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The Catholic Post

“Life Everlasting” A Great Resource for New & Veteran Catholics {My April column @TheCatholicPost}

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Following is my column that appears in the current print edition of The Catholic Post.

Most of us have friends, acquaintances, or family members in our community or parish who join the Catholic Church at Easter. And I know I have wondered, as do many others, what would be a good gift for a new Catholic this Easter.

A brand-new book would make a great choice: it’s Life Everlasting: Catholic Devotions and Mysteries for the Everyday Seeker by Gary Jansen.

But Life Everlasting is not just for new members of the Church— longtime Catholics and seekers interested in the Catholic faith would also find much value and interest here.

Gary Jansen, the editor of Image Books, the Catholic book imprint of The Crown Publishing Group, has written a deeply personal, as well as far-reaching book. It’s not just a book about his own life and evolution as a Catholic, but also a relatively comprehensive field guide to Catholic practice, belief, and devotions.

Jansen has a polished narrative style that is entertaining without being contrived. His book is part memoir, part instructional work in living a rich life as a Catholic believer. The book is replete with Scripture and quotes from the saints.

The book is divided into three parts. The first “The Awakening,” covers the journey ones go through to come to faith; “The Path” outlines a deceptively simple and rich seven-step path to living a Christian life; and “The Devotions” offers a range of prayers, observances, and other ways to connect with God.

“The Awakening” is a short introduction to the book, that explains both why a faith life is significant, and explaining the organizing of the remaining book.

“The Path” lists seven steps to grow in faith life: 1)be childlike; 2) focus your mind & heart; 3) make the sign (about the Sign of the Cross); 4) say the Lord’s Prayer; 5) ask, seek, knock (about trusting prayers of petition); 6) cultivate silence; and 7) give your life away (service to God and others). Each chapter/step in this section gives good examples, based on the lives of the saints as well as Jensen’s own experience. “Cultivate Silence” is an especially good chapter, with a short introduction and explanation of St. Ignatius’ Examen spiritual practice.

In “The Devotions” part, both common and new ways of praying are offered related to the saints, angels, Mary, and Jesus. For instance, in the angels chapter, Jansen shares the familiar “guardian angel” prayer, but also offers an exercise to include one’s guardian angel in prayer time.

Not everything would be for every reader, but every reader would find something of interest and some new way to pray or express faith and grow closer to God. There’s so much I loved here, and Larsen calls them all “tools” to add to “our spiritual toolbox,” a great way to look at the many ways to pray, express our devotion, and live out a vibrant Catholic faith.

Also part of the spiritual toolbox is the ingenious “Spiritual 911,” an appendix that lists many common, basic prayers, like the Lord’s Prayer and the Memorare, and also a series of prayers “for difficult times,” to feature just a few: St. Francis de Sales Prayer for Inner Peace, a prayer to St. Dymphna for Mental Healing, and a prayer to St. Joseph for Fathers and Families. The second appendix also provides a calendar of Saints.

I’m a cradle Catholic, and yet I found a lot of content that I found fresh and interesting. “Life Everlasting” is a great read for a lot of different Catholics, or even those just interested in what Catholic belief looks like.

Meet a Reader: Fr. Jim Pankiewicz {@TheCatholicPost}

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Following is the “Meet a Reader” that appears in the current print edition of The Catholic Post.

How we know you:

I’m a native of St. Joseph, MO and was ordained for the Diocese of Peoria in 2010.  My assignments have included St. Joseph-Pekin and St. John’s Catholic Newman Center in Champaign. Currently, I’m an assistant at the Heart of Peoria Catholic Community.

Why I love reading:

Both of my parents are teachers. Growing up, my dad constantly had his nose stuck in a book.  His influence didn’t stick right away. But by early high school I had developed a passion for the written word.  As an undergraduate, my interest in reading history led me to major in that very subject. Over the years, I’ve discovered that by being a voracious reader it’s difficult to ever be bored.  There is always so much more out there to read.

What I’m reading now:

I just finished Power and Empire, the latest novel in the Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan series.  Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas a new novel in the series is released.  It’s my perennial birthday (November 24) gift from my parents.  At the moment, I’m reading Ron Chernow’s new biography on General Grant, The Marian Option by Carrie Gress, and re-reading several Scott Hahn works. 

My favorite book:

I have many favorite books.  Here are a few based on subjects: The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy (novel); Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (history); Searching for and Maintaining Peace and Time for God both by Jacques Philippe (spirituality).

“The Fourth Cup” a Great Read for Lent, Easter Seasons {My March column @TheCatholicPost }

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Following is my column that appears in the current print edition of The Catholic Post.

A pilgrimage to the Holy Land is an aspiration of many Christians. It won’t surprise you to know that I am among those who have that desire.

Years ago, my husband and I were watching an interview on EWTN with Steve Ray, the Catholic convert and apologist, I mentioned that I would love to go on one of his “Footprints of God” pilgrimages that he and his wife Janet lead to the Holy Land. In the interview, Ray mentioned especially that bringing the entire family to the Holy Land, especially teens and young adults, is unparalleled for growing in faith for a range of generations. We haven’t quite come to an agreement about when and how the pilgrimage will take place, but I’m still hoping it will happen someday.

Your Holy Land pilgrimage, like mine, may be far off in the future, but that doesn’t mean we can’t benefit, especially during Lent and Easter, from meditating on early Jewish & Christian customs, culture, and place.

I hesitate to say it, but it is true that while we wait, books (and videos, too) can be the next best thing to an actual Holy Land pilgrimage.

In the past, I’ve reviewed several books that inform or inspire, like Fr. Mitch Pacwa’s The Holy Land: An Armchair Pilgrimage, or Jesus: A Pilgrimage, Fr. James Martin’s musings on visiting the Holy Land over the years. Even local son Venerable Fulton Sheen wrote a book (with fascinating vintage photographs) called, This is the Holy Land.

One of my favorite aspects of these books is their ability to put readers in the time and place Jesus lived, and help explain some of the aspects about our faith that we take for granted.

The most recent book by Scott Hahn, The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross while not a Holy Land pilgrimage book, has a similar effect and scope.

Scott Hahn is well-known to many as a Protestant pastor who converted to Catholicism in the 1980s, and has been tirelessly writing books, giving talks, and otherwise spreading the Catholic faith, ever since. He’s best known probably for his most popular book, The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth.

Most people in the early 1990s, like me, learned of Hahn through an audio version of his conversion story, which was widely distributed during those years. I recall a friend giving me a cassette tape of Hahn’s first conversion story. (Yes, young ones reading this column, there are still people alive who listened to things on audio cassette. Don’t even get me starting on how people back in “my” college days painstakingly made song mixtapes on audio cassette).

But back to Scott Hahn. He was such a convincing and powerful speaker, and helped me to understand the riches of the Catholic faith that I, as a cradle Catholic, had never understood or appreciated.

Hahn is best at that—helping Catholics and non-Catholics alike, discover or re-discover the richness of the Catholic faith; how our practices—especially the Mass—are rooted solidly in Scripture; and how early Church Fathers point towards what we now practice and believe as Catholics.

As he writes in the preface to the book, when he began giving talks on his conversion to Catholicism, it was often titled, The Fourth Cup, after the fourth cup of the Passover, that Jesus omitted during the Last Supper. The “why” of that, and how Hahn discovered it over the course of his conversion through study and prayer, together make for an engaging, informative read.

The book is organized into 14 chapters, almost all directly relating to the Passover in the Old Testament, and how that directly prefigures Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. The first chapter is “What is Finished,” when the young Protestant seminary student Hahn was challenged by a pastor to find out why Jesus said, “It is finished” just before he died; and the remaining chapters help explain how he discovered it, and how it led him directly to the Catholic Church. the rest of the chapters a range of chapters that help explain how the Passover is a type, or prefiguring, of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross; to the final chapter “The Paschal Shape of Life,” how we can apply that in our own lives.

One clever aspect of The Fourth Cup are the dozens of sly puns in nearly every sub-headings of sections sprinkled throughout each chapter: such as “Pasch, Presence, and Future” or “A Lamb is Bread for This,” or “Greeks Baring Gifts.”

I found myself writing down multiple quotes from the book, such as:

“God taught Israel to sacrifice not so that his Chosen People would be humiliated but so that they would learn to lay down their lives, to turn away from sin, and to live in the covenant. ‘The sacrifice acceptable to God is broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart.’ (Ps 51)”

As I’ve written before, I’m a lay person when it comes to theology, and so I appreciate a straightforward, manageable read to help me grow in my knowledge and contemplate some of the riches of our faith. The Fourth Cup is just such a book.

Meet a Reader: Kimberly Lange

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Following is the “Meet a Reader” that appears in this month’s print edition of The Catholic Post.

 

How You Know Me:

I live on the border between Washington and Morton with Philip, my husband of 27 years, and our five children.  I am the High School Faith Formation Coordinator for Blessed Sacrament Church and am a member of the Bishop’s Commission on Women. 

Why I love Reading:

My parents were always big readers, and I grew up with a rule that I had to read for a half hour each night before bed.  However, I did not fall in love with it until I became a mom and had the responsibility of cultivating a love of reading in my own children.  Teaching each of my children how to read was also a boost for appreciating this skill that opens up so many doors.  If you can read, you can pretty much learn about anything you need, and I cannot resist living vicariously through the lives of the characters I  meet, and appreciate the lessons I learn (the easy way).  Reading enhances my everyday reality, and makes even the most mundane of days brighter. My favorite literature genre is historical fiction, but I am ALWAYS happy with a cookbook in my hands. Makes the mundane tastier, too!

What I’m reading now:

I have slowly been working through a 10-volume series of private revelation called Direction for Our Times as Given to Anne, a Lay Apostle.  While it must be understood that private revelation is not considered part of the “deposit of faith”, it can be recognized as a help to live the Catholic faith more fully in a certain period of history.  This series carries the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur which declare the book free of doctrinal or moral error and declare that ecclesiastical permission has been granted for publication.   he books are a collection of teachings and exchanges between Anne, a lay apostle from Ireland, and both Jesus and Mary (as well as various other saints in volume seven), that took place between June of 2003 and October of 2004.  Many times as I struggle through prayer at mass or during Eucharistic adoration, I wish I simply had a direct hotline to Heaven.  These books make me feel as if I do!  These recorded conversations with Jesus and Mary exude all the love, tenderness, care and concern of a groom for His bride and a mother for her children.  They are comforting, reassuring, inspirational, and educational, and bring peace to my heart.

I am also reading A Philadelphia Catholic in King James’s Court by Martin de Porres Kennedy.  It’s an emotionally charged apologetics novel that makes me not only feel good about being Catholic, but invites us to study and understand our faith so that we may joyfully share its truths with others! 

My Favorite book:


The first time I thought to myself, “This is my favorite book,” was when I read Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls in junior high English class.  This book made me laugh out loud, cry real tears, and took me through every emotion in between.   I remember being so amazed and delighted  by its power to do that. 

 

On a different note,  Henri Nouwen’s Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World ranks as a favorite because it somehow took what I knew (God loves me unconditionally) but did not yet fully believe (when I get this part of me cleaned up, God, then we can REALLY be friends) and turned it into an unquestionable reality for me (I’m His bride. Now.  As is. Trust Him).  This understanding, of course, changed my life, and I re-read this book every year, lest I forget who I am.

Lent is On the Way; What’s Your Spiritual Reading? {My February column @TheCatholicPost }

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

Call me contrarian, but I still give up chocolate for Lent.

Yes, I know, there are innumerable online articles how you “shouldn’t give up chocolate” for Lent. And surely I’m not the only one to have heard more than one sermon during Mass on not giving up chocolate, but instead doing something extra, or focusing on more spiritual practices.

Giving up chocolate may be the Lent equivalent of Mom jeans, but I’m sticking with them (and Mom jeans, incidentally). It may be considered outdated, insufficient, not especially spiritually fruitful. At best, it’s considered a “good start” by Catholic writers and priests.

But for me, giving up chocolate is still hard! And that small (or big) mortification reminds me every day that it is Lent, and I should focus on growth in holiness this beautiful liturgical season. It’s also a good start to other practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that we are meant to do during Lent.

One of my other Lent non-negotiable is spiritual reading, especially re-reads. That is why during many Lents over the past 20 years, I delve into my dog-eared copy of St. Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life. This year I might add in He Leadeth Me by Fr. Walter Ciscek as it is such an important spiritual classic that I’ve discovered a few years ago.

Lent begins February 14 (yes, it’s Valentine’s Day–maybe celebrate on Fat Tuesday instead?).

Consider browsing your local Catholic bookstore for ideas to start or continue this tradition on your own. Here are also a few recently published books that might be good for a Lent focus:

*Leonie Martin: A Difficult Life Marie Baudouin-Croix and translated into English by Mary Frances Mooney, has been recently reprinted by Ignatius Press. This spiritual biography of Leonie, the sister of St. Therese of Lisieux who bore many burdens in her life, is both moving and inspiring.

Reading about Leonie’s mental health issues and special needs, as well as how she persisted in trying to fulfill her vocation, brought me to tears several times. If she had been born in this century, she and her family would have many opportunities for special needs services, counseling, and other coaching. But she wasn’t, and so her path was more difficult. But she and her family never gave up, and that offers hope to anyone who struggles in any way to live out our Catholic faith.

Leonie Martin tried on four separate occasions to enter religious life, and finally succeeded in becoming a Visitandine sister in Caen, France.

Leonie Martin is largely a chronological biography, taken from the voluminous correspondence of her mother Zelie Martin, as well as the sisters among each other. It would be hard to research and write this kind of book today, because the letters provide a window into her development into a “faithful disciple” of Therese.

As Baudouin-Croix writes in the introduction, “This book is not intended to bring Leonie’s hidden virtues to light; as Pauline (a sister of Therese and Leonie) said, ‘the Holy Church is not obliged to canonize all God’s friends.’ Quite simply, it is comforting to everyone to know about one woman’s struggle to conquer a difficult, intractable temperament.”

We normally reflect on her famous sister the Little Flower, and her recently canonized parents, St. Zelie and St. Louis Martin, strove for holiness. But in some ways Leonie could be a better patron for those who struggle with persistent faults and even disabilities.

“She teaches those who are overcome by loneliness that no human intimacy can fill the void in the human heart; that God alone can fill it with His infinite tenderness.”

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*The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ by Brant Pitre, is a highly readable and well-researched book about the historical sources of the truth of the Gospels. Pitre’s principal concern is refuting the popular cultural view promoting the false idea that Jesus was simple a “good teacher.”

Pitre, a professor of Sacred Scripture, writes about his own evolution from cradle Christian to questioning and doubting graduate student to professor and scholar. His studies and research of ancient sources led him to see that the evidence amply supports traditional Christian belief, rather than the modern skeptical approach that could be summarized as “the case against Jesus.”

The Case for Jesus in Pitre’s accessible and narrative style, covers the authorship and the dating of the Gospels, the “lost Gospels” that are non-canonical and why; the Jewish background for Jesus’ life and teachings; and many more topics.

The Case for Jesus demonstrates the solid historical basis for the truths of Scripture. It’s an edifying read in a culture of relativism and uncertainty often at odds with Christian life.

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*Mother Angelica, founder of the media ministry EWTN, may also be considered “old-fashioned.” But if you’ve ever stumbled upon video of her online or on EWTN, chatting away with guests on her show, or answering questions from the audience in her entertaining, no-nonsense style, you’ll find that she is not just timeless, but relevant for right now.

Mother Angelica on Suffering and Burnout reprints a series of six “mini-books” first published in the 1970s by Mother Angelica’s Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, and this small publishing concern grew over time into the media ministry EWTN, the Eternal Word Television Network—which has grown immensely over the years to include video, radio, online, and print ministries to share the Catholic faith.

Mother Angelica wrote these reflections on a pad of paper during times of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The book is a handsome small size hardback, which includes three sections—suffering, burnout, and consolation. Mother Angelica writes of her own personal experiences, shares many real-life examples of all sorts of people, and offers hope and solace to those enduring any form of suffering or burnout.

You might also be interested in:

The Extraordinary Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux: Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin by Helene Mongin (translated by Marsha Dangle-Williamson) is another book that relies heavily on the extensive letters and correspondence of the Martin family and their circle.  This book is also a fascinating read, and was published the same year that the married couple was canonized. 

Starting the Year Right with Faith {My January column @TheCatholicPost}

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

A few months ago, our family attended Mass for All Saints Day on November 1 at St. Philomena here in Peoria.  At the end of Mass Father Richardson explained the tradition of a “saint draw” offered after Mass.

Each person leaving church was encouraged to pick a strip of paper out of a basket, and that became is the “saint who picked you,” he explained.  The strip of paper would also have a quote from or about the saint, and an intention for which to pray. My “saint” was St. Luke the Evangelist, and I was encouraged to “pray for those questioning their faith in the Church.”

First of all, I love this new-to-me tradition, though I know there are similar ideas, such as the online new year tradition of using Jen Fulwiler’s “Saint Name Generator.” (And did you see Fulwiler has a new “Word of the Year Generator,” too?)

But what I’ve been especially pondering is the prayer intention assigned on my strip of paper—to “pray for those questioning their faith in the Church.”

I promise you it’s grace alone, and nothing I did, that I don’t fall into this category of “questioning my faith in the Church.”  I might have times when I experience spiritual dryness, or feel frustration at “the way things are” when they are not ideal. But especially the older I get, I am amazed and awed by the beauty and richness of our Catholic faith; the wide range of ways to practice and live out the Faith; the diversity of people in the Church; and the amazing things the saints and ordinary people have accomplished because of, not despite, their Catholic faith.

And yet we all know people who have fallen away from the faith, either through a bad experience; a drifting in those sensitive early adulthood years; or those who can’t reconcile faith with their experience in the world.

How to bring them back? Most people would agree that prayer and our best example of a life of faith are powerful elements.  And for anyone who is open to exploring Christianity and Catholicism, or for those who love them, two new books, and one reprint of a classic, provide solid arguments that a life of faith is good, true, and beautiful.

I had never read Frank Sheed before Theology for Beginners, his 1957 classic book compiling his diocesan columns on matters of faith.  Ignatius Press has a handsome new reprint.

When I first looked at the table of contents, this non-theologian became a little discouraged.  With section headings like “The Human Mind and the Doctrine of the Trinity” I thought it might be a dry, theological tome.  But right from the start, Sheed radiates the joy he has in explaining and exploring the truths of our faith. It’s not an “easy” read, but it’s not a boring or too-technical read.

In many ways, Sheed’s writings remind me of C.S. Lewis, especially Mere Christianity—a defense of faith in unbelieving times, and simple, well-written explanations. That makes sense, since Sheed, an Australian Catholic, lived and wrote in England at the same time as Lewis.  Sheed & his wife Maisie Ward were prominent 20th century Catholic apologists and publishers in England and the U.S.  And like Lewis, it’s worth the effort.

Theology for Beginners is divided into 20 sections, with a few chapters for each, ranging, but not limited to, the Trinity, creation, the fall, redemption, the Church, the sacraments, and the end of the world.

I read the book start to finish, but admittedly, in small doses—a chapter or two at a time. After all, I’m not the theologian in the family(!).  But like the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), one could read Theology for Beginners at whatever section or chapter is of interest, and still find it useful.

An even simpler and more “modern” explanation of the doctrines of our faith is Why We’re Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, & Love by Trent Horn.

Horn summarizes good apologetics in the introduction, when he writes “I don’t look at people who’ve left the Catholic Church or who aren’t Catholic as potential “customers.” They’re just people. …. They may differ from me in lots of ways, but they almost certainly have one thing in common with me: they don’t want to be ignorant and they do want to be happy.”

Many people think of apologetics as arguing people into the faith, but it’s really about a conversation, and helping people (who are open) understand what we love and “get” from our faith.  That’s what Horn handles so beautifully in Why We’re Catholic.

One thing I love in Horn’s book is that each of the 25 chapters begins with “Why We… “ — “Why We Believe in Jesus,” “Why We Believe in the Bible,” “Why We Baptize Babies,” “Why We Hope for Heaven.”  And each chapters includes interesting short sidebars with history or personalities related to it, and ends with a short summary of the message of that chapter. The book finishes with three appendices-like chapters, “How to Become Catholic,” “How to Go to Confession,” and “Common Catholic Prayers.” It’s a good, solid overview, that, like “Theology for Beginners,” can be read cover-to-cover or just jumping around.

Finally, a more personal, but well-reasoned, defense of faith is Brandon Vogt’s Why I Am Catholic (And You Should Be Too).

Vogt, the content director for Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, is well-known and well-regarded online for a number of projects. Why I Am Catholic is divided into three sections making the case: “Catholicism is True,” a traditional apologetics section; Catholicism is Good,” the good works and civilization-building accomplished by the Church and her members; and “Catholicism is Beautiful,” the art and universality of and inspired by the Church.

My only criticism of the book is that is that the second two sections, “Good” and “Beautiful,” are thin compared to the “True” section. For instance, there is barely a mention of the Church’s vital influence in both education, charity (such as Catholic Charities or the St. Vincent de Paul Society), and health care ministries, works continued on for centuries by religious orders.

But the strength of the apologetics section alone makes Why I Am Catholic persuasive and interesting, especially when added to the strengths of the other books.

Any or all three of these books might be a great way to start off the year learning more about our faith, or sharing them with someone doubting or seeking faith.