Pilgrimage Reading: Grandma's on the Camino by Mary Wyman

Grandma's on the Camino: Reflections on a 48-Day Walking Pilgrimage to Santiago by Mary O'Hara Wyman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mary Wyman has an entry for each day of her solo walk to Santiago. Each includes the daily postcard she sent to 4-year-old granddaughter Elena, a journal entry from that day, and a longer reflection from after the pilgrimage was completed. I really enjoyed the format, especially the ways that Wyman connected with her granddaughter in the cards by asking questions or suggesting little activities like "count to 36 out loud with Mama to see how many days Grandma has left to walk the Camino (paraphrased)."

I found a lot of the book fascinating and almost feel as if I'd been along for the trip. Certainly I was just about as concerned as Mary that she get to lodgings in time for a lower bunk and that her feet would hold out. Mary's vivid descriptions of the people and nature all around her, as well as her inclusion of insights and spiritual experiences all combined to make this a very good book.

It isn't a perfect book though. As a 70-year old woman from San Francisco, Mary has all the stereotypical attitudes of that demographic. Push the right button and the standard liberal attitude comes popping right up. Luckily it was rare enough to avoid ruining the book for those of us who don't share those attitudes. In fact, it often provided humorous moments such as one day's reflections on the huge list of women who have influenced her life, when contrasted with a later day when she struggled to make a list of 15 influential men in her life because it never occurred to her to think of such a thing. She later added to that list but with so many qualifications that she may as well not have bothered. I actually laughed out loud.

More problematic were the two or three times she recorded long conversations about topics dear to her heart and went into so much detail that the book essentially ground to a halt. I realize that this book is to provide a legacy for Wyman's granddaughter, so it made sense from her point of view to write so many pages about such things as Centering Prayer and the Jobs Corps. However, the tone completely changed to a preachy-teachy style that is deadly unless one also is passionate about those topics. I ain't.

I mention the imperfections to explain my 3-star rating. As a whole, they are relatively slight as witnessed by the fact that I read this book in a couple of days, riveted to the pilgrimage.

Worth a Thousand Words: At the Bar

At the Bar
by Edward B. Gordon

Another wonderful slice of life from one of my favorite artists.

Julie loves 1920's Paris, especially at midnight. But she's not sure she can give up air conditioning. Scott wonders if Hemingway will still read his rough draft if he refuses to fight him.

It's midnight and we're in Paris at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. I'm really surprised that it has taken us this long to discuss a Woody Allen movie. Join us for Midnight in Paris.

Respecting Conscience: The Right to Be Wrong by Kevin Seamus Hasson

I'm rereading this as a palliative to the brouhaha over the Supreme Court's decision to uphold religious conscience for the Hobby Lobby case. Pilgrims. Park Rangers. Both drive me nuts. This book is a good reminder that there is another way than always screaming at each other about extreme opposites.

Speaking of the Hobby Lobby case, you can get the straight scoop on what's true and what's false in news coverage from GetReligion. I hadn't realized they were represented by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty but that makes this book even more appropriate since the author founded that organization.

This review originally ran in 2005 at Spero News.

THE RIGHT TO BE WRONG: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America

Kevin Seamus Hasson

It seems as if our country is caught up in an endless religious war that is being fought with grim determination. No, this isn’t about the war on terror. It is about the annual battle over public nativity scenes at Christmas, the skirmishes over allowing school Halloween parties, whether Jews for Jesus are allowed to preach at the Los Angeles Airport, and much more. In short, it is about how much and what sort of religious freedom is granted in this country.

One side (dubbed “Pilgrims” in the book) wants to legally coerce any religious conscience with which they disagree while the other side (called “Park Rangers”) thinks that all religion must be purely private. Both seem prepared to battle to the death over these issues. The rest of us, that vast majority in the middle, duck and cover as best we can while wondering why we must always fight every detail of anything to do with religion. After all, it didn’t used to be this way. Did it?

Actually, it used to be much worse, as Kevin Hasson tells us in The Right to Be Wrong. He is a constitutional lawyer who now heads up a non-partisan, public-interest law firm that specializes in defending free religious expression for all faiths. Hasson asserts, “We defend all faiths but we are not relativists. On any given day, I think most of my clients are wrong. But I firmly believe that, in an important sense, they have the right to be wrong.” This is not a very long book and it is written in a conversational and easy style, but it packs a heavy punch.

Hasson cuts to the heart of the issue by turning our focus to conscience, that interior voice that won’t be still until we do the right thing. The core of any discussion about religion, according to Hasson, is that we recognize the inherent right of each person to follow his or her conscience just as we would wish them to allow us to follow ours.

Conscience won’t let us be satisfied with resting on the truth we already know, the good we already embrace. There is an unease we experience, an unease that pushes us on to seek ever-deeper truths and choose ever-better goods. Sometimes we ignore it; sometimes we try to suppress it. Conscience, however, demands that we attend to it and miss no opportunity to try to satisfy it. Conscience is forever insisting that we look here, or search there, or try this or that in our quest for the true and the good.

And then conscience still isn’t content. It won’t stand for the argument that searching alone should suffice. Conscience demands not only that we seek but that we embrace the truth we believe we’ve found. It insists that, at whatever cost, our convictions follow through into action. And it’s famously stubborn about this, sending generation after generation of dissidents to all sorts of deprivations in the name of integrity...

In the process of proving this point, Hasson takes the reader on a journey through the history of American religious liberty. We soon discover that there was precious little to be had before modern times. The Pilgrims, whose vaunted quest for tolerance landed them on American shores, quite knowingly practiced a double standard and forcefully suppressed any opposing opinions. We are shown why Roger Williams founded Maryland in order to practice true religious tolerance only to have the laws changed after he died. Similarly William Penn’s vision of religious liberty was soon practiced in quite a different way after his influence waned. James Madison emerges as a man who had a surprisingly accurate vision of religious liberty and, possibly, the influence to get the proper laws passed. It is all the more disappointing, then, to learn that he let Thomas Jefferson influence him to weaken them. As a result, Quakers, Catholics, and Jews were routinely discriminated against by one state after another. It is safe to say that for most of American history, you were free to practice any religion you liked, as long as you wanted to be Protestant.

This is the legacy that has put us in the position in which we find ourselves today. Without that history of intolerance, there would not be the backlash that insists there is no place at all for religion in public life. One could hardly blame the Park Rangers for insisting on suppressing public displays of religion except that, in their turn, they are so very extreme. Under the guise of religious freedom the Park Rangers have exercised their own form of oppression so effectively that ludicrous displays of celebration can be found everywhere: a public school system in Michigan offers “Breakfast with a Special Bunny” to avoid using the word Easter, another school system requires that the children exchange “special person cards” in lieu of valentines, and an Ohio bureaucrat explained a decorated tree in December by saying it was to celebrate Pearl Harbor Day. This in turn alarms the Pilgrims who push back even harder. Although it is clear to all bystanders that this is really about one side or the other getting their own way, both sides insist they are advocating universal religious freedom. No one on either side is practicing any true tolerance at all, just like the good old days, in fact.

... Ask either faction whether it believes religious liberty is a human right and you’ll get a passionate, tub-thumping — mostly hypocritical — speech in favor of the idea. That’s because religious freedom is so familiar, so American a concept that nobody can really admit to opposing it. That would be like opposing apple pie. So even those who are at each other’s throats over religious liberty have to insist they all absolutely love the stuff. Instead of confessing that they’re actually opposed to religious freedom for all, the Pilgrims and the Park Rangers among us equivocate. When they say they support “religious freedom,” the Pilgrims mean the freedom of their religion, while the Park Rangers mean freedom from others’ religions. That way, they can all sound so very American — they can say they’re in favor of something called religious freedom — and still be as oppressive as they want to be.

However, that is where Hasson’s insistence on the value of conscience is so valuable. By reminding us that conscience is the core of religious conviction, he takes us to the true turning point of religious liberty. This in turn frees us to totally disagree with another’s religious convictions while, with complete integrity, conceding that they do, indeed, have the right to be wrong. It is this attitude that allows Hasson to be in the position of being both invited to Hasidic Jewish weddings and also to be a guest speaker on the Arab network Al-Jazeera. His respect of the integrity of others’ consciences has earned him their respect in turn. That is the attitude that will help dig America out of our internal religious wars and just possibly bring us, at long last, true religious liberty.

God's own admiration

From my quote journal.

One cannot help noting God's own admiration for the beauty of the craftsman, the farmer, the fisherman, because in a most fitting way those occupations reflect God's own being and manner of acting. After all, Jesus himself, by this call and election of Peter and Andrew, exhibits himself to be the primordial "Fisher of Men." This act of Christ's, like all his acts, manifests something essential of the being of God. God is fisherman by nature, we might say, and entrapping fish out of a lake is a visible reflection of the manner in which God eternally attracts beings to himself...

... The strategy of "entrapment" is given to us where we least expect it: we may be looking at the fish in the lake, but Jesus is looking at Peter and Andrew by the lake. The immediacy with which they are "caught" reveals the simplicity and awesomeness of the ruse. Beaming from the face of Christ, the voice and the glance of God have made themselves perceptible to human eyes and ears. Just as surely as these can see and hear the splashing of the water on the shore can they behold the glory of God in the man addressing them. And they are magnetized. Their own strategy in "catching" man will simply be an extension through the person of their own encounter with Jesus.

Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word, vol. 1

Worth a Thousand Words: A Freshly "Hatched" Cicada

Via Hannah

From my daughter Hannah whose arborist job takes her among trees daily. She says, "I've never seen a cicada right out of its old skin, waiting for its shell to dry."

Beautiful isn't it?

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once upon a time, in a gloomy castle on a lonely hill, where there were thirteen clocks that wouldn’t go, there lived a cold, aggressive Duke, and his niece, the Princess Saralinda. She was warm in every wind and weather, but he was always cold. His hands were as cold as his smile, and almost as cold as his heart. He wore gloves when he was asleep, and he wore gloves when he was awake, which made it difficult for him to pick up pins or coins or the kernels of nuts, or to tear the wings from nightingales.

I never heard of this until Neil Gaiman chose it for his Wall Street Journal book club selection. He has called it possibly the best book in the world and said that he grew up loving this book and thinking it was as well known in the U.S. as Alice in Wonderland.

Naturally I raced online to the library and requested it. Anyone who reads Neil Gaiman, especially his children's books, will instantly see that he and Thurber are kindred souls.

Naturally a prince comes to rescue the princess from the land where time lies frozen so "It's always Then. It's never Now."  Replete with the wordplay and humor one would expect from James Thurber, this is a charming and slightly insane book with large dark elements. Like Alice in Wonderland it has a lot of bits that are just wonderful for their own sakes without having any deeper meaning. And yet, everything comes together to move the story along in a most satisfactory way.

Here's a bit that went into my quote journal.

"The task is hard," said Zorn, "and can't be done."

"I can do a score of things that can't be done," the Golux said. "I can find a thing I cannot see and see a thing I cannot find. The first is time, the second is a spot before my eyes. I can feel a thing I cannot touch and touch a thing I cannot feel. The first is sad and sorry, the second is your heart. What would you do without me? Say 'nothing.'"

"Nothing," said the Prince.

"Good. Then you're helpless and I'll help you."

From the In-Box: Rugged Rosaries

Hey these Rugged Rosaries look interesting!

I make military inspired paracord rosaries for men, and I have been in this business for 2 years. Although I give away about half the rosaries I make, the other half which I sell keeps me funded for the supplies of making all the rosaries.

We're Back!

Brown Pelican
via Wikipedia

A wonderful bird is the pelican,

His bill will hold more than his belican,

He can take in his beak

Enough food for a week

But I'm damned if I see how the helican!

Dixon Lanier Merrit

(as quoted by both Tom and Mom)

We had a really fantastic trip, beginning with two days each way driving to see my Mom. Not only were those great hours of talking with Tom but we also listened to three audiobooks: David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell (I may have to write him a fan letter), The Martian by Andy Weir, and The Rosie Project. The last two were repeats for me but I enjoyed them greatly and Tom did too. He doesn't listen to fiction much but those two grabbed our attention so much that we were pausing so we could talk about them.

The pelicans marked our entry to Melbourne Beach and it was really terrific sitting on our 15th floor balcony to see them flying by at eye level sometimes. The Radisson was quite clever and built the hotel one-suite deep so that every suite has a beach view. (And for $95 per night! A steal!)

We saw a heron begging bait from a fisherman, dolphins rolling and fishing, and many pelicans diving and then bobbing on waves while swallowing. Best of all, we brought my mother back to the hotel one afternoon and sat under an umbrella outside enjoying the ocean, the wildlife, and the parade of bathers coming and going.

I'll try to get more photos up later with a bit more travel talk, but this is my first day back at work so I'm a bit crazy. Just a bit!

The Narnia Code by Michael Ward

The Narnia Code: C. S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens by Michael Ward

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In "The Narnia Code," Michael Ward takes the reader through each of the seven Narnia books and reveals how each story embodies and expresses the characteristics of one of the seven planets of medieval cosmology--Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus and Saturn--planets which Lewis described as "spiritual symbols of permanent value." How does medieval cosmology relate to the Christian underpinnings of the series? How did it impact Lewis's depiction of Aslan, the Christlike character at the heart of the books?

This was free to borrow on my Kindle, so I gave it a shot.

And I was really intrigued with the idea that Lewis was using medieval cosmology as themes for each of the Narnia books. After reading That Hideous Strength in which eldils from different planets are significant, Ward's idea made sense.

The whole explanation of medieval cosmology as seen in the Narnia books is riveting and, if for no other reason, I am very glad to be introduced to the subject.

I am 50% done and am really enthralled by this idea. I actually will pick up the Narnia series with book 4 after I'm done with this one.

I've requested Ward's earlier, more scholarly, book on this subject and also C.S. Lewis's "The Discarded Image" for his explanation of medieval mindsets (it's supposed to be pretty amazing).

Julie trudges through the desert with no water. Scott knows where to find a good well ...

... and also fascinating history about the Holy Land. A lot of history. They both enjoy a tall glass of ice water while discussing The Source by James Michener at a Good Story is Hard to Find.

In which there is a father-daughter reunion. And things go from bad to worse. Again.

More H. Rider Haggard adventure in The People of the Mist at Forgotten Classics.

Well Said: Pilgrimage and willingness to be profoundly changed

Although the taking of pilgrimages to holy shrines and sacred places has played a major role in most world religions (especially medieval Catholicism), today only Islam maintains a strong and visible commitment to this ancient discipline. True, many modern Americans will take secular, consumer-driven pilgrimages to such places as Disney world or Graceland or Manhattan, while others will take more intellectual and aesthetic pilgrimages to Rome or to Athens or to Stratford-upon-Avon. A number of Jews and Christians will even make their way to the Holy Land. Still something, I fear, has been lost. Perhaps it is that sense of messianic anticipation that coverts the journey into a longing for higher purpose. Perhaps it is that willingness to be profoundly changed that transforms it into a voyage of self-discovery. Perhaps we simply insulate ourselves too much.

Louis Markos,
On the Shoulders of Hobbits:
the Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis

First off, this is an excellent book and I will be reviewing it very soon.

Now then, I have been musing on this idea of pilgrimage. And I've been doing it for long before this Holy Land Pilgrimage came up.

I'm perfectly open to change and self-discovery if they happen to find me where I am. I don't have to be at home. I can be on vacation.

However, the idea of traveling with that as a goal is not one I have ever cared about. To be perfectly honest, I was actively disinterested in visiting the Holy Land, until a few years ago when a friend brought me an undeniable "message from God." He wants me to go to the Holy Land.

Not a message I was dying to hear, actually.

It has taken several years to get myself used to the idea. I've always been of a mind that the wide world is one of the reasons we were sent the Holy Spirit. We don't have to go to one place to get holy, God does it within us where we are. I am willing to be profoundly changed (obviously or we wouldn't have this blog as evidence). However, given the opportunity, I do like to dictate terms while we do it. And evidently location.

That said, the years of wrestling with this idea, while trying to figure out how to afford it, have given me a peace about pilgrimage. In fact, I've come to identify with Abraham's journey to Canaan more and more.

Musing about Abraham and this book and also some of Diana's comments have made me also consider a pilgrimage as a tribute, a sacrifice, an acknowledgement to the physical ... to Christ's Incarnation. There are things we experience physically that affect us in ways we can't predict. Pilgrimage may indeed be one of the most profound ways to pay tribute and give thanks for Christ's Incarnation.

And I like thinking about it that way. As an offering of thanks and of myself.

Worth a Thousand Words: Poppies

Poppies
by Edward B. Gordon

This is such a fresh, spring-like scene. Who could resist it? Let's take a walk ...

Lagniappe: Harold's watch

In fact, Harold had never once paid attention to his watch other than to find out the time. And, honestly, it drove his watch crazy.

Stranger Than Fiction movie

Live in Dallas? Want to Make Your Good Marriage Better?

Long-time readers know that I have been involved with the Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreat since our parish began offering it.

I can't begin to say how many ways our involvement has made my own marriage better except by recommending it to you. It isn't sappy. It is practical. And yet you come away more in love than ever.

No one will observe or interfere in any way with each couple's time alone. Nor will you be required to share any of your discussions. (Just wanted to address those with the same qualms I had before attending!)

If you are Catholic married couple and live in the DFW area, you might want to consider spending a weekend (July 25-27) making your good marriage better. Details are here.

Worth a Thousand Words: Waiting

Waiting (c.1879-1882). Edgar Degas
via Books and Art

I look at this and think, "I've had days like that."

Fortunately, not lately. They don't look as if they were merely waiting but tired, beat-down, worn out. Of course, this is simply my interpretation which is the great thing about art. It can speak to us all differently. You may not see that same feeling there. Maybe I get it from the leaning forward. It could just be a very uncomfortable bench.

I also wonder what they are thinking. These days both of them would be very busy with cell phones, music, and whatnot. I myself would probably be reading a book instead of tracing lines with the end of my umbrella. (Hey, that's what she's doing. If you don't see it, then ... well, I said it above. Degas put something else there for you. Isn't it great?)

Well Said: What Influences You

It is always hard to tell what your influences are. Everything you've seen, experienced, read, or heard gets broken down like compost in your head and then your own ideas grow out of that compost.

J.K. Rowling, 1999 interview

Of course, she was speaking about writing but I think that applies to life in a lot of ways too.

Echoes of heaven: It's really hard to have a better day than this

For the last few weeks I have been praying the "Only for today" prayer, St. John XXIII's "decalogue." It's really amazing how often during a day one of the "only for today" lines will float to the top of my mind just when in need reinforcement in not mentioning getting my feelings hurt or not trying to "improve" anyone but myself, and so forth.

This morning I realized my thoughts had wandered and I firmly applied myself to the line I'd just read unthinkingly:

9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.

And as it penetrated, I was suddenly seized with the joy of an ineffable moment of knowing just how well God knows me, really knows me, and loves me and ... well, it's ineffable.

I'll just say that I had, at that moment, a capacity to receive and what I received was joy.

Then on GoodReads I got an email from Manny, who swims in the same parts of the internet I do and also comments here (we're pals is what that all means). He pointed me to the Our Sunday Visitor piece Untangling the Catholic Web.

I can’t help but think that if you can only read five blogs, these are among the best.

Happy Catholic was listed among a lot of luminaries and international spots (like the Vatican or Cardinal Dolan - I'm getting giddy just thinking of it). I knew something was coming because I'd supplied a photo, but I'd completely forgotten all about it. By the way, this piece has tons of good places for you to find solid Catholic info online, so go read it.

That was like a bouquet of flowers to begin the day.

Then I swung by Manny's place Ashes From Burnt Roses and got a shocker that stopped me in my tracks. Manny had just reviewed my book Happy Catholic. He read it for Lent, for heavens' sakes which is about the biggest compliment there is.

His review included not one but four excerpts. So I know he wasn't kidding around when he said he liked it. Prefacing all this was the nicest set of compliments for this blog that I've ever read. (I mean, Manny and I are pals, but I had no idea ... Manny, you sweetheart!)

It’s hip, fresh, and on contemporary culture from a Roman Catholic perspective. Her motto which is right at the top of the blog and reflects her upbeat personality is, “Not always happy, but always happy to be Catholic.”

It was like closing the door with one set of flowers only to have the doorbell instantly ring to find another set waiting for me.

Just in case I didn't get the point, right? The "good providence of God" - that timing - sometimes I have to remind myself that there is no such thing as coincidence. This is the sort of thing that helps with that.

As today's "well said" points out:

And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true.

And brings joy.

Well Said: Of course, in a novel people's hearts break ...

Of course, in a novel, people's hearts break, and they die, and that is the end of it; and in a story this is very convenient. But in real life we do not die when all that makes life bright dies to us. There is a most busy and important round of eating, drinking, dressing, walking, visiting, buying, selling, talking, reading, and all that makes up what is commonly called living, yet to be gone through; and this yet remained to Augustine. Had his wife been a whole woman, she might yet have done something—as woman can—to mend the broken threads of life, and weave again into a tissue of brightness. But Marie St. Clare could not even see that they had been broken. As before stated, she consisted of a fine figure, a pair of splendid eyes, and a hundred thousand dollars; and none of these items were precisely the ones to minister to a mind diseased.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin

I am reading this for the third time, which allows me to pursue it at a very leisurely pace and simply enjoy it. Stowe was such a great writer in the Dickensian style I love. I like even more that she and Charles Dickens were great admirers of each others' writing. This book does contain a great deal of heartbreak, suffering, and hypocrisy. However, it is interwoven with a great deal of humor and insight that leavens the whole, makes it timeless, and a real pleasure to read.

Marie St. Clare was spoiled in the true sense of the word through complete indulgence. Stowe's comments and examples find vivid echoes in the behavior of heedless parents and spoiled children today. Entitlement is no new thing and it is shown in all possible ways here, including those which make the reader laugh. I mean to say, the mind that conceived of putting Marie St. Clare up against Miss Ophelia, a no-nonsense Vermonter, is a mind that understands humor.

Also, I think of the conversation about books to take on a long trip (yes, for a Holy Land Pilgrimage ... it's on my mind!) and I look at this little, light version and smile. It is a Collector's Library edition. I love little books and this series fills the bill. They are generally inexpensive, between $5-$10, hardback with a ribbon marker and gilt edges, and 4" x 6". This 644 page book weights only around 11 ounces, making it a perfect bedtime book and easy to slip into my bag during the day in case I am stuck in line somewhere.

Well Said: Critics who treat adult as a term of approval

Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

C.S. Lewis, On Three Ways of Writing for Children

Some self important ninny wrote a piece over at Slate advising everyone that we should read what we like but if we're reading books written for children then we should be embarrassed. I can just see her now, looking over her glasses at us in severe, professorial mode.

Two actual professors, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, loved children's literature and I thank heavens they did since they wrote for us what they themselves enjoyed reading.

A life without The Hobbit. Or even without The Little Princess or Little House on the Prairie, which I occasionally reread. What sort of life is that anyway? It sounds pretty joyless to me.

Or do you think she secretly reads The Hobbit under her bedcovers with a flashlight so no one sees her?

Either way, I feel sorry for her. What a lot she's cutting out of her life by putting such broad restrictions on what she allows into her reading pile.

I've seen this mentioned all over but the most recent place is Redecorating Middle-earth in Early Lovecraft, where Amy H. Sturgis has a link to a wicked, tongue-in-cheek response.

Pray for the Inhabitants of Mosul

First Things has a post Father Najeeb's request for prayers.

As you will have read by now, Sunni militants have driven the Iraqi government from the city of Mosul in a sudden and violent offensive. The non-combatant civilian population has been imperiled as a result, among whom are some Dominican friars. One friar living in Mosul, Fr. Najeeb Michaeel, O.P. composed the following request, which I pass along as relayed and translated for me by a confrere:

Bad news. I write you in a situation of violence in Mosul that is very critical and even apocalyptic. Most of the inhabitants of the city have already abandoned their houses and fled into the villages and are sleeping in the open without anything to eat or drink. Many thousands of armed men from the Islamic Groups of Da’ash have attacked the city of Mosul for the last two days. They have assassinated adults and children. The bodies have been left in the streets and in the houses by the hundreds, without pity. The regular forces and the army have also fled the city, along with the governor. In the mosques, they cry “Allah Akbar, long live the Islamic State.” Qaraqosh is overflowing with refugees of all kinds, without food or lodging. The check points and the Kurdish forces are blocking innumerable refugees from entering Kurdistan. What we are living and what we have seen over the last two days is horrible and catastrophic. The priory of Mar Behnam and other churches fell into the hands of the rebels this morning. . . . and now they have come here and entered Qaraqosh five minutes ago, and we are now surrounded and threatened with death. . . . pray for us. I’m sorry that I can’t continue . . . They are not far from our convent. . . . Don’t reply. . . .

Dominicans have been ministering in Iraq (sponsored by the French Provinces) since 1750. The Order’s presence includes both Dominican friars and sisters (Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena).

There is more to the post and I encourage you to go read. But first pray. Above all pray for these victims of terrorism.

In which the People of the Mist do not embrace a religion of love. And things go from bad to worse.

More of The People of the Mist by H. Rider Haggard at Forgotten Classics podcast. Enjoy!

Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction — Deadline June 30

Are you the next great writer of Catholic fiction? The Tuscany Prize is your chance to find out.

The Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction is a literary prize to promote writers and great undiscovered stories of Catholic fiction.

What is Catholic fiction? Stories that capture the imagination of the reader and are infused with the presence of God and faith — subtly, symbolically or deliberately.

Think of Flannery O’Connor, Graham Greene, J.R.R. Tolkien and G.K. Chesterton and many others whose writings reflected the thoughts of the great writer Gerard Manley Hopkins: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

This is the “stuff” of literature that wins the Tuscany Prize.

Do you have a manuscript? A Novel? A Young Adult Novel? A short story?

Would you like it published?

Does your story have themes of faith and struggle, of grace and nature, atonement, courage, redemption and hope? Whether it is fiction, historical fiction, mystery, fantasy or humor, the Tuscany Press is open to all genres.

We seek original great stories of unpublished/self-published works of fiction.

Are you the next great writer of Catholic fiction? We invite you to send in your manuscript.

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2014

Click through the link to find where to submit manuscripts.

If you want to see the 2013 winners, What World Is This? And Other Stories is available on Kindle today for just 99 cents. The collection of 2013 Tuscany Prize winners features National Book Award Winner Gloria Whelan.

Well Said: Being a Christian...

Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God’s will.

Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer

via Brandywine Books

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Worth a Thousand Words: Wrought Iron Door

Wrought Iron Door
taken by Barcelona Photoblog

This a detail of the ironwork at the entrance of Palau del Baro de Quadras in Barcelona. There is more information about the artist and links to other wonderful art that you can see on the streets of Barcelona. It must be nice to live somewhere like that. Dallas has a few dribs and drabs of art around, but not on the scale of doors and lamp posts. That would be nice.

At the Movies and Related News: Philomena

Philomena (2013, Stephen Frears dir.)
★★★

I'm not a fan of movies where the theme is "bash the bad guys" especially when the "bad guys" have been bashed by many a moviemaker already. You know what I mean: Slavetraders, Nazis, heartless mine owners, and so forth. I don't deny the bad guys need bashing much of the time, I just don't care to get my "facts" via a one-sided, often manipulative film. And I often find the subject matter too sad to want to watch. I can read articles or a book if need be, where I will often find more nuanced, complete information.

Therefore, I'd managed to avoid Philomena until forced to watch it for a movie discussion group. If you have to watch a "bash the bad Irish Catholic nuns" film, this is probably the one you want. In this case they preach shame to unwed mothers while allowing rich American Catholics to adopt the babies without the mothers' permission. The mothers have to work in a horrible, prison-like laundry. It's definitely not Christian by any stretch of the imagination. So - very bad nuns.

Philomena (Judi Dench) is a woman who alongside reporter Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) journeys to America to find the illegitimate son who was adopted 50 years ago. Philomena is still a Catholic, something that atheist Sixsmith just can't fathom after what was done to her.

So far, all is according to what we'd expect. The nuns are bad, the reporter is angry, and the film is fairly predictable and manipulative. So why do I say it is worth watching?

Judi Dench, as we'd expect, turns in a stellar performance as a little, old Irish lady who loves romances and salad bars. She also shows the fruit of fortitude in living with life's hard knocks, deep empathy, and keen insight. In some ways it made me think of my mother-in-law who had a gift for delivering simple but penetrating insights while we were doing something mundane like making potato salad. You never expected it but you always remembered it.

Philomena's, set between the two judgmental, unyielding, self-righteous forces of Mother Hildegarde and Martin Sixsmith, who delivers the takeaway message of the movie. This is reinforced by the view of her son's life, which points up the fact that life is often not easy no matter what one's circumstances. Viewers are left to ponder what actions they themselves take when life delivers a brutal blow.

RELATED NEWS
It hadn't escaped my attention that this movie was in my life at just the time to make me pay attention to more terrible news about the Irish Catholic Church. We were specifically watching the movie as a contrast piece to I Confess featuring Montgomery Clift as a very holy priest from around the same time period. Obviously I needed to do my homework.

And I'm glad I did. It solidified one thing I already knew.

It doesn't matter who is committing evil, under what "trustworthy" banner whether religious, teacher, coach, or friend. Evil is evil. Vision is skewed.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness... — Matthew 23:27-28

Jennifer Fitz has an excellent piece on the Irish news, Evil is Easy, which only served to cement the reading I above, which I'd heard on a podcast while mulling this over. Jennifer pointed out that we need not only point fingers at the past. (Don't stop at this bit ... go read it all.)

What you and I need to fear, then, is not our tolerance of cruelty towards Irish unwed mothers of the mid-20th century, but our tolerance of some other horror that perhaps we can’t even see.

This formed an excellent talking point for the movie group, as a matter of fact. We also wound up discussing Irish culture as a whole which led to some of the points I read in Pia de Solenni's excellent coverage. I'll let you discover them for yourself in these pieces:

• When the Truth Gets in the Way of News
• Still Trying to Get at the Truth of The Tuam House Story

The best overall media analysis, as is so often the case in anything about religion, comes from GetReligion. Read In Irish children's deaths, clarity doesn't thrive in a septic tank to see who is reporting honestly and who is spinning without complete information.

For me the best commentary was that of Irish Independent columnist David Quinn. It is a thoughtful and thorough piece which leaves us with a truth that cannot be denied.

Why didn't the children and adults encounter a proper Christian witness, real love, when they walked through their doors? Why was it impersonal rules and regulations on a good day and cruelty of a sometimes very extreme kind on other days?

I think it was because Christianity in Ireland had by then hardened into something that was all too often more about punishment than mercy and forgiveness. To that extent Christianity in Ireland had become, in the strict meaning of the term, anti-Christ, and the church is still living this down.

With all that said, these are the sorts of things I read to get a real grip on a situation. You can't turn to a movie like Philomena expecting more than one view. We're just lucky that Philomena herself had the one view we really needed.

Worth a Thousand Words: Sir Ian Reads

via Awesome People Reading

This resonated because I'm already thinking about what books to take to the Holy Land. Not for research! Pfft! NO, for my own personal reading. And not on the Kindle. I'll take my Kindle, but not for main reading.

Right now, front runners are my paperbacks of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have resigned myself to the fact that the big, one-volume book would be too heavy.

What books would you take on a long journey? Kindle or real?

(Want to know more about my Holy Land journey? Or come along? Check it out.)

What We've Been Watching: Encounters at the End of the World

Encounters at the End of the World (dir. Werner Herzog, 2007)
★★★

I know I'll never make it to Antarctica and when a friend recommended this documentary it seemed like a good way to see what it is like. I had no idea so many different kinds of research were underway in that icy environment.

And there is Warner Herzog too. I admit it took me several visits to the video store, weighing the Herzog-factor, before I gave in and rented this. His involvement was much as I recall it from Cave of Forgotten Dreams. The dreamy German voiceover, with the (evidently) requisite 10 minutes of insane pondering over some very strange question (in this case about what aliens 1,000 years in the future would think of some of the goofy things people have sitting around). Oh Werner, you dreamer!

Other than that, though it was interesting. Not ground breaking but good enough.

Well Said: More to life than living ...

"There's got to be more to life than just living," Foyle said to the robot.

"Then find it for yourself, sir. Don't ask the world to stop moving just because you have doubts."

Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination

We all like to think that we are the center of everything (and, indeed, to ourselves we are). Not only did I like the inherent truth of this passage but it made me laugh that it took a robot to focus the question properly.

Saints and Social Justice: A Guide to Changing the World by Brandon Vogt

Saints and Social Justice: A Guide to Changing the World by Brandon Vogt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The phrases "social justice" and "solidarity" could hardly have been more unwisely coined or adapted by the Catholic Church in my opinion. From the moment I heard them, they turned me off. I always thought they sounded like some lame department name you'd read about in a spy novel set in communist Russia. I mean really - solidarity? What does that even mean to the average person? Nothing.

However, if one digs deeper beneath the stiff, offputting phrases, one finds the heart of Christianity. They mean treating each person as if they belong, going out of one's way to find Christ in each individual, and following God's will (with Christ's help) to help each person one encounters. In other words, fully living your Christian life, whether as an individual or as part of the larger community.

“It’s good that you exist” — carries great power. To someone struggling with alcohol, who drinks away his loneliness, we say, “It’s good that you exist.” To someone who loathes her body and thinks she’s too fat, too skinny, too short, or not good enough, we say, “It’s good that you exist.” To the addict, the slave, the homeless man, even the murderer, we say, “It’s good that you exist.”

This phrase reminds people that they have intrinsic value, regardless of what they produce, or how they look, or if they have it all together. It echoes what God said immediately after creating the first man: “[He] looked at everything he had made, and found it very good” (Gn 1:31).

Next time you want to uplift someone’s dignity, remind them of that wonderful truth: “It’s good that you exist.”

This is ably illustrated by Brandon Vogt's book, which highlights 14 different saints whose lives were spent giving dignity and aid to the less fortunate. Ranging from housewives to priests, in all sorts of different life situations, these people were open enough to God's wishes to do extraordinary things. Vogt also does a great job of helping us relate by contrasting each saint with another one or two who lived out similar "missions" in different ways. He ends each section by relating these saints' larger missions to our own lives, so we can see where we might do more or act in ways that hadn't occurred to us previously.

He ends each section by relating these saints' larger missions to our own lives, so we can see where we might do more or act in ways that hadn't occurred to us previously. This is important because these saints achieved so much that we might feel any small drops of help we can achieve are not going to make a difference. Vogt's gentle questions and examples helps us see that our drops matter because all of them together add up to a large ocean.

And this, no matter what stupid phrase is used to describe it, is something dear to my heart, a lesson I've been learning a little better every day in my 14 years as a Catholic. Each time I've followed that internal prompting, despite my fears of not knowing enough or being rejected or looking stupid, I have been rewarded. My efforts have had effects, in their own small way, which I never could have imagined. And I have grown and changed for the better myself along the way.

I found this book really inspiring. I especially enjoyed the amount of detail Vogt gave for each saint. Even the ones I knew about, like Peter Claver, Frances of Rome, or Dorothy Day, took on unexpected meaning for me because I hadn't realized there was so much I didn't know about them. Of course, there were some who were brand new to me and I really enjoyed learning about their lives.

This is a well written and inspiring book and one that should help us understand that "social justice" and "solidarity" mean "living as a Christian" no matter what your condition in life.

Please Mr. Vogt, may I have another? Perhaps one about the martyrs? You pick the subject. I'll read it.

Angels and Saints Blog Tour: St. Monica and St. Augustine

You may recall my review of this book which ran last week. If not, no worries. You can find it right here.

I chose to take my day of the blog tour to look at St. Monica and St. Augustine. (Which, to be fair, was what I thought my assignment was, so maybe my review jumped the gun. No matter. This is just icing on the cake, right?)

So after you've read Scott Hahn's fine Angels and Saints book, what difference will it really make in your life? If you feel drawn to one of the saints or angels you read about, consider striking up a relationship. It will change your life, deepen your faith, and give you a new friend.

Allow me to illustrate.

St. Augustine was my first saint friend. Thanks to a book of daily reflections based on excerpts of his writing, I got to know him before I really invested much thought in my patron saint, Martha.

I could relate to St. Augustine. Stubborn, searching for truth, understanding the reason for living the clean life but not wanting to commit to it fully. He's the poster boy not only for his age but for the ages since then.

Not only that, but he was able to put words to feelings and thoughts that I, a new convert, hadn't really even been able to articulate until I read them and knew how right they were.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

I appreciated his mother, St. Monica, who followed her wayward son from city to city, reasoning with him and crying for his conversion and, most importantly, never ceasing her prayers. For 17 years.

[Side note about St. Monica. This is all most books ever tell you. I recently read St. Augustine's Confessions. Oh, yes, did I mention he wrote the first autobiography? Yep. Anyway, he gives full tribute to his mother's role as a role model and in saving his soul. He also gives a lot of her own personal story which shows she was a woman who fought her own personal demons and won, while serving as a splendid example to the women in her town. Definitely read it. I recommend the middle third if, like me, you have trouble getting into it.]

Soon after I learned all this about St. Augustine and St. Monica, I thought of my parents. Atheists, not probably going to listen to me talking about religion, and it troubled me greatly. I felt a greater and greater yearning for them to come to know the happiness and freedom I felt now that I knew Christ.

So I lit a votive candle and enlisted St. Augustine and St. Monica in praying with me for my parents' souls. I vowed that even if it took ten years I'd match Monica's faithfulness in prayer. (Boy oh boy, am I glad that I thought she'd prayed for 10 years and didn't know then that it was 17 years!) I joked to myself that I had visions of sitting by their deathbeds, rosary in hand, not giving up. Little could I foresee that was exactly where I found myself 10 years later as my father was dying. Or how richly God would answer our prayers. It stretched me, it changed me, and I grew during the entire process.

Scott Hahn's book gives a succinct overview of Augustine's life and Monica's influence. However, he doesn't stop there but points out how God used both Monica and Augustine to enrich the lives of each other, those around them, and those who have followed. I especially appreciated the point that St. Augustine wouldn't have been as effective when he was a bishop who was bringing congregations of heretics back to the Catholic faith, if he hadn't had firsthand experience of being a heretic himself.

That's an aspect of Augustine's life I hadn't realized and showed me yet another way I relate to him. As someone raised without any faith, with completely secular values, I am often able to explain to atheists and agnostics what the Catholic point of view might be on a particular issue. I can do it with an understanding of what they believe and where the differences are. Not as well as St. Augustine, but I'm working on getting better at it.

Well Said: Finding Inspiration

From my quote journal.

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

Jack London

Worth a Thousand Words: Pope Francis at the West Bank Wall

Pope Francis praying at the West Bank wall dividing Palestine and Israel.

As seen everywhere. It was such an evocative moment and the photo captures it so well that I just like to look at it. A lot.

In which Juana and Otter are venerated as gods and see what it means to worship The Snake.

Adventure ratchets up a notch for our band of adventurers in the land of The People of the Mist by H. Rider Haggard, read for you at Forgotten Classics!

Julie thinks Father Logan has dreamy eyes and Scott is judging Inspector Larrue for his pointed investigation.

They both confess they love this little known Alfred Hitchcock movie while discussing I Confess at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Worth a Thousand Words: Tawny Owl

Tawny Owl
taken by that extraordinary photographer Remo Savisaar

It's All Downhill From Here: Screenshot

A little midweek humor, courtesy of xkcd with whom I completely agree!

The Last Monk of Tibhirine by Freddy Derwahl

The Last Monk of Tibhirine: A True Story of Martyrdom, Faith, and Survival by Freddy Derwahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Jean-Pierre appeared at the gate in the late afternoon of my arrival, we immediately embraced each other. He knew what I expected of him—namely, that I hoped he would relate the whole story to me. I found the slightly bent-over eighty-seven-year-old Trappist monk in good spirits. His blue-green eyes accentuated an impish smile that concealed great kindness. Deep wrinkles on his forehead and chin did not bear the signs of worry but of wisdom. He wore a sand-colored habit typical for this climate, with a leather belt, and on his head a knit tarbush bearing Islamic motifs. ... The next morning at 10:30, we sat down together for the first time. Our only topic was his life. The massacre of his seven brothers lay fifteen years in the past. He, however, had been spared from the attack, so where had his fate led him since then?

This is the story of Jean-Pierre Schumacher, the last surviving member of a Cistercian monastic community in Algeria, whose members were was kidnapped and killed in 1996. Like many people, I became aware of that event when I saw the movie Of Gods and Men, which Scott Danielson and I discussed on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

This book alternates between Jean-Pierre's life story and author Freddy Derwahl's experience while on retreat at the monastery. It includes the lives of the martyred monks as their lives intertwined with Jean-Pierre's, with special emphasis on the prior, Christian, and his writing. Once the timeline gets to the point where the movie was made, it is included in the discussion which is interesting for anyone who has seen it.

I did not expect the book to grab me from the first page as the author told the story, not only of Jean-Pierre, but also of his own experience staying at the new monastery. His diary entries not only drew me into his own experience, but also invited me to deeper reflection.

2:00 pm:
A siesta with open eyes. The text about the exciting life of P. André Louf that I read during the night continues to resonate with me. I need the example of strong men. That is the reason why I had also taken along the books by Pope Benedict and Ernst Junger. They tested their limits—one of them in a gentle manner, the other defying death. By the way, both of them feel the mocking criticism of their time breathing down their necks.

9:30 pm:
I sit outside on my little wooden bench. Rarely was the star-filled sky so comforting. We are surrounded by magnificence that is unreachable and yet a promise that is quite close.

One of the most impressive things to me about this book is the way that the monks' offer their faith to others by embracing all that they can of Islam. That may sound overly ecumenical but the way that Christian approached it was to include all the Islamic symbolism and patterns possible in different parts of the monastery. This at least added a familiar feel to visiting Muslims and added a context for showing where there were common points of worship and faith.

It worked so well that twice a year there were a group of Muslim devout who would come for a day of common prayer and worship, at the Muslims' request. They quickly discovered that discussing theological points led to disagreement and so learned to focus on the God alone. This made it possible to connect as people of faith based on the core idea of searching for God and personally connecting with Him.

A deep bond developed between the prior and the Muslim friend after the latter had asked him to teach him how to pray, and for many years there was a lively spiritual exchange between the two. After they had not seen each other for a while due to various other obligations, the Muslim friend said to him, "I think it is time to dig in our common well again." It was an allusion to the depth that characterized their encounters.

Christian responded, "And what will we find at the bottom of the well? Muslim or Christian water?"

Then he looked at him with a mixture of smiling and sorrow: "Do you still ask yourself this question? Don't you know that on the bottom of this fountain we will find the water of God?"

The Last Monk of Tibhirine was originally written in German and the English translation occasionally betrays awkwardness. The most obvious place was when Derwahl's July 26 diary said, "Mass in celebration of the Apostle Jacob." I was stopped in my tracks as I pondered who the Apostle Jacob might be. Finally going to a liturgical calendar I realized that it was a mistranslation. July 26 is the Apostle James' feast day.

There were a few other awkward phrasings in sentences which seemed as if they should connect to transitional commentary or new thoughts, but which never materialized.These were not egregious enough to make reading problematic but did cause the occasional hiccup.

Overall The Last Monk of Tibhirine is suitable for either slow, meditative reading or simply to learn more about the story of Jean-Pierre and Our Lady of Atlas monastery. I enjoyed it on both levels. Suffice it to say that this book is a gem whether one has seen Of Gods and Men or not. Highly recommended.

Faces of Christ by Jane Williams

Faces of Christ by Jane Williams

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jesus is one of the most commonly portrayed figures of all time in the artistic community. But what can all of his varying faces—coming from so many different ages and diverse countries around the world—tell us about him as a person? In this beautiful book, images of Jesus are used to explore his life and legacy, including Jesus as shepherd, Jesus as victor, Jesus as broken, and many more. With illuminating text and arresting images, this book is visually stunning and textually inspiring.

This was a birthday gift and I'm so glad I had it on my wish list. I'm continually trying to find books that use art for Christian reflection and meditation. They open up faith in a way that plain words alone don't. Thus far, Sister Wendy Beckett's books have been the only ones I've found, so Jane Williams comes as a welcome addition.

Williams chooses diverse artists that reveal strikingly different ways to think about different aspects of Christ's life and our own. Her text is spare but illuminating. I'm about a third of the way into the book (it is small) and have already had three "aha" moments. This book will become part of my regular rotation of meditation books and I can foresee that it will shed light in different areas when I need it most.

Worth a Thousand Words: Victorian Clock Tower

Victorian Clock Tower, Ripon, England
taken by Joseph of Zombie Parent's Guide

Doesn't this look like the perfect little bit of an English town? I almost feel as if I were there. Joseph tells us:

On the other side of town is the Victorian Clock Tower. Two sisters had this built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

He's got more of the town at the link.

Well Said: The Door of Bread and Wine

...the door comes to us, and it looks like bread and wine. But it is God. God coming to live in us, here, until we can go to live with Him, there.

It’s a hard, crazy kind of faith we have to have, because we were not made for it. We were made to live with God, to see Him face to face, to walk with Him every evening in the garden. We weren’t made to live so separate. It hurts. We want to see the door, we want to be sure it’s the door, we want to peek around the other side and know for certain what lies behind the door.

Well, original sin destroyed that door. And that door came back to us, God made flesh, and re-opened the way.

Jennifer Fitz, at Catholic Mom

I like that point, that we weren't made to live separate from God. I know it but I forget in the mishmash of daily life. I need to be reminded. This is the heart of it, but there's a bit more if you go to the link.

Trailer - Life Itself (documentary about Roger Ebert)

I've been curious about this for some time. The gang at RogerEbert.com has been following progress of every showing at various festivals, including Cannes.

I was impressed it was directed by the Hoop Dreams director and so was excited to see the trailer.

Which just made me want more. The way a good trailer should. See for yourself.

(P.S. It also made me miss Gene Siskel all over again.)

Well Said: Being Honest With God

For when you say only the things that you believe you should say, rather than being honest, any relationship grows cold, including one with God.

Father James Martin, Jesus: A Pilgrimage

I remembered this just yesterday and it was of immense help. 

Instead of just putting up with something, I needed to be completely honest with God about the fact that I was afraid, distrustful in fact, that He wasn't going to come through for me in a certain situation.

Wow, did that help with everything. Including connecting with God.

And then I could prepare for the fact that I might just have to put up with it. (I didn't have to, but that's a different story.)

Angels and Saints by Scott Hahn (with Book Giveaway)

Angels and Saints: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God's Holy Ones by Scott Hahn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a solid, understandable book that explains the concept and theology of angels and saints. The last half of the book contains the stories of specific saints and angels, along with an excerpt from a writing about them (usually from a Church Father). It would definitely be a good book to give to someone wondering about the topic.

Angels and saints have been a special interest of mine since my conversion in 2000 so I've read a lot of books on the subject. Therefore, a lot of the information was not new to me. Even so, almost every section had some tidbit which was a surprise or gave me a new perspective. A few samples of the sort of things that knocked my socks off:

• Humans are the minority in the Church. Oh, right. Angels outnumber us, which makes sense when you realize that each of us has a guardian angel. (I also was blown away by the connection of guardian angels to Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane where he was comforted and assisted by ... yep ...  an angel.)

• Hahn draws on rabbinical teachings to point out: It was Moses' special intimacy with God that made it possible for him to compose the Torah. He could describe the earliest days of creation not because he was there, but because God was; through prayerful intimacy, Moses had come to see as God saw. Oh snap!

• There was not a bishop alive who could speak the language of the Old Testament, but Jerome was teaching it to Roman widows and teenagers. They pushed him to the point where he lamented that they had surpassed him in their ability to speak Hebrew with no accent.

My favorite part was the introduction where Scott Hahn shares his personal experience, which is both moving and inspiring. I think the book could have done with a few more personal touches throughout and then I might have given it another star.

Hahn's been writing more of these "Catholic basics" books lately but this is the first I've read. If it is any indication, he's giving the Church a fine resource. He's certainly giving regular readers a great chance to dig deeper into their faith.

BLOG TOUR
I'll be participating in the blog tour for this book along with 11 other bloggers. Scott Hahn chose 12 favorite saints to highlight and we'll each be reflecting on his chapter about a saint close to our hearts as well.

My day is June 2.

My choice? I get two for one! Saint Monica and Saint Augustine.

Here's the schedule.

• May 27: St. Michael and the Angels - Catholic Katie 
• May 28: Moses - Abigail’s Alcove
• May 29: St. Paul - Catholic Bibles
• May 30: St. Ignatius of Antioch - The Orant
• May 31: St. Irenaeus of Lyons - Seasons of Grace
• June 1: St. Jerome - Stuart’s Study
• June 2: St. Monica and St. Augustine - Happy Catholic 
• June 3: St. Thomas Aquinas - Blog of the Courtier
• June 4: St. Therese of Lisieux - Single Catholic Girl
• June 5: St. Maximilian Kolbe - Random Acts of Momness
• June 6: St. Josemaria Escriva - Catholic Mom 
• June 7: Queen of All Saints, Mother of the Church - This Cross I Embrace 

BOOK GIVEAWAY
And I'll be doing a book giveaway on the day of the blog tour! Woohoo! Leave a comment here to enter in the random drawing that I'll hold that day. If you comment anonymously, that is fine, but leave your name in the comment so I can alert you if you win!

Movie Group in a Nutshell

Yesterday's daily quote included my comments about a movie group I do at a local assisted living facility. I was asked about what the "model" was which has proven so successful.

I actually have been meaning to do a blog to serve as a resource with lists and tips in case anyone else was interested in such a venture. I began one and then got distracted. I'll get busy with it again.

In a nutshell, it is providing activity for small groups, rather than large ones. I've been working with the facility's management but providing a way that those within the small group can help nurture it if they are interested.

The facility had most activities organized around large groups attending and this was their first view of how successfully a small group could turn into a vibrant community. And when I say small, let's be clear. I was thrilled Monday to hear that about 15 people watched the movie and to have 9 people come to lunch.

It has been hit and miss to get to where we are. I wanted to do something to volunteer and was asked to set up my own idea. All I really could think of was the sort of conversations Scott and I have at A Good Story is Hard to Find.

I began over a year ago with a book and movie club, which met in the afternoons. It turns out that very few wanted to read books or even listen to audiobooks, which the facility happily provided free.

So movies are the focus.

Afternoons were also a problem as people had other activities or wanted to nap after lunch.

So a couple of group members were inspired to move the meeting to lunch time. Because who doesn't want to have a good conversation with a meal? We all know the key to getting attendance is to provide food, no matter what time of day.

The current formula, which has been working well for some time, is that we meet twice a month. The movie is shown on Sunday evening by a group member, though the management is going to begin also showing it on Fridays (as we continue to tweak). On Monday there is a lunch for anyone who saw it to come and join a group discussion. I have trivia from Wikipedia/IMDB and insights just from reading various reviews, to try to foster conversation.