to live mercy, is what makes Mercy in the City great.

Weber invites readers to join her journey trying to the corporal works of mercy, and we see her real stumbles, doubts and successes. She also offers a gentle challenge to us consider ways in which we can be more in tune to the needs of those around us, and live Lent well, no matter where we are.

Mercy is the City is a great mid-Lent re-set book. You know how spirits flag in the middle of Lent—giving up chocolate seems so hard (at least for me!)—so it’s good to have a reminder of what we are meant to do during Lent: pray, fast, and give alms.

Or, as Weber so aptly puts it, “It’s easy to feel broken down in these first weeks of Lent .. when trying to balance the things we want to do with the things we should do, and trying to create as much overlap between the two as possible. And above all, trying to unite these two things with God’s will for us.”

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You might also be interested in:

*Author Kerry Weber is the sister of Matt Weber, author of the humorous Andy Rooney-style book, Fearing the Stigmata: Humorously Holy Stories of a Young Catholic’s Search for a Culturally Relevant Faith. (Read my review of that book here–I really, really enjoyed it).   Clearly, this family knows how to write substantial and yet fun-to-read books that leave readers with both amusing and edifying stories, as well as a gentle invitation to live in the world as a more intentional, faithful and better person.

*Also, frequent and careful readers of Reading Catholic may notice that one of the Lent Book Series guest writers already reviewed Mercy in the City.  Sue Wozniak reviewed this book for the Lent Book Series earlier this month. It’s clearly a book worth reading.

Mary’s Girlhood

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The Girlhood of Mary Virgin (1848)

A poem for the feast of the Annunciation by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

This is that blessed Mary, pre-elect
God’s Virgin. Gone is a great while, and she
Dwelt young in Nazareth of Galilee.
Unto God’s will she brought devout respect,
Profound simplicity of intellect,
And supreme patience. From her mother’s knee
Faithful and hopeful; wise in charity;
Strong in grave peace; in pity circumspect.

So held she through her girlhood; as it were
An angel-water’d lily, that near God
Grows and is quiet. Till, one dawn at home,
She woke in her white bed, and had no fear
At all,–yet wept till sunshine, and felt aw’d:
Because the fulness of the time was come.

Practicing Mercy {Lent Book Series}

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Today the Lent Book Series features Sue Wozniak (writing about one of my recent favorite books!).

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Ever since last Lent, I have been thinking about doing something different for Lent this year. Sure, I will do the usual fast, abstinence, and daily Mass attendance as often as I can.

But that “giving up” thing just doesn’t seem to work for me anymore. What is left to give up? We watch what we eat so sweets and desserts are already gone. We are not big drinkers and I don’t smoke. We eat as little fatty food as possible. So giving up is not really a sacrifice.

I heard a great homily last year during Lent. Fr. John Alt at St. Rita in the Desert parish in Vail, Arizona,  spoke about almsgiving as an alternative to “giving up.” He encouraged his parishioners to focus on one of the Corporal Works of Mercy each week of Lent. That concept appealed to me but I didn’t do much with it last year.

This year, I was determined to try to perform at least one of the Corporal Works of Mercy each week during Lent. I was looking for something to read during Lent that would inspire me to achieve my goal. I found a great book that has given me just what I need: Mercy in the City: How to How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job by Kerry Weber.


I wanted practical advice on how to carry out the Works of Mercy in everyday life, especially some of the more difficult ones such as “freeing the Imprisoned.” I mean really, how is someone like me a supposed to free a prisoner?

Kerry Weber, the author of Mercy in the City, is a twentysomething young woman, who lives and works in New York City. She writes about her journey during Lent to complete all the Corporal Works of Mercy. While she and I are very different ( she is a writer, I am a retiree), I found that her approach and the story of her journey during Lent was just what I was looking for.

As Weber looks for ways to carry out the Corporal Works, she learns that there are many creative solutions to each of the them. She learns to look at people on the subway—actually look them in the face. She reflects that street people are someone’s father, brother, mother, sister, child. They are human beings. We have a tendency not to look, and not want to see people on the street.

In the past year, I seem to see more and more people begging on street corners. It is probably because I have spent quite a bit of time in some major cities, such as Chicago, Tucson, and Anaheim. But they are on the corners of Peoria too. I have always wondered, do I give them money? Will they just spend it on drugs and alcohol? I give to Catholic Charities and Salvation Army so that is what I can do. But, really, I see now that is not really giving enough of myself to “feed the hungry.” Weber’ has similar questions and she observes that one of those people on the street might be Jesus. She thinks she can share half of her sandwich with someone; she volunteers at a bread line.

Throughout the book, Weber describes each Corporal Work of Mercy and how she approached them. She writes to a chaplain at San Quentin and eventually visits the prison and interviews some of the prisoners. She realizes that many of the prisoners are good men who have done bad things. The chaplain conducts religious education programs within the prison. She discusses meeting these men and learning their stories.

While I am not planning to visit San Quentin, my brother recently asked if some of the family could write to a prisoner at Menard. So I will begin my actions by writing this man a letter telling him that God does love him and that we are thinking about him. I have begun taking dollars bills and placing them in a part of my purse that I can reach easily and will be dropping them in the can as I pass a homeless person on the street. So what if they don’t buy food with it, it really might be Jesus and I will look the person in the eye and say “get yourself something to eat.”

I plan to keep a journal during Lent about my own reflections and spiritual growth as I carry out the Corporal Works of Mercy. I hope that I can continue by regularly volunteering at the food pantry or at Hospice after Lent is over. I pray that I am successful in giving of my inner self to those in need and showing others God’s love through my actions.

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Sue Wozniak is the retired Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL. Sue has been married to Ken for 46 years. They have five children and four grandchildren. She is a member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Peoria.

Closer to Joseph, Closer to Christ {Lent Book Series}

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Today the Lent Book Series features the clever and well-read Bonnie Engstrom.
An aside from me first– Happy Feast of St. Joseph, everyone! This is one of our favorite feasts in the years–we have a Joseph-heavy family, and we shall be celebrating much like we do every year (read about that here).  I hope you’re celebrating too.
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Father Gary Caster was my college chaplain. I consider myself spoiled because of it.

Father Caster is a magnificent homilist. He’s funny, passionate, intelligent, and orthodox. He doesn’t mind crying babies, he gets a kick out of restless kids, and he knows how to use the microphone to wake up anyone silly enough to not be paying attention.

If Father Caster wasn’t your college chaplain you don’t have to be jealous, you can read his books and it’s almost as good as being with him in person. Almost.

When I sat down to read Father Caster’s latest book Joseph: The Man Who Raised Jesus, I was delighted that the introduction read just like a dinner party conversation, with Father telling stories about his family and friends and faith.

The introduction did a beautiful job of setting the tone for the book, establishing why St. Joseph is so important to Father Caster; for me it created a lens with which to read and better appreciate the book. It set the tone for a book that is actually deeply personal and not just another theological look at Mary’s husband.

The book itself is rich with Scripture and references to the Catechism, two things that I really appreciate because it shows that Father Caster is speaking not on his own authority but with the Church.

The meat of the book is fifteen chapters that look at Joseph through a specific title, beginning with “The Spouse of Mary” and “The Father of Jesus” and then moving to “Man of Obedience,” “Man of Faith,” and so on. Fr. Caster uses the chapters to not only teach us about Joseph and his role in Jesus’ life, but to also call us forward in our own pursuit of God and His Will.

Highlights from Joseph: The Man Who Raised Jesus:

…the chapter on obedience, which was especially beautiful and moving for me.
…the chapter “Man of Poverty” which inspired me to work on creating a home that could be described as Joseph’s: “a place of reverence for the Law, simplicity of life, and respect for human labor.”
…the introduction, in which Father writes endearingly about his mother’s devotion to St. Joseph;
…the chapter “Shepherd, Protector, Guardian” on St. Joseph’s patronage.

Perhaps my favorite section of all is from the chapter “Man of Courage”:

“Joseph becomes a living witness of Mary’s Magnificat. He accepts the strength of God’s arm and is lifted up with the lowly. He is filled and sustained by the good things of God, and this faithful servant receives the help of God. With the courage that comes from trusting God, Joseph comes to possess the lowliness of heart that is the hallmark of Jesus’ own heart.”

In the end, it is Jesus’ own heart that Father Caster and St. Joseph want us to see, know, and love. Reading Joseph: The Man Who Raised Jesus not only brought me closer to Joseph, like the point of every saint, it brought me closer to Christ.

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Bonnie Engstrom is a central Illinois wife, mother and writer.  She blogs at A Knotted Life, and is a regular contributor to the online magazine Ignitum Today.  She’s also a co-founder of the Behold Conference.  Bonnie and her husband Travis are the parents of five small children—Lydia, Bennet, James, Teresa and Joseph. They are members of St. Luke parish in Eureka.  Their third child, James Fulton, was stillborn and came back to life after being without a pulse for sixty-one minutes.  His alleged miracle is attributed to the intercession of Venerable Fulton Sheen.  On March 6, the reported miracle was unanimously approved by a Vatican panel of medical experts , another step on the way to Sheen’s beatification.

Celebrating St. Patrick Through Books {Lent Book Series}

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The Lent Book Series today features Katie Young, a homeschooling mom of seven, blogger and lover of all kinds of Catholic feasts.  Today she and her children share some book ideas for St. Patrick’s Day.

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Growing up, I thought St. Patrick’s Day was all about the wearing the color green or else you’d be getting pinched all day long. Youch!! So, if I bump into you today and you’re not wearing green, you better watch out.

As the years have gone by, thankfully, the Spirit plants a desire to learn and grow in faith more, and my celebration of St. Patrick’s Day has evolved.

Early on in our marriage, my husband and I started the tradition with our kids of learning about the lives of the saints and celebrating feast days. We do this by reading books and stories about their lives, eating fun/themed foods, singing songs, making crafts, and more.

We found St. Patrick to be one of those “easy” saints when jumping into this new learning experience together. There is so much information and ideas out there to really celebrate his feast in a meaningful way.

Our family has really enjoyed getting to know St. Patrick, while keeping some of our own silly Irish traditions. The following four books are ones that we always pull out and read this time of year. I not only shared a little bit about what *I* think about the books, but also asked each of my older children to read and offer some thoughts and a review as well (great homeschooling assignment, no??)…

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St Patrick’s Day by Gail Gibbons

“This book tells a little about the life of St. Patrick and also about the reasons for the decorations, symbols, and celebrations and how they came about. It’s a better book for younger kids because it is a more of an introduction, but I wanted a little more detail on his life.” ~Lillian, age 9

I agree with Lillian about this book being more appropriate for the younger crew – this book is probably best for ages 2-7. What a great description of his life, the symbols of St. Patrick’s Day and also some legends surrounding the saint. The pictures are bright and fun and the flow of the book definitely will keep little ones attentive. One legend was new to me – “It is said that the sun didn’t set when Saint Patrick died and that it shone in the sky for twelve days and nights.” Cool!!

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The Story of Saint Patrick’s Day by Patricia A. Pingry

“It tells you the story of St. Patrick and why you celebrate it. I liked it because it’s a good book and you celebrate that feast the day after my birthday.” ~Elizabeth, age 7

This adorable little board book is one that the littlest ones can grab and look through many times, without ripping it – yippee! I love how on each page, there is a word or two highlighted to point out the main idea of the page. Great for those first readers to notice and understand even more. The pictures are lovely and the words are very simple for little ones to understand and enjoy.

A little warning…. we do have some little leprechauns that come to our house and make a mess on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, but they are also nice enough to leave some green goodies (Andes candies, tic tacs, Lucky Charms, a dollar bill, etc…). On one of the pages, it says, “Leprechauns are make-believe” – we had to kind of ad lib when we read this part. Our tradition is all in fun and the kids look forward to the visit of St. Patrick’s little friends each year.

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Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland by: Tomie dePaola

“Tomie dePaola’s St. Patrick book expresses a good example of St. Patrick’s life. DePaola is a good and devoted man. His books really express God and the lives of the saints.” ~Jonathan, age 12

We are big Tomie dePaola fans in our house! Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland is one of many saint books that he has blessed us with. He beautifully takes the life of a saint and creates a story for kids to sit down, read and enjoy, year after year.

The artwork is lovely as always too In his great story-telling format, he takes appropriate names for the land and culture to make the story come to life- for example, Dichu and Odran were some names in this book.

One neat part of Tomie dePaola’s saint books is that he usually includes a letter written to us at the end of the book to show how he was first introduced to the saint and how he has grown in knowledge of him or her. Reading this book is a great way to “meet” good ole St. Patrick!

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Patrick, Saint of Ireland by: Joyce Denham and Diana Mayo

“ I was surprised that a small book like this could hold so much information about St. Patrick. The illustrator was a good artist too!” ~Matthew, age 11

This book is woven together from both the writings of St. Patrick and the legends that are attributed to his name. Like Tomie dePaola, Denham & Mayo draw you in to the life of the saint through a story. The illustrations and text of this book are very well done and informative.

My favorite part is that it includes some of St. Patrick’s actual writings and prayers – what a meaningful element added to help understand who this saint was and how much He loved and trusted God!

In celebration of Saint Patrick’s feast day, we will most definitely be reading these four books together, as well as singing this song…

“The Trinity Song” is from the Dogma Dogs CD, and the kids learned the motions from this song from one of our very own Peoria-diocese seminarians – Matt Deptula, who helped lead a Trinity VBS at our church a couple summers ago).

How else will we celebrate? I’ll serve the traditional corned beef and cabbage for dinner that night, probably Trinity sandwiches at lunch time (triangular shaped sandwiches – super easy!), and we will maybe do a craft. You can bet there will have been a visit from St. Patrick’s leprechauns and we will all be wearing green. I hope you will be too!!

++Saint Patrick, pray for us to be blessed with the virtues of courage, fortitude and faith.++

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Katie Young is blessed to have 8 very special people in her life. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Neil , and they have seven beautiful children together.  They live in Coal Valley and are members of Sacred Heart Church in Moline.

Her favorite thing to do is spending time with her family – whether it is playing games, watching movies, going on walks, fishing at the lake, reading books, cooking, teaching at the Young Family Academy, and most especially learning about and celebrating the richness of the Catholic faith together. You can visit their family blog at: Raising Young Ones.

Making a Catholic Home {Lent Book Series}

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Today the Lent Book Series features Britta Kreps.

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When my husband and I first got married, I assumed that living the liturgical life of the Church would be easy. He was the Director of Worship for our Church and our conversations revolved around the liturgical year much of time.

Living the liturgy was just what we did.

I naturally assumed that this would carry over into our home and that talking about and teaching the faith to our children would be easy.

There’s nothing like a dose of reality to bring us to our knees. While our Catholic faith is very tangible and accessible, faith and understanding  in a family of little ones doesn’t come without effort. My husband’s employment with the Church does NOT equal an easy road to instant faith education and practice.

Mary Newland Reed’s book, We and Our Children: Making a Catholic Home is an excellent source for the language and how-tos of making the faith present in our families every day – all the time.

I’ve read the book once and this Lent I’m reading it again with a pencil and notebook in hand!

A wise priest once preached on the necessity of reading Scripture three times in order to gain the most from its richness. He said to read through the excerpt once, then read it again slowly and prayerfully, and then one more time highlighting or making note of things that stand out.

What great advice. I think this should apply to more than just reading Scripture. That’s why I’m tackling Reed’s book again.

Lent is a great time to find an area of our lives that needs some work or needs refining. This Lent I am going to focus on how our family lives the liturgical year in our home. We and our Children is a fantastic resource.

Reed puts into words so much of what has been tumbling around in my head for 10 years! Her gift to the reader is the tools (examples, language, etc) for making the faith come alive in our homes everyday.

Reed makes the stories of the Bible come to life in language suitable for any age. By sharing her experiences with her own children, Reed encourages parents. She gives them concrete examples and suggestions as to how to broach somewhat sensitive topics like purity and chastity, all while using the richness of our faith.

I’m sad I didn’t learn about this book sooner. I feel like I’ve got some making up to do, and I plan on trying my best to incorporate her ideas as they suit my family. I want my children to live our faith in such a way that “it’s just what they do” without thinking that while living out the ordinary they become closer to the extraordinary.

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Britta Kreps has been happily married to Christopher for 11 years.  She is the mother to seven children Grace 10 yrs, Gianna 8 yrs, Tobias 6 yrs, Joshua 5 yrs., Samuel 3 yrs., Christopher, Jr. (aka Nick) is 2 and Alexander is 6 months old.  They are members of St. Patrick in Raritan.

She loves anything Catholic, reading, sewing, knitting, walking, bicycling and spending time with good friends.  She likes wearing skirts of all kinds and matching them up with sneakers– all about comfort!

She’s a homeschooling, kitchen-loving, blogging, trying-to-make-it-to-Heaven kind of mom.

You can read more from Britta at her blog  By Prayer and Petition.

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