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.