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Worth a Listen: 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman (The Unashamed Version)

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(Sharing great songs that are inspiring, uplifting and/or are otherwise “worth a listen”)


I often catch up on blogs on our first generation iPad after reading to the kids at night.  The only downside is that it makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to leave a comment.  This is fine because I am often just doing a quick check-in, but frustrating when I do want to comment.

Recently, on a post I can’t now locate on Dorian Speed’s blog (yes, that’s her real name!), various commenters, mostly fellow Catholic bloggers, admitting (some in a sheepish way) that they can’t abide Christian music.  This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this sheepishness, and it just makes me laugh.  There are a lot of people who say Christian music makes them crazy.

When I read these kind of comments or see those kinds of posts, I think, man, I am just not cool enough for school.

You see, just started here on the blog in the last few weeks “Worth a Listen” to specifically feature Christian and Catholic artists, songs that our family loves.

And so I wanted to comment, (perhaps in a whisper,) um, hey, some people really, truly, like Christian music, and find it helpful in their faith and family life.  But I also feel a wee bit embarrassed because so many people have such an aversion to it.

Then I thought, you know what?  I’m letting my freak flag fly.  Not ashamed anymore.

I’m a sold-out, singing-along-with, iTunes library full-of, Christian music fan.  I was CCM (that’s contemporary Christian music) before CCM was even considered nerdy.  I’m a total, 100 percent, Christian music geek here, and proud of it.

I’m sure I will be writing a lot more about my love of CCM in coming weeks and how it can co-exist with an intelligent, robust Catholic faith life.

For this week, I decided to feature a very popular song right now on Christian radio, Matt Redman’s “10,000 Reasons.”  Here’s what I love best about it:  when it comes on in the minivan, hearing my kids sing along (and one, who shall remain nameless, sing in a fake Australian accent): “Bless the Lord, oh my soul.”

Sheen Mass of Thanksgiving, Part 3: Wrapping Up and Keeping it Real

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This is my final wrap-up post about the Mass of Thanksgiving for Fulton Sheen.  You can read Part 1 here about before the Mass (perhaps destined to be known hereafter as “the mantilla post”?), and Part 2 about the Mass itself here.

This is basically the keepin’ it real edition, to explain some of the back story and to make fun of myself, share a family joke, and have an epiphany about online life and camaraderie and perspective.  I am definitely increasing the drama level here for effect, and I hope that works.  Perhaps it is only helpful to me, but I’m going to share it anyway.  Here it is:

No one tells me anything.

I’m not sure exactly how it came about, but since I’m from a big family, some of us became fond of complaining this to parents or other siblings, once we were mostly grown and away at college or starting careers.  Mom & Dad, you’re going to New York to visit another sister?  Someone got into law school?  Someone has a new boyfriend?

All purpose response: “No one tells me anything!”

Fortunately this had become a family joke before most of us started having children, so we had a very strict unspoken protocol of personally talking to each sibling when a new baby was on the way.

And no other sibling could spill the beans.  This meant that to avoid awkward conversations around that time, if you had heard from a pregnant sister (or sister-in-law), you usually didn’t answer the phone for a few days to be sure you weren’t going to get a different sibling who might not have heard the news yet.  Which would be me because… pause for effect here… No one tells me anything!

These days my siblings and I use the expression with each other because we are all almost too busy to keep in touch.  It’s also helpful to use if I am feeling left out about something with friends or those close to me, I  say that to myself, since it usually makes me laugh and realize that it’s not the case, and I need to just plug on and be positive.

As perspective on what I’m going to share, keep in mind that I wasn’t officially “covering” the Mass or the Sheen weekend events for The Catholic Post.  I’m a freelancer for The Post, writing my column and this blog. So I’m not in the know about every Catholic event, but I do like to sometimes write here on Reading Catholic about events from my own perspective.

So being out of the loop for me is not necessarily a bad or unusual thing–I’ve got my specialty here with books, and in general I like to stick to it.

My first “no ones tells me anything” moment when I found out that Lisa Hendey and a few other Catholic people I know online were coming to Peoria for the Sheen weekend.

I had another “no one tells me anything” moment after I saw late Saturday that there was some kind of reception at the Sheen Museum on Saturday night.  And there were Lisa Hendey and Alexis Walkenstein (of The Maximus Group), hanging out and having fun just a few miles away.

And what was I doing?  I was in my pjs, sprawled out with kids and dog, watching Love It or List It while also checking Facebook on my ancient iPad.  Nearby, my husband Joseph read something intelligent.  I am a morning person, so my brain shuts off around 8 p.m.  Love it or List It is just about right then.

I know this actually is exactly what I wanted to be doing then, but still… I can do that next Saturday night!  Tonight my online friends are having fun in the same area code as me.

Not only am I melancholic and insecure when it comes to online friends, but apparently I am also prone to jealousy and possessiveness.

I had one of those moments when when Brandon Vogt tweeted that he was going to see his “friend Monsignor Soseman,” and I thought, hey there, Monsignor Soseman was my friend first.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Brandon Vogt, Joseph and I were friends with Monsignor Soseman when there wasn’t an Internet.  We were friends with him back when you were probably still in grade school, young one!

Then I had my epiphany.

When you’re feeling “no one tells me anything,” remember: it’s okay.  You’re part of the family.

We are all part of the same Catholic online family, and I don’t have to know everything, and neither do you.  If I don’t know about some cool conference or some great reception (even in my own area code!), it’s all good.

Just like my siblings are always my siblings, we are all family no matter what.

If you’re in the Catholic online community, you’re part of the tribe–there’s no secret handshake or code.  (And if there is, you can just keep it to yourself, because that’s not the tribe I’m talking about).  I’m part of this, and so are you, however small our impact or own little corner.

When I reach out to other Catholic in online forums like Twitter or seek guest writers or feature some great bloggers, online friendships grow and flourish.  Some day those may and have lead to real-life meetings and most won’t, but we are all part of that same Catholic faith and support each other.

So if you are a Catholic blogger or Twitter person and feel left out or not in the loop when you see people posting photos or seemingly having a great time at a conference, or getting lots of comment or …..fill in your own blank here.  We all have our insecurities.  Just remember you’re not alone, and I feel the same.

After my epiphany, I got out of my “no one tells me anything” mood (and my pjs) by Sunday morning when it was time for Mass.

Of course I was genuinely thrilled to see Lisa Hendey, who I haven’t seen in several years.  She is just delightful and upbeat in person, as she is on her terrific Catholicmom.com, as well as her always-encouraging writing for Faith & Family Live.

Here we are with the aforementioned Brandon Vogt, whose energy and output rivals that of Sheen.

I also loved getting to meet Alexis Walkenstein of The Maximus Group, who is just as cute and endearing in person as she is online, but curses, I didn’t get a photo of her.

I also got to see a lot of local friends, some that I see often and some that I don’t.  Quite a few have blogs that are featured on the sidebar here, Catholic, Local and Online.  Many of them have done their own excellent blogging about the Sheen Mass.  Here are just a few of the bloggers who were there, and please let me know me if I left anyone out, and I will update here.  I am linking to their Sheen Mass post if they have one:

*Britta of “By Prayer and Petition.”

*Marie of “Help Them to Heaven.” 

*”I Wonder Why.” 

*”Stumbling on the Way to Emmaus.”

And Bonnie Engstrom of A Knotted Life.  Especially if you feel you may have had a tough day, head over to Bonnie’s post about her family’s experiences during the Mass. (Kind of makes me a little sheepish about those “no one tells me anything” moments).

As many know, their son James Fulton’s recovery after 61 minutes not breathing after birth is what is technically called the “alleged miracle” being put forth for Sheen’s beatification.

During the Mass, my husband asked me several times, “Where are Bonnie and Travis?”  I kept looking, but never did see them until after the Mass, but didn’t hear about their travails with Travis’ shirt and tie, nursing baby and so forth, until I read about it on Bonnie’s blog.  Here’s the photo I snapped of Travis and James Fulton after the Mass, Travis by this time being minus his more formal wear.

Hey! There’s Tom Dermody, the editor of The Catholic Post, just behind James. I did get a photo of him after all.  Here is his CNS story about the Sheen Mass.

The Engstroms were also popular with the Catholic (and other) papparazzi. I couldn’t resist getting a photo of that.

I also got to visit with the talented and energetic Brandon Vogt.  I even took a photo of him with Monsignor Soseman.

But remember,  Brandon, he was my friend first.

What’s your best memory of the Sheen Mass?

Do you have an epiphany about Catholic online life to share?

What do you think about mine?

Local Effort Seeks One Million to Pray the Rosary

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The Mass of Thanksgiving for Archbishop Sheen was truly amazing, and I’m putting together several posts about the Mass itself, replete with photos and some fun stories.  I had hoped to have this up today, but there are too many great photos and stories right now, and I need to pare it down.

Today I’m digressing for a great cause.  

I want to share an ambitious new effort spearheaded by a small local group that has a mighty goal:  getting one million people to say the Rosary on  Sunday, October 7.

Coincidentally (providentially?), it was the inspiration of a longtime friend, Michelle Rebello, who is also a member of the women’s Sheen book group featured here on the blog last week.

Here’s the message from Michelle: 

We are asking you to join one million of your fellow Catholics in saying the Rosary for our country on Sunday, October 7, 2012 at 3 pm EST. (You can say it wherever you are, or can go to St. Vincent dePaul church in Peoria to pray it at 2:00pm right before the Life Chain.) We are praying for our country to return to God and His laws. 

Visit rosaryvictory.com to pledge your support and be counted. Please help spread the word through email, facebook, twitter, etc (you can  go to those at facebook.rosaryvictory.com and twitter.rosaryvictory.com) to help us reach our goal of one million people! 

Bishop Jenky has asked for people to consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary on that day; it would be a great way to honor Our Lady and help our country to say the rosary all together on that day. 

Thank you for all of your help in spreading the word and in praying the rosary on Oct. 7th. Remember, we need people to go to the website and put their email address there and the number of people in their family that will say the rosary so that we can tally up all the pledged rosaries–to 1 million and beyond!

"Jesus Has Been Making This Journey With Me": Guest Post for Sheen September, Mary McKean

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As I was writing the title for this post, it occurred to me that “Sheen September” is a good name for this month on Reading Catholic, as the focus is many things Sheen.  Today, I’m honored to share the first of  several guest posts by Sheen aficionados.  Mary McKean is the leader of  the women’s Sheen Book Group of which I’m a member, and I’ve known her for more than a dozen years, and as you will see, she is a longtime Sheen fan.  

Mary McKean and her husband, Pete, have been married 35 years and are the parents of  eight children ages 33 to 16, and grandmother of 16 (and counting), where they are members of St. John the Baptist Parish in Bradford.  

Mary’s been a parish organist for 40 years (she started as a young teen!).  

I also want to add one fact I’ve known for years about Mary that I find so cool: she and her husband were in the Peace Corps in Ecuador as newlyweds in 1977. 

Mary, thanks for writing this guest post and sharing your perspective on Archbishop Sheen!

As a mother and grandmother of a large family I haven’t always had time to read.  Now that my children are nearly grown, there has been an awakening in me of things set aside, and dreams unfulfilled.  I have discovered the joys of pursuing in-depth study of the Bible, and of getting to know Our Lord personally.

For quite some time I have had a desire to be a participant in a Catholic Book Club.  I wanted to learn my Faith better, and to read books that had some depth.  I have searched the area many times, but have never discovered any such group.  I joined my local library’s monthly book club, and while I enjoyed it, I still felt that something important was missing.

I became a member of the Marian Catechists, which is an apostolate within the Church, whose sole purpose is to share the Faith.  I decided that now was the time to do something about this desire.  I called some friends I thought might be interested in exploring the depths of our Faith, and we set a date to begin.  I asked them each to bring a book that they might be interested in reading during the year.

Imagine my surprise when nearly everyone brought a book by Archbishop Sheen, myself included!  Considering the fact that we are in Archbishop Sheen’s home diocese, and that he was just declared venerable, we decided to dedicate the entire year to his books, studying a new one each month.

What a year it has been!  I have gained so much, and have learned to love and appreciate this man.  I am always so impressed by the insights he brings to each book….insights that come from wisdom, not necessarily knowledge.  How, I thought, does he penetrate into the human mind, and understand its workings when he has no background in psychology?  I concluded that there could be only one reason:  the holy hour he made before the Blessed Sacrament each and every day of his priestly life.

I think Jesus has been making this journey with me, touching my heart with His Spirit.  Each book we’ve read has spoken to me, and been just what I’ve needed at a particular moment.  When troubled with some personal trials, Sheen’s book Peace of Soul brought me comfort and understanding.  After several weeks of suffering, I was reminded in St. Therese: A Treasured Love Story, of the power of the cross when offered to Our Lord for others. My love and devotion to Mary was strengthened and increased by a study of The World’s First Love.  There are many other examples.

My family and I live on a farm just ten miles from the one where Fulton Sheen worked summers helping his grandparents.  I grew up listening to his tapes, and my husband spent many evenings with his grandmother watching ‘Life is Worth Living’ on television. My mother read Three to Get Married as a young married woman.  All of these things have made the archbishop feel especially close and approachable.  I love his sense of humor, his warmth, and love of life. He has certainly broadened and enriched my life.

Meet a Reader: Bonnie Engstrom

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I’m delighted this month to feature a young mother I know in real life as a friend, an insightful writer and influential young leader in our area.  Of course, it may be obvious that we would be friends since she loves both The Hobbit and Jane Austen, but still ….  I’m grateful for Bonnie for being willing to be featured this month, when Reading Catholic is focused on all things Sheen.


  
How you know me:  Along with my personal blog, A Knotted Life (formerly “Learning to be a Newlywed”),  I am also a regular contributor to the online magazine Ignitum Today.  Also, I have been honored to serve as the Associate Director for the Behold Conference for the last three years.  My husband, Travis, and I are the parents of four small children—Lydia, Bennet, James and Teresa.  We are members of St. Luke parish in Eureka.  Our 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 and was officially submitted to the Vatican for Sheen’s beatification.

Why I love reading:  I love reading because it makes anything possible.  Sitting in a waiting room I can suddenly be in another country, time, or world.  By reading I can connect with another’s heart, see a different perspective, grow in virtue, partake in an adventure, witness forgiveness and beauty, and know the love of my God.

What I’m reading now:  Right now I am making my way through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and I love it.  There’s something about a hobbit that is so endearing.  Also, every day I read From Head to Toe by Eric Carle about a billion times.

My favorite book: For a long time it was A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, which is a slightly-scandalous-in-places memoir.  Recent favorites have been The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter.  And I will always love anything written by Jane Austen.

First, What are You Reading, Volume 24: The Quotable Edition

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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 Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Also, Magic for Marigold, a lesser-known novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

What do you like best about them?

I’m re-reading the great Tolkein books to and with our 9-year-old son.  I’m not sure our family will be seeing the movie version of The Hobbit when it comes out at Christmastime (, but I want our family to be introduced to the real books before seeing any movie versions.   I haven’t seen the movie versions of The Lord of the Rings since they were out in the theater many years ago, when my kids were far too small to see them.  I’m not really sure if I’m ready for them to see those movies, but we are definitely becoming a more Tolkein-aware house at the moment.

The Hobbit has so many great quotes, I want to keep running for my iPhone (where I keep quotes these days) while I’m reading it aloud.  Because it’s usually downstairs “docked” for the evening, I don’t get to do so, and I want to remedy that somehow.  Maybe I’ll just have to keep a pen and index card with me.  Here’s one that I wish I could find a way to put up somewhere in our house:  

It’s the description of Elrond’s house, (also known as the Last Homely House), where the dwarves and Bilbo have their last respite before heading towards their dangerous adventures:

“His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.  Evil things did not come into that valley.”

My other favorite quote would have to be the frequent times when Bilbo thinks something along the lines of “Not for the first time did Bilbo wish he were back in his tidy hobbit-hole.” 

Magic for Marigold is a sweet story about a girl being raised by an eccentric assortment of relatives, and her adventures.  My favorite quote here is at the end of an exchange between Marigold and her melancholic mother.

“’I don’t think you were a coward at all, dearest.  You were very brave to go right on when you were so afraid—and keep going on.’


‘If I could have picked my mother I’d have picked you,’ whispered Marigold.”

What do you like least about them?

The Hobbit is just great through and through; there’s everything to like and love about this classic.

Though I hate to admit it, there is a reason that Magic for Marigold is not well-known. It’s not the best of LM Montgomery’s work—it’s more an assortment of vignettes than a cohesive story.  Still, the characters are loveable and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable read.  It’s especially worthwhile for Anne of Green Gables lovers, or young people who might want a fun summer read.

What’s next on your list to read?

Our family is recently back from vacation with extended family, and I have a lot of great suggestions from my siblings of good recent reads.  I’ve got a lot of library requests in at the moment.

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