Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

books

"Minor Revisions" for the Advent-Stressed

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For the love of Christmas, I just cannot seem to keep up with Advent and Christmas.  Am I the only one?  I feel completely behind on everything this year.

Blog-wise, I will spare you just how many half-started posts I have in progress right now.  Here are just a few:  1. gift books for Christmas for adults, 2. gift books for children, 3. Christmas-themed books we love at our house, and many, many more.  It’s December 20 and there are just a few days left for those posts to have any meaning, so I fervently hope to get at least a few of them finished.

What have I been doing with my online time since I was able to sit down here about half an hour ago?  Watching Episode 1 of “Minor Revisions,”  the online reality show about atheist to Catholic convert Jen Fulwiler.  Local readers will remember that Jen spoke at Behold 2011, the Catholic women’s conference, and she also was a featured blogger at Behold 2012.  This was thanks to Bonnie Engstrom of A Knotted Life (who is doing such an excellent Advent series on her blog) reminding me about the second episode online tonight.

I was traveling last Thursday night, so unfortunately, I wasn’t able to watch the first episode, only available online live.  Fortunately, there was such a demand for watching it online that the producers posted it on YouTube for a short time.  So I’m taking the opportunity to watch it now.  It is super well-done and enjoyable.  Here it is, in case you haven’t seen it.

I can’t tell you how eager I am to read Jen’s memoir when it is released, and I trust it will be just as great as reading her blog and seeing her on “Minor Revisions.”

My St. Nicholas Day Present–Radiate by Colleen Swaim

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I was so grateful when Bonnie Engstrom of “A Knotted Life” (as part of her Advent series) asked me to write about Advent traditions in our family.  I must have been feeling a little discouraged when I wrote about not being well-prepared for Advent, because it was very encouraging for me to have the   chance to articulate what we do well this time of year.

I write about “go with your strengths” and our family’s strength, of course, is using books to celebrate Advent and Christmastime.  The one book I featured was The Miracle of St. Nicholas by Gloria Whelan and beautifully illustrated by Judith Brown.  We finally read our copy of The Miracle of St. Nicholas  until after dinner, but it was a nice quiet after-dinner time.  There was a lot of chocolate eaten today (including by me!)

But my St. Nicholas Day present (a surprise, and welcome surprise!) came in the mail this afternoon–when I picked up the mail and saw a copy of Radiate: More Stories of Daring Teen Saints by Colleen Swaim.

I am a huge Colleen Swaim fan since I read her first book Ablaze: Stories of Daring Teen Saints.  It’s a book intended for teen readers, but I loved and all my kids (8-13 at the time) loved it.  I’ve given it as a gift multiple times, and everyone I’ve given it to or recommended it to has loved it, without exception.  I reviewed Ablaze here (calling it a “gem”) and interviewed Colleen here.  I hope to have another Q&A with Colleen again soon, since she is willing. Look for that here soon!

I’ve been anxiously awaiting this book’s release ever since I saw it had a November 1 release date, and actually planned to review it for my November print column in The Catholic Post.  The publisher told me it was a little delayed, so I held off so I could review it for my December gift books column.  Unfortunately, I wanted to be absolutely sure it was officially available, so that prevented me from reviewing it for my December column, which appears in this weekend’s Post.

But I was really, truly excited to see in the mail this afternoon a hot-off-the-presses copy of Radiate.  Now do you believe me that I am really into books? 🙂

This isn’t actually a review of the book, since one of the kids has run off with it.  From my first look at it, it looks just as handsome and well-produced as Ablaze, with both new and well-loved saints.  Review soon!  In the meantime, if you need a book suggestion for a tween or teen reader, Radiate is your book.

 

First, What Are You Reading? Volume 28

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Here are the questions I ask and answer on the first of each month.  The questions, as always, are:

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 or Twitter.  Happy reading!

First, what are you reading?

Thornton Wilder:  A Life by Penelope Niven, a brand-new biography of the playwright and author.  Niven had unprecedented access to Wilder family letters and papers in writing the book.

I’m slowly making my way through reading aloud  The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with the younger kids.  We are almost finished with The Fellowship of the Ring.

What do you like best about it?

I picked up Thornton Wilder at the new book shelf of the library after a book I’m highlighting as a good kids book features his play Our Town.  Our Town was a favorite of and oft-quoted by my late father.  He was fond of saying with a wry smile to one of us daughters at various times, “You’re pretty enough for all ordinary purposes.”  This was emphatically not a put-down, as it’s a famous line from the play.  My dad also loved The Bridge at San Luis Rey, probably Wilder’s most famous novel, as do I.

I very much enjoyed reading how Wilder’s family spent part of his childhood in China, as well as the time he spent at boarding school in China away from his family. (He was required to write long letters to his family every Sunday, which gives me ideas).  There must be something about spending part of one’s childhood in a foreign country that makes for great writers.  I can think off the top of my head of Rumer Godden and Jean Fritz, and I’m sure there are many others.

What do you like least about it?

I’m sure I won’t finish Thornton Wilder–I’m about halfway through– but what I have read has been great.

I both love and don’t love reading The Fellowship of the Ring aloud.  Reading aloud is the best and most connected way to share a book in a family, but it is hard work.

I have so far resisted getting an audiobook version so we could all listen together, or let my nine-year-old read it to himself.  He has mentioned reading it to himself a few times, and he certainly could.  But there truly is nothing to having a book read aloud, and by reading it aloud myself I am learning much more from Tolkein’s excellent writing, as well as highlighting quotes.

The reason I resist having us just read the books individually is that we are all really fast readers.

Case in point:  this week, when my nine-year-old was looking for a good book, I gave him my childhood copy of The 21 Balloons by William Pene Dubois, a Newberry winner from the mid-20th century.  He had not read it before, and when he looked a little dubious, I challenged him to give it 30 minutes and if he didn’t like it, he  could put it aside.

Forty-five minutes later, I called the kids for lunch.  He came walking in reading it (breaking our family rule, “no reading & walking” as I tell kids on the walk home from the library, trying to train them for not texting & driving).  He was already nearly halfway through the book.  Total time for him to finish the book?  Less than two hours.

I know this is technically a “good problem to have” but I find it super annoying, in a sort of funny way, and I told him so.  I already have enough trouble keeping older kids in books that are well-written and good!    More importantly, I have been concerned in the past that kids are not comprehending anything they read, getting through books so quickly, but I have found that comprehension is not a problem.  For instance, I asked him to tell me about The 21 Balloons, and he talked intelligently about the book for five minutes until I had to answer the phone.

Even though he was able to relate the plot and interesting vignettes from the book, I still feel we all miss out by reading too quickly.  Sometimes I try to slow myself down by taking notes of a book.  Reading aloud, especially with a classic like The Lord of the Rings, is completely worthwhile.

What’s next on your list?

Finishing The Lord of the Rings.

So many review books have come in lately I feel a bit overwhelmed, so I’m sure I will be taking some time in the next month to organize what I’ve got and try to map out the next few months.

What are you reading this month?

Book Traditions for Advent and Christmas

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I’m excited to share that I’ve been invited to be part of the Advent series hosted by Bonnie at A Knotted Life.   Kicking off the series this Sunday will be Lisa Hendey.  I truly look forward to following along with it, and of course I’m delighted to be included among the bloggers writing guest posts.  I will be writing for the feast of St. Nicholas.

As a little sneak preview, I am writing about–surprise, surprise–books for Advent and Christmastime.

But I wanted to share here in a more general way how I have used books during Advent, as well as offer some resources and suggestions.  After I wrote in part of my November column for The Catholic Post about some newer books to help keep Advent well, I realize that literature (and for kids in particular, picture books)  can be just as good as devotional works, to get in the spirit of the Advent and Christmas seasons.

Here are some of the nuts & bolts of how we use literature during Advent at our house.

I keep a basket of Advent- and Christmas-themed books tucked away in a closet.   I’ve kept this basket for years, and added to it over time via book sales, library cast-offs and Barnes & Noble “after Christmas” (though during Christmas season) sales. There are perhaps a dozen books that we truly treasure, but the rest are seasonal enough to hold interest and keep us reading.  There are about 50 books in our Advent/Christmas book basket, and I usually also order a lot of other books from the library, either new ones, or old classics we don’t own.   So there is plenty to read this time of year.

I began the Advent/Christmas basket of books when my oldest (now 15!) was a toddler.  I learned about the tradition from Catholic moms on various e-groups (in the Wild West, before we got all our great ideas from blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest).

At that time, some moms shared on the e-groups about how they wrapped (sometimes in liturgically correct purple or pink) each one of the books well ahead of Advent, and then unwrapped one each day of Advent and Christmastime.  

That idea makes me tired just thinking about it, so needless to say that has never happened here.   I used to have some guilt, like I wasn’t quite “mom” enough to pick out and wrap dozens of books.  Now that I’m a little wiser, I leave that behind.

In reality, I feel accomplished simply that I am able to keep those books tucked away all year and bring out the basket at the beginning of Advent.

I won’t list all the books in our family’s basket (though I will share one special book on Bonnie’s blog next week, and a few others later in Advent here).  For one, I think there are fewer than a dozen that we cherish.  Mostly, though, it’s because so many moms over the years have made some great lists that I don’t need to re-invent the wheel.

Here are just a few sources if you are interested in starting this tradition at your house:

*Elizabeth Foss, whose endless energy and generosity has enriched her own family and shared freely with other families great book suggestions and themes, takes special care with Advent.

*Mary Ellen Barrett has a blog devoted to keeping Advent at O Night Divine.  Here are some of her many, many book suggestions.

*Jessica at Shower of Roses has a nicely curated list of Advent books (and trust me, I hold nothing but admiration for her for actually wrapping the books, God bless her).

*for those who would like a book rather than a web resource, Cay Gibson’s amazing Christmas Mosaic  has a list of dozens of books, crafts, recipes and other ideas for making Advent and Christmastime special for families.

Picture books and Christmas-themed literature are unique and wonderful to move and inspire us during this season of preparation, and then as we celebrate Christmas.

Do you have an Advent and Christmastime book tradition?

Envoy for Christ: Patrick Madrid in Peoria

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Patrick Madrid is coming to Peoria later this week, speaking on Evangelization and Apologetics (visit this Facebook page for more information and how to register)

I’m super disappointed that I won’t be one of the many people to attend Patrick’s talk this weekend and get the chance to meet him.   Our family has multiple conflicts Friday and Saturday.  But many of my friends will be there to hear him speak, and I look forward to hearing all about it from them.

But I am happy to be able to write about Patrick Madrid’s newest book, Envoy for Christ: 25 Years as a Catholic Apologist.  I’ve had a copy for awhile, but didn’t get the chance to read through it until about a month ago.

I’ve read Patrick Madrid’s work since I subscribed to Envoy magazine back in the 1990s.  I have always enjoyed his work, and loved the magazine and found it a great way to grow my faith as a young mom.  I recall the Top 10 lists, quizzes, or other humor that were great for a laugh.  The graphic design and “feel” to the magazine was first-rate.

Madrid has a popular blog that I admit I don’t visit often enough, as it’s a great resource and source of reflection and encouragement.  (Note to Patrick Madrid: add an e-mail subscribe button to your blog!).  It’s just top-notch.

I must confess that one of the reasons that I didn’t turn to the book is concern it wouldn’t be as great as I remembered Envoy magazine to be.   Maybe it wouldn’t measure up to my memories, like going back to the house you grew up in and finding it much different.

But Envoy for Christ is great.  I recommend it highly.  It’s especially good for busy moms and dads who might not have time to read a full-length book, but would benefit from the short chapters on different subjects Madrid tackles.

Envoy for Christ would also be appealing to people like me, who might have fond memories of reading Envoy back in the day, or who have following Patrick Madrid through his radio show or elsewhere.  Madrid tells the story of how he got into the “apologetics” business (can I call it a business?), and I love hearing those kinds of stories.

In addition, Envoy for Christ would be great just to have around the house for younger people to pick up.  At our house, I will often tell others, “this is a really good book,” and then leave it out for them to pick up when they get the chance.  Often this leads to great discussions.

My one quibble with Envoy for Christ is that I wish it were a little more well-sourced.  After many of the chapters, where the essay originally appears is listed–perhaps Envoy or another catechetical magazine.  But some are not sourced, and so it leaves me hanging a little–is that from his blog, or some online writing, or is this original to that book?

Otherwise, this is a terrific read.

One humorous aside: while writing this post, several times I  mistakenly wrote “Envy” instead of “Envoy,” and since it’s a word, it wasn’t auto-corrected.  I had to chuckle a little at a book titled, “Envy for Christ.”   I think I caught all of my too-fast typing mistakes, but in case I didn’t, there you go.

Are you going to see Patrick Madrid this weekend?

Q&A With Sister Helena Burns, Author of "He Speaks to You"

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As I wrote in my October column, Sister Helena Burns is an expert on media literacy and Theology of the Body, a Catholic new media maven, and a great friend to the Peoria diocese, speaking here often and living in nearby Chicago.  Turns out she’s also a gifted author, writing the excellent and deceptively simple daily book for young women, He Speaks to You. 

Sister Helena, who is often busy at her own blog, Hell Burns, or on Twitter, graciously agreed to do a Q&A with me here.  Thanks, Sister, and thank you for your great book.


Q.  Sister Helena, tell Catholic Post readers more about you, your religious community, and your work.

The Daughters of St. Paul are an international congregation of women religious dedicated to evangelizing with the media. We try to use as many forms of media as possible, and now with the new media, we’re like kids in a candy store. When I was discerning my vocation, I was very drawn to sharing the Faith and helping people in spiritual pain (like I had been), and I thought: “What better way to bring God directly into someone’s heart and mind than through a book, a song, a magazine, a film?” I also loved that the Daughters had a kind of “mixed life”: contemplatives in action. Even though we’re an active order, we have approximately 3 hours of prayer each day, including an Hour of Eucharistic Adoration, which was very important to me. Our Founder, Blessed James Alberione, www.MediaApostle.com wanted us to “share the fruits of our contemplation in action.”

Q.  You write in the introduction: “The sisters and I have long talked about wanting to find a way to share …basic principles of the interior life and how to live them in daily life.”   Why do you think this is so important, for young women in particular?

My Sisters and I often meet young women who want to pray more, go deeper with Jesus, but don’t always know how. Often they say: “I pray, but He doesn’t talk back.” We knew that if we could share some of the basics of prayer, of how the spiritual life “works,” we could really help young women not become discouraged, or give up on their interior life. Although each of our relationships with Jesus is unique, still, there are patterns that saints and mystics, spiritual masters and spiritual directors have identified that are universal.

I believe young women in particular need to look to and develop their interior lives because there really is a “war on women” today (but it’s the exact opposite of what the media says it is)! 

Ever since the Sexual Revolution and Women’s Liberation Movement, women have been encouraged to think and act like men interiorly and exteriorly. Women are told to squelch their essential feminine nature (body and soul) because it is “weak, irrational and limiting.” Women’s gifts (the feminine genius) are devalued, most of all by women themselves! But women are naturally “receptive,” (body and soul). We are receptive to men and to new life, but first of all to the Infinite, and we teach men and children how to be receptive to God. 

Women are supposedly “more religious” than men (the world over), but can we say that of our young women today? I’m afraid many (young and older) women’s “radar” is broken today. We don’t know what it means to be a woman. We don’t know our own identity in Christ, in Mary (the New Creation: the New Adam and the New Eve). But our radar can be fixed! It’s IN us. “He Speaks to You” is my little attempt to help “fix women’s radar.”

Q.  How long did it take you to write the book?

Approximately two years, very part time. Which was great because new ideas sprung up all along the way.

Q.  How did you come up with the themes for every month?

We tried to cover the essentials of a ground floor for the building of an “interior castle”!

Q. Was it difficult to write any one part of the book?  I enjoyed in particular the “speaking” quotes beginning each day from Jesus, and I wondered if it would be difficult to write so many.

I’m probably going to have an “extended stay” in Purgatory for putting words in Jesus’ mouth! A priest got it right, though, when he guessed: “Sister, is this how YOU hear Jesus?” Jesus is always comforting and challenging at the same time when He speaks to me, and I think that might be a universal for how He speaks to everyone. 

He also has a sense of humor. I think probably one of our biggest sins is to take the unimportant things too seriously, and the important things not seriously enough. Actually, Jesus’ parts in the book were the easiest to write. I’m REALLY hoping the Holy Spirit had a big hand in that, because I was asking Him to!



Q. Do you have a favorite section of the book?

I think it’s the month of October–dedicated to Our Lady–because the BVM is my BFF. I loved learning about her different titles and apparitions and sharing them in the book.

Q. What do you recommend as one or two good ways for a young woman to make the interior life and prayer a reality in our culture’s busy lifestyles?

Fidelity to daily prayer is essential. Sporadic prayer is like a sporadic relationship. You never really get to know the other person. There is NO other way.

Q.  You are busy with so many projects.  Anything in particular you’d like to share as particularly noteworthy?

We’re doing a 90-minute documentary on the life of our Founder, Blessed James Alberione. We’ve finished shooting, laying audio and are now completing the visuals. A rough cut is due January 25, 2013. We’re still fundraising for it and have a pledge of a $10,000 matching grant if we can raise that by December 31! The trailer can be watched (in 10 languages so far) at www.MediaApostle.com  and donations can be made securely on the website. 

GIFTS for donations to the Fr. Alberione Film (from November 1–December 31) are:

$20 donation–Fr. A medal

$50 donation–Fr. A medal and DVD when completed

$500 donation–Fr. A medal, book (biography), and DVD when completed

$1,000 donation–Fr. A medal, book, DVD, and 12″ resin statue.

Q.  Is there anything you would like to add or wish I would have asked?

Yes, the question would be:  “If you were to write the same book today, would you do anything differently?” (I wrote it about four years ago.) 

The answer?  Yes. I would make it even more mushy, lovey-dovey with Jesus and stuff it with even MORE Theology of the Body. Women need to go to Jesus FIRST for their love, self-esteem, self-dignity and to feel beautiful. THEN go to your earthling guy. God’s love never changes.