Video of My March 2015 Cursillo Witness Talk: How God Turned 3 of My Nevers in to Much Betters

How to Have an Excellent Advent: Seven Suggestions

What's the purpose of Advent? Click on the video below to check out Busted Halo's 2 minute take on this season of preparation for Christmas: 

Each of the suggestions below is a link to a blog post on the topic:

    1. Stay Awake 

2. Seek Him Who Seeks You 

3. Hold on to Hope

4. Celebrate the Season 

5. Rejoice and Be Glad 

6. Give the Gift of Quality Time 

7. Wait Patiently   

What is God calling you to this Advent that will bring you closer to Him? 

Why Be Catholic? Ten Answers to a Very Important Question by Patrick Madrid

When I read the title of this book to my husband, he said: “Cause it’s good for you.”  I had to laugh and couldn’t argue.  Fortunately, others have put a bit more thought into their answer.  Why be Catholic is a question I’ve been asked in a myriad of different ways.  My answers have always been tailored to the person in front of me, though sometimes with limited success.  

Here’s a succinct answer for you by popular author and president of the Catholics Apologetics Academy Patrick Madrid to the question why be Catholic: “because in the Catholic Church you will receive everything in its fullness that God desires to give you to make you happy and free” (p.208). 

     
In Why Be Catholic? Madrid describes the fundamentals of the faith as well as the historical and Biblical accounts and proof for why the Catholic Church is the one true faith begun by Christ.  He devotes an entire chapter to clarify the doctrines on the Blessed Mother and another one solely to clean up the plethora of common misconceptions about papal infallibility and succession.  He explains why the Church is holy, though it always has and always will be made up of sinful people. 

     
The part I found the most fascinating was on which religious orders have seen vocations on the rise and why.  We’re reminded to pray for vocations all the time in our diocese, and rightly so; we certainly need them.  Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) “Vocations Report” indicates a significant rise “in vocations to religious orders in which the Catholic faith is proclaimed and lived out uncompromisingly and without ambiguity.” (p. 190)  This makes total sense.  It takes strong catechesis taught unwaveringly by priests, deacons, religious, and the lay faithful in order to bring people closer to Christ and to a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the basic tenets of the Catholic faith. 

     
What’s missing in many places?  A dynamic duo that can’t be subverted: prayer and proper catechesis for all ages.  If Catholics don’t know what the Church teaches and why, then it’s difficult, if not impossible for them to live it out much less explain it to others. 

     
There has been an unfortunate trend for a number of priests, deacons, and lay leaders to emphasize some Church teachings while completely neglecting others, especially those that are controversial and countercultural.  Something I once heard a priest say in a sermon has stuck with me: “A lie is never pastoral.”  He told us that one of his professors in seminary would often remind them that.  Lying about and/or purposefully refraining from informing people about what the Lord is asking them to do in order to live in the fullness of His love is a tremendous disservice.   

     
We are all called to grow closer to the Lord.  This is the crux of the New Evangelization.  So how do we begin?  By being open to ongoing personal conversion and lifelong faith formation.  It is even more necessary that the lay faithful remain committed to ongoing formation, because many aren’t getting the fullness of the Catholic teachings, not even from the priests, deacons, or lay leaders of their parishes.

     
Madrid also provides a good refresher on Catholic social teaching and doctrine—which is even more essential to have spelled out when the media keeps skewing what is part and parcel of the faith—not an optional side item from the Protestant buffet.

     
I highly recommend Why Be Catholic? for all who have been asked this question as well as for all those who have made such an inquiry.  Patrick Madrid uses humor and a wealth of wisdom to provide ten answers to a very important question. 

     
For more information about Why Be Catholic? or to order your copy, click here.  I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Something Other than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It

Prepare to be inspired by Something Other than God.  Oh, wait, Jennifer Fulwiler already tried that approach, and it didn’t go at all the way she planned.  The high-powered job, racy sports car, fancy house, decadent parties, and expensive vacations she thought were essential to be content in life weren’t enough.    

    
Fulwiler relentlessly pursued wealth and the finer things.  She met and married someone as ambitious and single-minded as she was when it came to work and worldly measures of success.  They were on the way up the corporate ladder to the penthouse suite when the arrival of a small, helpless human being changed everything.  It was more than sleep deprivation and the weight of being responsible for the safety and well-being of a newborn that made her question all aspects of her life up to that point.  Though she fought against such introspection, she was most distraught over losing her grasp of atheism.

    
Raised as an atheist who made fun of the many Christians around her trying to talk her into accepting Christ as her personal Savior, she was horrified to find herself being drawn to answers that were beyond her understanding and comfort level—ones certainly above her pay-grade.  She became obsessed with reading about Christianity, the Bible, researching as much as she could, and questioning everything along the way. 

    
As you can imagine, there are some very amusing scenarios that factor into Fulwiler’s full-blown existential crisis.  Conversion Diary, the blog she began so she could ask the tough questions about Christianity, morality, ethics, and get responses from people who were willing to answer her questions and concerns on both an intellectual level as well as a spiritual one remains tremendously popular.  What started as a hobby as she was seeking Truth, opened her up to the Catholic faith and a vocation of sharing her journey with others through her humorous writing, harrowing, often humbling tales of motherhood, and her struggle against her tendencies to be a mostly inert introvert.

    
There are a number of people I’ve thought of whom I’d love to have read Something Other than God.  Fulwiler writes in a compelling way that brings to light the many questions she grappled with and the answers she came to over time.  This memoir is an account of how one woman set out to achieve worldly success and how, through the grace of God, she discovered a greater longing, a deeper void, which nothing and no one other than God can fill.  Fulwiler slaved over this memoir while raising several young children, dodging dubious scorpions, inadvertently providing exercise entertainment for her neighbors, and attempting creative ways to corral her children enough to maintain her sanity (most of the time), so the least you can do is buy it, read it, and recommend it to all your friends—atheist or otherwise. 

     
For more information about this book or to order your copy, click here.  To read more about Jennifer Fulwiler's current life events, funny happenings, and daily struggles, check out her blog Conversion Diary.  I received a free copy of this book from Aquinas and More in exchange for an honest review.