The Thin Veil

"The good Lord knows how to turn a spring into an ocean."

2012-05-31T12:27:00.000-04:00

Just got this message from my partner-in-crime, Fr. Linus, who helped me dream up the Africa eBook Project.

Dear brother,

Wow! What a great miracle the Lord has worked for us! It is so heartwarming to hear.

Of course, the idea of continuing this great work to the rest of Africa—fantastic. That is exactly what I had in mind as soon as we are done with this first phase. I am quite delighted our thinking is the same.

Believe me, the transformation this whole project will bring about shall go beyond our expectations.

As you well know, the good Lord knows how to turn a spring into an ocean. We continue to pray and thank Him.

Wishing you all the success in the second phase of the fundraising campaign. May God continue to bless our efforts.

Yours brother,
Linus

OSV picks up the Africa eBook Project

2012-05-31T10:03:00.000-04:00

Read the whole article here.

And how cool is this: we're almost at $10,000! Thanks so much for your help so far. Let's keep moving forward and see where God takes this!

We did it! - Africa eBook Project

2012-05-30T08:34:00.000-04:00

At exactly 4:00pm yesterday, after just nine hours online, we reached our goal of $4,000 for the Africa eBook Project.

That's enough to send a digital Catholic library to every seminarian in Cameroon. I can't thank you enough for donating and spreading the word. This experiment in new media solidarity has already shown the power of the Catholic online world.

But we're not stopping there.

The campaign will continue through June 30, which means you can help this become something even bigger. If you can donate a couple bucks, promote the movement on your blog, or share the video trailer through social media, you can help expand this movement to even more countries.

Ultimately, I'd like to get one CD to every future-priest on the African continent. And I think we can. So donate, link, share, and let's make this happen.

Thanks so much for being a part of this!

Speaking of evangelization and seminaries...

2012-05-29T13:12:00.000-04:00

Fr. Robert Barron, the new rector at Mundelein Seminary, shows why they are so blessed to have him:

As a side note, when you donate to the Africa eBook Project, and thereby help seminarians on the other side of the globe, you can receive books, CDs, or DVDs from Fr. Barron including a full set of his epic CATHOLICISM film series.

Africa eBook Project - Join the Movement!

2012-05-29T06:00:00.002-04:00

In Cameroon, Africa, books are rare—especially the good ones. My friend Linus is studying at one of the seminaries, and he says the situation is even worse there. The seminaries are bursting at the seams with young men, yet most lack solid Catholic materials. The libraries are meager and while most of the seminaries have computers, internet is spotty at best.

But what if we could change that? What if we could provide good Catholic books for every seminarian?

I think we can. Through the power of the Catholic blogosphere, I'm convinced we can crowd-source a solution.

That's why I've created the Africa eBook Project. The plan is to send 2,000 CDs to all the seminarians in Cameroon, each loaded with Catholic eBooks including:

The Holy Bible in English and Latin
The complete writings of the Church fathers
The full Catholic Encyclopedia
St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae
Several Church documents and encyclicals
Apologia Pro Vita Sua (Cardinal John Henry Newman)
Heretics (G.K. Chesterton)
How to Make Homilies Better, Briefer, and Bolder (Fr. Alfred McBride)
Lord of the World (Robert Hugh Benson)
Men of Brave Heart: The Virtue of Courage in the Priestly Life (Archbishop Jose Gomez)
Orthodoxy (G.K. Chesterton)
Pensees (Blaise Pascal)
Priests for the Third Millennium (Cardinal Timothy Dolan)
The Church and New Media (Brandon Vogt)
The Great Teachers (Pope Benedict XVI)
The Little Flowers of St. Francis (St. Francis of Assisi)
The Priest: A Bridge to God (Pope Benedict XVI)
The Spiritual Exercises (St. Ignatius of Loyola)
The Story of a Soul (St. Therese of Lisieux)

Each CD will cost $2 to produce and ship to Africa. We could have partnered with a big charity to raise the funds, but we're taking a different approach.

Starting today, we're running a month-long campaign at Indiegogo.com (think Kickstarter, but open to religious groups.) The purpose is to give everyone a chance to play a part in this. For just $2, anyone can donate one CD and join the movement.

Several wonderful groups have combined to make this project happen including Our Sunday Visitor, New Advent, Aquinas and More, Word on Fire, Lighthouse Catholic Media, and the Libreria Editrice Vatican. They've also contributed some great giveaway perks for donors (to get the perks, make sure you click "Claim This Perk" on the campaign page sidebar):

$2 donation - Digital photo of a Cameroon seminarian receiving his CD
$15 donation - CD talk by Dr. Scott Hahn
$25 donation - "Best of Fr. Barron" CD including 10 talks
$50 donation - Church and New Media book by Brandon Vogt
$75 donation - Catholicism book by Fr. Robert Barron
$200 donation - Complete set of Catholicism DVD series

Overall, this Africa eBook project is an experiment in new media solidarity. Its goal is to unite the energy of the online Catholic world and channel it into a global work of mercy. We want to forge connections, spread books, and help form priests halfway across the world.

But to do that, we need your help. First, of course, we need donations. So head over to AfricaEbooks.com and donate a couple dollars. If you can donate more, you'll receive one of the great perks listed above.

Second, I'm asking you to promote the project on your own website, blog, or social media profile. The campaign will run through June 30, so anytime this month would be great. Even if you do nothing more than post the YouTube trailer that would be a huge help.

So consider this your invitation. For just $2, you're a part of this. For just $2, you can say, "look at what we were able to accomplish." For just $2, you can participate in this new media solidarity, this digital work of mercy.

AfricaEbooks.com

Campaign website: Indiegogo.com/Africa
Facebook page: Facebook.com/AfricaEbooks
YouTube Trailer: Youtube.com/watch?v=6QfoSDFEJUM&hd=1

"Holiness for Everyone" - Review

2012-05-28T11:42:00.000-04:00

Holiness Is for Everyone: The Practical Spirituality of St. Josemaria Escriva
Eric Sammons

St. Josemaria Escriva hasn’t had a fair shake. In 2003, Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code painted his religious apostolate, Opus Dei, as a band of secretive, murdering zealots. Unfortunately, that portrayal seeped into the Church and many Catholics became skeptical of Opus Dei and its founder. Then in 2011, There Be Dragons debuted, a new film about Escriva’s life. However it was widely panned, poorly attended, and did little to improve his reputation.

So when I discovered Eric Sammons was writing a new book on the spirituality of St. Josemaria, I was thrilled. St. Josemaria was the first saint I read after becoming Catholic (his little homily collection, Friends of God, is powerful reading before Mass.) Since then I've benefited from his other writings, especially The Way. Unfortunately, Escriva remains unknown in most circles which means if anyone needs to be rediscovered today, it’s this twentieth-century saint.

Eric is definitely up to the task. His 2010 book, Who Is Jesus Christ?, remains a favorite both for its richness and depth. Eric’s writing is always impressively clear and packed with spiritual wisdom. More importantly, he lives what he writes. His work is birthed from personal experience: when Eric talks about prayer, devotion, or holiness, it’s not as an objective observer. He’s in the arena, seeing things from within.

In Holiness for Everyone: The Practical Spirituality of St. Josemaria Escriva (Our Sunday Visitor, paperback, 144 pages), Eric uses his own lived experience of St. Josemaria's program to re-introduce a man Pope John Paul II called “the saint of ordinary life.” The book begins with a short biography of Escriva before diving in to Escriva's favorite theme, one which also grounded the Second Vatican Council: God’s goal for you is nothing less than sainthood, and therefore we’re all called to sanctity.

"Our first step toward understanding St. Josemaría's message," writes Sammons, "will be understanding the Catholic teaching, forgotten at times but renewed in recent years, of the call that each and every Christian has to holiness. St. Josemaría's spirituality did not develop in a vacuum, but instead stands on the shoulders of the entire tradition of Catholic spirituality."

But how can we become holy, especially those of us mired in the day-to-day grind of cubicles, toddlers, bills, and chores? Escriva’s whole work is an answer to that question, and Eric guides us through some of his solutions:

Divine Filiation. At the heart of St. Josemaria’s spirituality is an emphasis on our identity as sons and daughters of God. Besides helping us see God as a loving father, this of course means we’re all connected as a family, a family that can spur each other toward holiness.
Spiritual Freedom. There are only two options in the spiritual life: to be a slave or to be a son. The former binds you to your passions and the world. The latter, however, is the key to real freedom. When you choose your role as a son or daughter of God, you're liberated from the earthly bonds of sin.
Ordinary Holiness. St. Josemaria was often called “the saint of the ordinary” and it was because of his strong emphasis on everyday sanctity. Like St. Therese, Escriva taught that you don’t have to be a priest or nun to live a saintly life. You can be holy whatever your state in life in all the small things each day.
Sacred Work. Outside of perhaps John Paul II, no other twentieth-century saint connected work with holiness like Escriva. He taught that work was not a distraction to sanctity but a prime avenue toward it. It’s through our work that we strengthen our virtues and our will to sacrifice. Work, Escriva would say, is the way to heaven.

As in Who Is Jesus Christ?, Eric includes helpful end-of-chapter suggestions. Each chapter concludes with Read, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate items which yield a lectio divina style reflection. In most book, I usually skip the end-of-chapter questions, but these provoked me, pushing me toward serious reflection.

If you want a more biographical introduction to St. Josemaria or Opus Dei, there are several great options (I especially recommend John Allen’s book, Opus Dei or Scott Hahn’s spiritual memoir.) However, Eric’s book moves past biography into the realm of spiritual reading. He doesn’t just provide basic facts; he gives you a roadmap toward holiness, unveiling Escriva’s ‘ordinary path’ toward sanctity and inviting you down the Way.

Weekly Giveaway (5/25)

2012-05-25T08:00:00.002-04:00

"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others." - St. Augustine

Because I've built up a large collection of extra books and resources, each week I give away one or more, absolutely free, no strings attached.

Each giveaway lasts seven days with a new one beginning each Friday, so you can enter any time during the week. Check out a list of past giveaways items here.

The Environment
by Pope Benedict XVI

Courtesy of Our Sunday Visitor, this week's giveaway is a new book by Pope Benedict XVI. Titled The Environment, the book collects excerpts from the Pope’s audiences, speeches, encyclicals, letters, and homilies, all dealing with care for creation. Here's a snippet from my review:

"The Environment isn't meant to be political, nor was it designed as a science text. You won’t find data supporting or refuting global warming.

Instead, the Pope’s focus is on the moral and spiritual demands we all share in regard to the environment. Because of this angle, the book has the potential to be a bridge between social liberals and conservatives who are often far apart on this topic.

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken more on creation than perhaps any other pontiff or Catholic leader. This new collection synthesizes all his teachings and confirms that the environment isn’t just a "liberal" issue—it’s a deeply Catholic concern."

In order to win this week's giveaway, leave a comment below answering this question:

Why should we care for creation?

The winner will be randomly selected next Friday and the giveaway item will be sent out, free-of-charge, shortly thereafter.

In the future I'll be giving away more books and resources, sometimes multiple items per giveaway! So subscribe via feed reader or email to ensure you never miss your chance to win.

(Since I'm covering the shipping costs, only residents within the continental United States are eligible to win.)

Interview with Angela O’Donnell - On Flannery O'Connor and Prayer

2012-05-24T14:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I reviewed a beautiful new book titled The Province of Joy: Praying with Flannery O'Connor.

Author Angela Alaimo O'Donnell, an English professor at Fordham University, collected Flannery's spiritual writings, along with prayers and her own reflections, to produce a deeply meditative book.

I'm a huge fan of Flannery's work, so I asked Angela if she'd be willing to discuss it with me. Below is our interview in which we cover several topics including Flannery's faith, her personal letters, and her relevance for the world today. Enjoy!

Q: Flannery O'Connor is renowned as one of the twentieth century's top writers. Yet many ignore her Catholicism. How did Flannery's faith shape her work?

O’Connor was a cradle Catholic who grew up in the American south, a part of the country where Catholics were rare and were regarded with a good deal of suspicion by their Protestant neighbors. So O’Connor grew up with a sense of being different, of belonging to a people set apart, and that difference creates, for the writer in particular, a wonderfully detached perspective from which to view the world around you. O'Connor was a great observer of her fellow human beings, and her identity as a Catholic enabled her to see them with fresh eyes.

This keen observation manifests itself in her writing, especially in the peculiar details she includes—the ones that enable us to see her characters as fully realized human beings you might just run into at the Piggly Wiggly.

In addition, O’Connor’s Catholicism taught her young that the Creation—along with the human beings who occupy it—is inherently good and much loved by God. It had, of course, been corrupted by sin and the devil, but at root, the world was so beloved by God that he entered it as a human being and he died for it on the cross.

The world has been redeemed by the Incarnation, through the grace of God, and her stories operate with that understanding as a reality. Many of O’Connor’s stories are about the ways in which human beings come to a sudden understanding of that theological fact and the ways in which their lives must be transformed by that knowledge.

Q: While collecting Flannery's letters and essays for Province of Joy, was there anything that surprised you?

I loved re-reading O’Connor’s letters, in particular, through this lens of discovering what she had to say about her faith and her prayer life. It made me realize how enormous this preoccupation was for her. She writes about theological matters as much as she writes about literary matters—perhaps more so! This is remarkable for a fiction writer, of course, even one who is a serious Catholic, and was a revelation to me.

In addition, I was very struck in re-reading the letters by the degree to which they read like public statements as well as private ones. Certainly, O’Connor addressed her letters to the friends she was writing to—Elizabeth Hester or Billy Sessions or whomever—and there is an intimacy there, but she also seems to be writing to and for you, the reader.

Critics and biographers have commented on the fact that O’Connor seemed to know from early on that her letters might be of interest to posterity after her death. (I suppose this is something all writers hope for!) And she did give permission for them to be published before she died. So one hears in those letters not just off-the-cuff remarks about faith, but carefully crafted statements that convey her deepest convictions. There is something poignant in this idea, for me. She wanted all of us—distant strangers as well as close friends—to understand how much her faith meant to her.

Q: You designed your book as a book of hours, following Flannery's own penchant for liturgical prayer. Why did she favor this over other forms?

O’Connor was a traditional, pre-Vatican II Catholic, and she had been schooled in the ways in which Catholics pray. She had been exposed to liturgical prayer from childhood onward through Mass attendance, and she had been taught the many beautiful prayers Catholics say—the Hail Mary, the Our Father, the Act of Contrition, the Creed, etc. For O’Connor, this was the only way to pray that was sanctioned by the church.

This is very different, of course, from the kind of prayer many of her Protestant neighbors would have engaged in. O’Connor would have found the emotion-driven, revival-meeting style prayer of Southern charismatic Christians to be deeply problematic.

The Catholic view is that our prayers have been handed down to us by tradition, by the Church, by the saints, and by Christ himself. Why would you invent prayers when there is this rich, beautiful, and powerful tradition of language that links us to the early Christians and to our Hebrew forbears? Is it really possible to improve upon the Psalms and the liturgy?

In addition, O’Connor had great reverence for the monastic tradition of praying the hours, associated with the Benedictines and the other great orders of religious men and women. By praying the hours—even if it is only prime and compline (morning and evening prayer)—you are joining your voice with those of men and women all over the world, offering your voice up to God in unison with theirs. Thus, private prayer becomes a kind of communal prayer, even if you are alone.

This is one form of participation in the Communion of Saints that is available to all Catholics. I imagine this must have been a particularly powerful draw for O’Connor, who lived a very solitary life at Andalusia farm for the last 13 years of her life.

Q: Flannery's short stories are known for their macabre twists and flashes of grace. But in terms of spirituality, what themes typified her faith?

As I was conceiving of the organizational principle for The Province of Joy, it made sense to me to look to her stories: What were the revelations experienced by her characters? What hard lessons of life did they learn, through the strange experiences that befell them? How were they changed by this powerful new spiritual knowledge? I looked to her characters because, in many ways, they are living out the paradigm of every Christian in the world—and the paradigm she, herself, was subject to. Their struggles are our struggles—and hers as well.

O’Connor knew, for example, that spiritual blindness was an enormous potential stumbling block for the practicing Christian. It is arguable that the person whose soul is most imperiled is one who believes him- or herself to be “saved”—and then runs around trying to “save” everyone else. So she writes a number of stories in which characters experience a sudden, violent, and, as it turns out, saving revelation that allows them to see the truth.

Such revelations echo scripture, of course. It’s no accident that one of Jesus’ most memorable miracles is enabling the blind to see. This is a trope in our prayers and in our hymns, “Amazing Grace” being among the most famous usages of that image. Many of O’Connor’s spiritual preoccupations focus on such biblical revelations expressed in scripture.

As another example of this, she was much moved by Christ’s admonition that “you must lose your life to find it.” The best evidence of that is the many, many characters in her stories who must set aside a false, fabricated self they have willfully invented upon discovering who they really are, usually through a series of violent, unsettling events that strip all of their illusions away. It is in this way that they discover their true vocation, the true meaning of and purpose for their existence.

These preoccupations show up in The Province of Joy as two of the seven themes—one for each day of the week—in which the prayers of the day and reflections are grounded: “Blindness and Vision,” and “The False Self and the True Self.”

In addition to these, there are five more themes, each of which engages O’Connor’s own spiritual challenges and discoveries: “Limitation and Grace,” “The Mystery of the Incarnation,” “Facing the Dragon,” “Revelations and Resurrections,” and “The Christian Comedy.”

Q: If Flannery could speak one message to the modern world, what would it be?

Flannery once wrote in a letter to a friend, “You have to cherish the world at the same time you struggle to endure it.” This line is a truth for the ages, under any circumstances, but it becomes especially poignant when we consider Flannery’s.

O’Connor, as we know, suffered from Lupus, a terminal disease, for the last 13 years of her life. It was the disease that killed her father, and she was diagnosed when she was only 26 years old. Her struggle with this disease, and her insistence, in defiance of the serious limitations it imposed on her, on writing her novels and stories, on conducting voluminous correspondence with her friends and fans, and even on delivering lectures and giving readings, from time to time, when her health permitted, demonstrates an understanding of suffering as a condition of human life but also a refusal to allow it to destroy her.

Christ’s passion and death on the cross teaches us that no pain is wasted, that suffering is a redemptive and, ultimately, salvific sacrifice. Suffering has meaning, and it ultimately enriches one’s life.

Daily contact with the reality of her own mortality ushered O’Connor into an alternate, more intense way of being in the world than most human beings experience. With suffering comes vision. About her illness, she one wrote to a friend:

“I have never been anywhere but sick. In a sense sickness is a place more instructive than a long trip to Europe, and it’s always a place where nobody can follow. Sickness before death is a very appropriate thing and I think those who don’t have it miss one of God’s mercies.”

Despite serious setbacks in her personal life and in her aspirations to be a writer, despite constant daily pain and exhaustion, despite her exile in rural Georgia, far from the literary centers where her friends and colleagues lived, O’Connor endured. What’s more, she endured and kept her sense of humor. (One might go so far as to say the latter helped keep her sane.) O’Connor learned first-hand that the world is a difficult place, and being a human being isn’t easy. Yet she loved the world (just as Christ did) and her fellow human beings, and her stories are testament to that love.

In her story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” a family makes its way to what they think is their vacation destination but is, in reality, their doom. The story is full of dark forboding, and yet, even in the midst of the inevitability of their tragedy, there is beauty. Here amid the seemingly unremarkable Georgia landscape, the narrator records this visionary sight: “The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled.”

Just moments later, one of the children, John Wesley complains, “Let’s go through Georgia fast so we won’t have to look at it much.” This world of sparkling sunlight is the one we must treasure, yet most of us most of the time don’t care to “look at it much.”

This is another message that Flannery conveys to us, over and over again, in her stories, in her letters, and in her essays. Unremarkable and, at times, downright ugly as it may seem, the world is full of revelations of God’s love, if only we would learn how to receive them.

For more from Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, be sure to pick up your copy of The Province of Joy. Also, check out Angela's website where you'll find reviews, essays, and poems, all of which engage "the Catholic Imagination," both in theoretical and practical ways.

If you're new to Flannery O'Connor, here are some great places to dive into her work:

The Complete Stories - All of her grim and graceful short stories in one place.
Three By Flannery O'Connor - Three of her best stories including, Wise Blood, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, and The Violent Bear It Away.
The Habit of Being - Her collected personal letters.
Mysteries and Manners - A collection of her best essays.

And if you liked this discussion, check out my other interviews with people like Fr. Robert Barron, Christopher West, Archbishop Chaput, Marc Barnes, and more.

Also, be sure you don't miss future interviews by subscribing to The Thin Veil via feed reader or email.

Have you read any Flannery O'Connor?

30-Second Book Reviews (5/23)

2012-05-23T14:17:00.002-04:00

The Province of Joy: Praying with Flannery O'Connor
Angela Alaimo O'Donnell

Many people consider Flannery O’Conner the best short-story writer of the twentieth century. Her macabre tales of death and dysfunction shake readers out of their comfort zone in order to show them grace in the darkest of circumstances. Her work continues to be praised by religious and secular critics alike.

However when studying her work, Flannery's faith is often ignored. She was a devout Catholic who loved the Sacraments, studied the Summa, and prayed each day. Her faith clearly grounded her stories, inspiring themes like redemption, the surprise of grace, and the horror of sin.

While a small handful of books probe her spirituality, fewer if any explore her personal prayer life. This makes Angela Alaimo O’Donnell’s new book, The Province of Joy: Praying with Flannery O’Conner (Paraclete Press, paperback, 155 pages), a welcome contribution.

A poet and English professor at Fordham University, O’Donnel has written a book which is less biography and more “prayer book.” It’s structured like a “Book of Hours,” with morning and evening prayers for seven different days. Each day carries a theme, such as “The Christian Comedy”, “Blindness and Vision”, and “Facing the Dragon.” Each also has a Gospel meditation, prayers from the Divine Office, a passage excerpted from Flannery’s writings, and some closing reflections from O’Donnel herself.

The Divine Office structure is ripe for meditation and moreso when you add Flannery’s own writings. Here’s a sample passage:

“Faith is a “walking in darkness” and not a theological solution to mystery. The poet is traditionally a blind man, but the Christian poet, and storyteller as well, is like the blind man whom Christ touched, who looked then and saw men as if they were trees but walking. This is the beginning of vision, and it is an invitation to deeper and stranger visions.”

In Province of Joy, O’Donnel provides that same invitation. You'll pray with Flannery, contemplate her words, and eventually emerge with “deeper and stranger visions”--visions that both comfort and provoke.

(If you want more of Flannery’s spiritual writing, check out her collected letters, Habit of Being, or the compilation of essays titled Mystery and Manners.)

God Will Provide: How God’s Bounty Opened to Saints and 9 Ways It Can Open for You, Too
Patricia Treece

When times are good, it’s easy to trust God. We all have peace when our bank account is full, our pantry lined with food, and our bodies in good health.

But what happens when desperation hits? What do you do when the car breaks down and you have no money to fix it? Or when you lose your job and don’t know where to turn?

That's when our trust in God is ultimately measured. It’s then we wonder whether he'll come through or not.

Those of us in that boat will find help in a new book by Patricia Treece titled, God Will Provide: How God’s Bounty Opened to Saints and 9 Ways It Can Open For You, Too (Paraclete Press, paperback, 206 pages).

Patricia provides many examples of God meeting needs, specifically those of the saints. She gives us Dorothy Day at the Catholic Worker house, wondering how to pay the rent before a man surprises her with just the right amount. We see Fr. Solanus Casey praying outside an empty food pantry, when a baker suddenly drives up with a truckload of food. Then there’s Mother Teresa, a paragon of divine trust, who throughout her life refused to fund-raise for her work, sure that God would provide money when needed (he did.)

Patricia draws nine principles from these inspiring stories to help deepen your own trust in God’s providence. Her tips include cultivating gratitude, retooling your mind, and giving yourself over to God’s care, even when you doubt it.

Like Jesus' advice to "consider the lilies of the field", the purpose of Patricia's book is to move you from asking “why won’t God do more?” to recognizing how God has always taken care of you.

If you want to strengthen your trust in God, especially when such confidence seems unattainable, this is the book for you.

The Environment
Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI has long been considered a staunch conservative. Liturgically, morally, and doctrinally, most place him far to the right of any issue, which is precisely why people are surprised when he speaks on traditionally “liberal” issues like the environment.

A new book titled simply, The Environment (Our Sunday Visitor, paperback, 175 pages), collects excerpts from the Pope’s audiences, speeches, encyclicals, letters, and homilies, all dealing with care for creation.

Pope Benedict doesn’t mince words in the collection. He dives right into hot topics like climate change, overpopulation, and the connection between peace and sustainability, and handles each with his characteristic balance and clarity.

One of the Pope's major emphases is the need for environmental solidarity. Whether we live in Arkansas or Africa, Mexico or India, we all live on the same collective planet. Pope Benedict affirmed this in his message for the 2007 World Day of Peace:

“Preservation of the environment, promotion of sustainable development and particular attention to climate change are matters of grave concern for the entire human family. With increasing clarity, scientific research demonstrates that the impact of human actions in any one place or region can have worldwide effects.”

The Environment isn't meant to be political, nor was it designed as a science text. You won’t find data supporting or refuting global warming.

Instead, the Pope’s focus is on the moral and spiritual demands we all share in regard to the environment. Because of this angle, the book has the potential to be a bridge between social liberals and conservatives who are often far apart on this topic.

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken more on creation than perhaps any other pontiff or Catholic leader. This new collection synthesizes all his teachings and confirms that the environment isn’t just a "liberal" issue—it’s a deeply Catholic concern.

Logos now has the Catechism (and a new blog!)

2012-05-23T09:59:00.000-04:00

Logos Bible Software, already the best Scripture tool around, has now integrated the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church into its program. And it couldn't come at a better time with this year marking the twentieth anniversary of the Catechism's release.

With Logos, studying the Catechism is easier than ever. The whole thing is tied to Scripture. All the footnotes are tagged so they appear on mouse-over, and the software allows you to move from a citation to its original context in just one click. Watch below to see it in action:

The great part is that you don't have to have any of the other library packages to use the Catechism. You can simply download the free software, purchase the $50 Catechism Collection, and from there you're ready to go.

When buying the Catechism Collection, however, you also get the documents of Vatican II, the Canons and Decrees of Trent, Denninger's Sources of Catholic Dogma, and much more:

"With the Catechism of the Catholic Church Collection, thousands of the Catechism’s citations come alive—linking to the original documents. The Collection allows you to get behind the Catechism’s summary of the faith and into the primary sources themselves. The Collection includes the most important texts cited by the Catechism and so allows one to see not just what the contemporary Catholic Church teaches, but what it bases this teaching on.

What’s more, the Catechism itself can be used as a type of commentary on the other texts in the collection. For example, one can quickly find every instance of the Catechism citing a certain document of Vatican II or a particular Bible verse. The Collection includes the lectionary of the Catholic Church, so the Catechism becomes an automatic companion to the daily readings.

With the Catechism of the Catholic Church Collection, the Catechism is transformed from a summary of Catholicism to a gateway into the Catholic faith."

Logos also has a new blog titled Verbum which is dedicated to their Catholic products. Check it out at ScriptureStudySoftware.com and enter their incredible giveaway to win the $790 Catholic Scholar's package.

Cardinal Dolan and "Eat, Pray, Love"

2012-05-22T10:05:00.000-04:00

Great anecdote from Lino Rulli via Twitter:

Am hanging out with Cardinal Dolan. Someone mentioned the book "Eat, Pray, Love." He said he almost chose that as his episcopal motto. #solid

"Platform" - Review

2012-05-21T08:56:00.001-04:00

If you buy Michael Hyatt's new book, Platform, between now and Friday (5/25), whether through Amazon or any other retailer, and then email your receipt to gifts@michaelhyatt.com, you'll receive a ton of bonus resources including eBooks, videos, audio talks, and more. Check the end of my review for details.

When you write a book, you become an expert. At least that’s how most people see it. You could speak to hundreds of people and write thousands of blog posts, but it’s not until your name appears on a stack of paper that you’re officially a guru.

I experienced that with The Church and New Media. When the book came out last August, I started receiving dozens of emails each week from people looking for “expert” advice:

"What do you think about my blog?"
"How can I gain more traffic?"
"What’s the best way to use social media?"
"How can I get noticed?"

I love to respond and help, however I find myself repeating the same principles from email to email: blog regularly, build a community, cross-promote, master SEO, and so forth.

But from now on, my response will be different. The first thing I’ll do is recommend Michael Hyatt’s new book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World (Thomas Nelson, hardcover, 288 pages). It's simply the best practical guide to new media success and a must-read for any blogger, artist, writer, or speaker.

Platform sums up everything Michael has learned as he’s grown his own massive platform. Written in the same down-to-earth, practical style that draws millions to Michael's blog, the book isn’t just untested theory. It’s packed with specific tips and easy-to-replicate formulas, all of which Michael has used himself.

The chapters are short and easily scannable with bullet-pointed lists and numbered paragraphs. You'll find chapters like:

Give Your Product a Memorable Name
Create an Elevator Pitch
Start a Blog (or Restart One)
Write Posts Faster
Avoid Common Blogging Mistakes
Build Your Subscriber List
Get More Twitter Followers
Monetize Your Blog

Longtime readers of Michael’s blog will recognize much of the content. In fact I’d say 90% is taken straight from his blog, word-for-word. However, the benefit of the book is that it collects all the content into one place and presents it in a linear fashion. Michael begins at square one, taking you from “I don’t even know what I want to sell/write about/produce,” to building great content, then to blogs and websites, then social media, then growing an online community. When you finish the book, you’ll know exactly what it takes to construct a thriving platform.

For bloggers and writers in particular, Platform is worth its weight in gold. It’s like an entire social media conference packed into one book. So if your goal is to build influence, whether as a blogger, writer, artist, or producer of any idea or product, Platform will show you how.

If you buy Platform between now and Friday (5/25), whether through Amazon or any other retailer, and then email your receipt to gifts@michaelhyatt.com, you'll receive a ton of fantastic bonus resources including:

The Platform Video Jumpstart Series ($179 value) - Six videos and three hours of Michael diving deeper into the book's advice.
Why NOW is the Best Time Ever to Be an Author ($47 value) - Forty-five minute video describing five reasons why now is the best time to be an author.
How to Write a Winning Book Proposal ($47 value) - Two audio sessions detailing step-by-step how to write a great proposal.
Writing a Winning Non-Fiction Book Proposal eBook ($19.97 value) - Provides a structured template that you can use to get your book idea noticed.
Writing a Winning Fiction Book Proposal eBook ($19.97 value) - Same as above, except for fiction.
Digital Editions of Platform ($38.05 Value) - Receive digital copies of Platform in Kindle, Nook, iPad, and PDF formats.
Audio Edition of Platform ($24.99 Value) - The unabridged audio-book version of Platform narrated by Michael himself.

Find more details at MichaelHyatt.com.

Learning from a Saint Who Learned From an Ass

2012-05-20T07:00:00.047-04:00

Today we continue our regular series here at The Thin Veil called "Learning from the Saints". Our guide is saint-expert Bert Ghezzi, a dear friend of mine and the author of numerous books including Voices of the Saints, Saints at Heart, and Adventures In Daily Prayer.

His newest book is Discover Christ: Developing a Personal Relationship with Jesus.
Today, Bert explores the life of St. Bernardine of Siena, today's saint and the patron of advertisers, PR folk, gambling addicts, and those with chest problems. Read below and discover how this fifteenth-century preacher is still a model today.

At the age of 23, St. Bernardine completed a classical education and capped it with a degree in canon law. In 1403, he joined the Friars of the Strict Observance, a new branch of the Franciscans.

For more than a dozen years he lived quietly and unremarkably in Fiesole. But in 1417, a novice prophesied three times to Bernardine. “Brother Bernardine,” he exclaimed, “Stop hiding your gifts. Go to Lombardy where all await you!” The saint went obediently to Milan not knowing what to do. But he soon discovered that his vocation was preaching when his eloquence began to draw huge congregations.

Thousands came to hear this entertaining friar who used his personable humor and wisdom to penetrate their souls with truth. For nearly a quarter of a century he crisscrossed Italy on foot, calling people to repentance in exhortations like this:

"A sinner who repents learns to be prudent. He is like an ass that, once he has fallen in a spot, afterwards looks more carefully where he sets his foot. For fear of punishment he takes care not to fall into those sins again, or into any others.

"O great idiot who keeps on sinning! Why don’t you consider what the ass teaches you about saving your soul? The ass doesn’t fall again, but you always do. If you would only turn to God with love, you would learn much about prudence.

"O children, don’t you know that when you are learning to write with a pen you make blots? And you who want to ride a horse, don’t you know you will never learn unless you fall sometimes?

"Now I want to ask older people about this. Old man and old woman, are you there?

"‘Yes.’"

"Tell me, have you fallen into sin over and over again?

"‘Yes.’"

"Well, have you returned to God?

"‘Yes.’"

"See, you would never have learned what sin is unless you had tried it. In antiquis est prudentia. In the old is prudence, and do you know why? Because they have experience. They have fallen often, and so they walk more gingerly. They think about how they had better set their feet. As they see death approaching, they thank God that they have had time to turn to him. And they do not trust themselves not to fall, but always ask God to help them not to fall again."

Bernardine also popularized devotion to the name of Jesus. At the end of every sermon he blessed the crowd, holding a placard marked “IHS,” an acronym for “Jesus.”

And everyone wanted a copy of the sign. A maker of playing cards, whose business Bernardine had ruined by denouncing gambling, made more money than ever by manufacturing the placard.

In 1437, the Observants elected Bernardine as their general. In six years he reformed the order, sending friars from their enclosures to service in the world. Overcoming the traditional Franciscan fear of learning, he required his men to study theology and canon law.

During his period of leadership, he attracted so many new recruits that membership increased tenfold. He resigned in 1443 to return to preaching. But he died in 1444 shortly after delivering at his hometown a series of 50 sermons in as many days.

"God has two arms--an arm of love and an arm of fear. With both arms he embraces the sinner who desires to return to him. If you want to be loved by him, love him and he will prosper you. And if you fear him, he will protect you from every danger."
- St. Bernardine

(Image Credit: SQPN and Apostleship of Prayer)

Read more from Bert at his website www.BertGhezzi.com, or check out his many books on Amazon.

Weekly Giveaway (5/18)

2012-05-18T08:00:00.006-04:00

"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others." - St. Augustine

Confessions
by St. Augustine

This week's giveaway is in honor of our new little boy, Augustine Xavier Vogt. It's a copy of St. Augustine's Confessions which is one of the gems of all Western literature. From Wikipedia:

"The work outlines Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. It is widely seen as the first Western autobiography ever written, and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the following 1000 years of the Middle Ages.

In the work St. Augustine writes about how much he regrets having led a sinful and immoral life. He discusses his regrets for following the Manichaean religion and believing in astrology. He writes about Nebridius's role in helping to persuade him that astrology was not only incorrect but evil, and St. Ambrose's role in his conversion to Christianity. He shows intense sorrow for his sexual sins, and writes on the importance of sexual morality. He also mentions that his favorite subject in school was mathematics because it was concrete and more rigorously defined than other subjects. The book is thought to be divisible into chapters which symbolize various aspects of the Trinity and trinitarian belief."

In order to win this week's giveaway, leave a comment below answering this question:

What's your favorite conversion story?

The winning comments will be randomly selected on Friday morning using a random number generator, and the giveaway will be sent out, free-of-charge, shortly thereafter to the three winners.
In the future I'll be giving away many more books and resources--sometimes multiple items per giveaway. So check back next Friday!

Update: The drawing is closed for the week of Friday, May 18. Congratulations to Christina K. for winning this week! Check your e-mail for instructions on receiving the book. If you don't see an e-mail from me, check your spam box--apparently e-mails with "giveaway" in the subject line often end up there.

Interview with Carl Olson (Part 2 of 2) - On Must-Read Books

2012-05-17T15:00:00.000-04:00

(This is the second of a two-part interview. Part one was posted on Tuesday.)

After being raised in a Fundamentalist home, Carl Olson entered the Catholic Church in 1997 and has since became one of its shining lights.

He's written numerous articles and books including Will Catholics Be “Left Behind”? (Ignatius Press, 2003) and The Da Vinci Hoax (Ignatius Press, 2004).

He's also the new editor of Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insight, an online magazine featuring essays, interviews, reviews and news related to the Catholic Church and the work of Ignatius Press.

In this, the second part of our two-part interview, Carl and I chat more about (what else?) books--new books, old books, favorite books, and more.

Q: At the Ignatius Insight Scoop blog, you cover theology, philosophy, and culture. However you also promote new books from Ignatius Press. What titles are you most excited about right now?

I am always excited about new books by Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, even when they are collection of older works, as is the new volume, Fundamental Speeches From Five Decades.

I first began reading Ratzinger when I was still an Evangelical Protestant, and I've never tired of his work. Not even close. He is such a profound thinker, and one who writes with remarkable clarity and detail—and charity. Every time I read more of his work, I am amazed this great theologian and man is regularly portrayed as "reactive" or "fearful" or incapable of interacting with ideas and beliefs contrary to his own. Those criticisms are not only unserious, they are simply slanderous.

In addition to the afore-mentioned work, don't miss the new collection of general audiences, Holy Men and Women Of the Middle Ages and Beyond, which discusses saints such as Francis, Dominic, Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and many more.

Mary Eberstadt's new book, Adam and Eve After the Pill, is an excellent and insightful guide to the chaos caused by the sexual revolution. Saints Are Not Sad: Short Biographies of Joyful Saints, edited by the great Frank Sheed, originally published by Sheed and Ward in 1949, is a wonderful introduction to a host of saints, written by luminaries including Belloc and Chesterton.

I'm also really looking forward to these two books: The Voice of the Church at Prayer: Reflections on Liturgy and Language, by Fr. Uwe Michael Lang, and Church in Crisis: The Enlightenment and Its Impact upon Today's Church by Martin R. Tripole, S.J. Fr. Lang has proven to be an outstanding scholar of matters liturgical (see his book, Turning Towards the Lord, for example). I don't know much at all about Fr. Tripole's book, but it sounds fascinating.

Finally, I encourage readers to take a look at the new (and older, for that matter) volumes being published in the Ignatius Critical Editions series.

The spring 2012 titles include A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, Dracula by Stoker, Loss and Gain by Newman, The Red Badge of Courage by Crane, and The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius.

The prices on these are hard to beat. For example, the 432-page edition of Newman's novel, with critical essays and notes, costs less than $10.00 online. And with that, I set aside my shameless salesman's cap for the moment.

Q: Imagine the world has collapsed into an Orwellian dystopia replete with book burnings. You can only save five titles to pass on to your children—what do you select and why?

If possible, I would have a copy of a book titled How to Survive and Thrive After the World Has Collapsed Into an Orwellian Dystopia: Ten Essential Strategies for Success and Comfort in a Post-Apocalyptic Age (with bonus DVD, water bottle, and freeze-dried meals).

Other than that, can I choose collected works? How about the Harvard Great Books set? No?

Actually, I like this question. It makes me realize how superfluous all of those Louis L'Amour novels are. My answers here are similar to those I gave Brad Birzer of The Imaginative Conservative when he asked for a list of "Books That Makes Us Human." Also, I'm going to assume that my pastor survived and managed to keep intact all of his necessary missals and liturgical texts. When the world goes up in flames, I can only be counted on to do so much.

1. The Bible. A no-brainer in terms of the Big Picture, but it is the book whose words I've heard or read, in one way or another, nearly every day of my life. It is also the book of Western Civilization, no matter how ignored, misunderstood, or misrepresented it is in our day. Oh, and it is the inspired Word of God. So it has a lot going for it.

2. Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas. If possible, I'd take the entire works of Aquinas. But the Summa would provide plenty of food for thought—about both temporal and eternal questions—while scrounging for physical food in the ruins of the local Safeway.

3. The Divine Comedy by Dante. I'm tempted to go with the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare, but while I've read many of them, I've still only read a criminally small amount of Dante. What better to do, then, while taking an occasional break from rebuilding the world out of ashes and shards of concrete?

4. The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton. What? That's cheating? Hmmm. I would need some Chesterton, so probably The Everlasting Man, if push came to dystopic shove.

5. The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. No, wait. Maybe War and Peace by Tolstoy. Hold on. Perhaps Crime and Punishment? I've not read any of those great Russian novels, so why not while civilization unravels? Then again, if I'm thinking of my kids, I'm inclined toward one of the great spiritual classics by St. John of the Cross, or St. Teresa of Avila, or St. Francis de Sales. Nothing by Deepak Chopra, however—some things are better spurned, if not burned, as life is short.

For more from Carl Olson, be sure to follow his Ignatius Insight blog and check out his personal website.

And if you liked this discussion, check out my other interviews with people like Fr. Robert Barron, Christopher West, Archbishop Chaput, Marc Barnes, and more. Also, be sure you don't miss future interviews by subscribing to The Thin Veil via feed reader or email.

Which new books are you most excited about?

5/16/12 - Augustine Xavier Vogt

2012-05-17T09:06:00.000-04:00

Last night at 11:32pm, my wife heroically delivered little Augustine Xavier Vogt. Both were champs. Kathleen gave birth to the 9 lb, 20.5 inch saint without medicine, and Augustine survived a scary moment when he emerged with the umbilical cord wrapped twice around his neck.

But God and his Mother carried us through, and everyone is doing great. Thanks for all the prayers and support!

(Also, in case you're wondering, Augustine already finished off the entire 60-volume set of the Great Books of the Western World. His first words? "What else you got?")

Interview with Carl Olson (1 of 2) - On Writing, Reading, and Fr. Barron's "Catholicism"

2012-05-15T09:09:00.000-04:00

Carl Olson has a very unique background. Raised in a Fundamentalist home in Montana, he attended an Evangelical Bible college in Saskatchewan, Canada. After years of wrestling with the claims of Catholicism, Carl and his wife then entered the Catholic Church in 1997. (Their conversion story appears in the book, Surprised By Truth 3.)

After his conversion Carl became a successful Catholic author writing numerous articles and books including Will Catholics Be “Left Behind”? (Ignatius Press, 2003) and The Da Vinci Hoax (Ignatius Press, 2004).

He's now the new editor of Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insight, an online magazine featuring essays, interviews, reviews and news related to the Catholic Church and the work of Ignatius Press. He also moderates the Insight Scoop, the popular Ignatius Press blog.

Carl also recently authored the Study Guide for Fr. Robert Barron’s acclaimed CATHOLICISM film series and is currently working on three new book projects.

Carl graciously sat down with me to discuss several of our favorite subjects including reading, writings, books, and more.

(This is the first of a two-part interview. Come back on Thursday for the second part.)

Q: You've run Ignatius Insight for a while, and with your books and editing roles your days are filled with writing. What are some of the ups and downs of being a full-time writer?

Readers might be surprised to learn that not only did I invent the Internet, I was the first blogger. Ever. And if any readers aren't surprised to hear that news, I humbly acknowledge their trust and suggest they seek therapy for gullibility susceptibility syndrome.

But, more seriously (if only slightly), this summer will mark ten years as a blogger—or, as I prefer to be called, “author of thousands of mini-books that don't cost readers a cent.” I began blogging in June 2002, shortly after becoming editor of Envoy magazine, and then began blogging on Insight Scoop in May 2004, after taking the job as editor of Ignatius Insight.

Which brings me to your question. First, I think being able to make a living as a writer is a privilege, and I hope to never take it for granted. Writing is a craft and an art, of course, and so deserves due compensation, but a writer must earn a hearing and a readership.

One of the challenges of being a writer is to develop and build trust with readers, which is a complicated and even mysterious process, but necessarily involves integrity—personally, professionally, and everything in between. And since I obviously write often—almost daily!—about Catholicism, I have a great responsibility to present and articulate Catholic doctrine, theology, practice, and history as accurately as possible. I do so first as a Catholic, but then as someone with a vocation to communicate, as best I can, the truth regarding everything I write about, even in the shortest and least consequential blog posts.

The old saying (or sentiment?) is that a teacher learns more in teaching than the student does in studying under the teacher. The same is true for a writer: he is graced with learning, if he is willing to learn, both about the subject of his work and the process of writing itself. I'm very big on approaching writing as an art, a vocation, and as the fruit of good thinking. Superficially attractive or facilely clever writing might gain attention, even garner awards, but unless it is rooted in the loam of substantive thought and consideration, it won't last and it won't satisfy.

Unfortunately, we live in a day and age when it is often lousy writers with all of the technique, knowledge, and ability of a blind elephant sewing doilies with shovels who write the best sellers, makes waves in the blogosphere, and have millions of Twitter followers. (Yes, you know who you are. Shame!)

The biggest struggle I face daily with writing is simply managing time, what with participating in seven MLB fantasy leagues and tracking down every bootleg recording made of a KISS and Zamfir concerts (jokes, both. Jokes! Please believe me.)

Q: Fr. Robert Barron is widely hailed as one of the Church's great evangelists. His recent CATHOLICISM series is sending shockwaves across the Catholic landscape. Thousands of Catholics are working through the associated study curriculum, for which you authored the Study Guide and Workbook. What was it like working with Fr. Barron, and can you talk about the Study Guide commentary and questions?

I first became familiar with Fr. Barron's work when I read his exceptional book, The Priority of Christ: Toward a Post-Liberal Catholicism (Brazos, 2007), and then interviewed him about it for Ignatius Insight. I thought it was an outstanding work, and I eventually bought and read his other books. As he and the Word on Fire staff began posting his now widely viewed YouTube videos (and other posts), I would watch them and link to them on the Insight Scoop blog. I was quite enthused to hear about the CATHOLICISM project when news of it first came out, and I anticipated it being a significant and unique endeavor.

Then, out of the blue, I received a call from Fr. Stephen Grunow, the Assistant Director of Word on Fire, who asked me if I was interested in putting together a study guide for the project, fashioned a bit after the study guide produced by Ignatius Press for Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth books. I, of course, readily agreed. Fr. Grunow and I spoke several times about the general approach and focus, and early on I had a conversation with Fr. Barron along the same lines.

The study guide was squarely based on the scripts from Fr. Barron. In fact, when I started working on the project, only the first video had been completed, and it was still in rough form.

Each script was about 3,000 words in length; I essentially tripled the length by adding material, especially drawn from Holy Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, papal and conciliar documents, and the works of Doctors, Fathers, Saints, theologians, mystics, and so forth (no Hans Küng, I’m happy to report).

The goal was to seamlessly expand the scripts so that viewers could use the study guide as a way to more deeply consider, explore, and contemplate the themes, ideas, and truths presented in the videos. Fr. Barron was especially insistent that the questions I put together at the end were both accessible and challenging. It was a lot of work; it was also very enjoyable. I cannot say enough about how encouraging and patient Fr. Grunow and Fr. Barron were during the months it took to complete the guide.

One thing I appreciate about the project is that it doesn't coddle viewers by feeding them pablum, nor does it veer off into esoteric fields or fringe issues. It doesn’t pretend to explain everything; rather, it intends to open the doors and present a perspective that is both fresh and yet very much rooted in the Tradition of the Church. The balance achieved, as I think viewers will agree, is due to Fr. Barron's unique gifts as a thinker and communicator, his loyalty to Church teaching, his deep knowledge of the Tradition, and his obvious love for Jesus Christ. It was a tremendous honor to be a part of the project.

Q: Like me, you're a voracious reader. Last time we talked you had 37 bookshelves at home and more stacks scattered throughout. What advice would you give people on how to read more and read better?

I may have misled you, as I actually own a total of 37 books, most of which are Louis L'Amour, Tim LaHaye, and Dan Brown novels, along with some of the "for Dummies" books (on knitting, belly dancing, and cryogenic engineering, among others). Ahem.

Yes, I have close to forty bookcases of books laying around here. And I say "laying around" because a good number of them are in stacks on the floor. Which can be disconcerting for guests when they use the bathroom. (We often get asked, “Why do your kids have no beds?” Uh, because beds take up valuable space that can be better filled by books. Duh.)

Regardless, I wish I knew how to read more and read better. I think that reading a few great, essential books is always preferable to reading a lot of mediocre, or even decent books. Quality over quantity. Reading is a relationship, and if you want a relationship to be healthy and mature, you need to put time and effort into it.

For some readers, this might mean setting up some type of reading program. Or simply making a realistic list and working your way through it. Audio books in the car are a great option, especially if you commute or prefer sitting in your car over sitting in your living room.

For others it may include being in a reading group. About eight years ago, I co-founded a men's Catholic reading group and it is still going strong, with 12 to 15 guys at each meeting. Not only is it a great way to read a wide range of books—we've read books by Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Chesterton, Danielou, de Lubac, Aquinas, Newman, Augustine, von Balthasar, Belloc, etc.—it provides an opportunity to seriously discuss good books, which is something we all should take part of in way or another.

An essential part of being literate is to be conversant with the ideas, arguments, and themes found in great books—to work at understanding the author's perspective, to engage with his premises and beliefs, and to think critically about what you read and then to articulate, if need be, those thoughts to others. In that way, the relationship deepens, and with it understanding, knowledge, and even wisdom.

I usually take and make notes while reading a book, especially if it is a work of non-fiction. Sometimes I underline and jot notes in the actual books; sometimes I keep notes in a journal. I like to think I can retain all of the good stuff in my memory banks, but I simply cannot, especially now that I'm in my late twenties.

Unfortunately, I also have some bad habits, or at least habits that I don't recommend. Ever since I was a young boy, I've read several books concurrently, sometimes two or three dozen at a time. I estimate that of the books I have read from, I have completed only a small percentage of them. I can, I suppose, blame some of that on my job: I have to be familiar, at least in general, with a lot of books, which means reading in bits and pieces. The positive is that I don't feel obligated to finish a book once I start reading it; I know people who do feel guilty if they don't read a book from cover to cover. I'm far too calloused to entertain such silliness.

Check back on Thursday for Part 2 of our interview!

Prayers please!

2012-05-14T09:23:00.001-04:00

Today's the due date for our third child, little Augustine Xavier Vogt. But apparently he didn't get the memo. He's still holding out.

My wife awoke today with these words on her lips:

"Late have I birthed you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I birthed you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you."

If you can, we'd appreciate some quick prayers for a healthy delivery, whenever that may be. Thanks!

The Multitude: "Modern Icons" for the Digital Age

2012-05-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

Imagine a different kind of icon: a living, breathing image for the digital age.

Gary Gasse is the director of the new Multitude film series which aims to bring the saints to life like never before. Some of the stories he plans to tell are those of St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Edith Stein, Bl. Bartolome Blanco Marquez, Fr. Stanley Rother, and Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha.

"We want to tell the stories of a different type of hero: the men and women who gave their lives in radical sacrifice for the sake of love.

Hear the voices of the saints and experience their lives. Listen to their wisdom, and allow yourself to be taken up in their joys, their sufferings, and ultimately their victories.

The Multitude is a series of short films that tell the stories of incredible men and women who lived radical lives for Christ. These films are about real people who served the poor, thirsted for justice, were peacemakers and were persecuted because of their love.

We’ve been working on The Multitude for over a year, and so far we have filmed four out of the fifteen episodes. We are well on our way, but we need funding to make these films live up to the lives of the people they portray. We don’t want to put out anything we aren’t proud of. We want these films to be the best work we’ve ever done.

Our hope is that these films will inspire you to live for Christ with heroic virtue. There is massive potential here: there are thousands of unbelievable, incredible stories that could be translated into truly moving films.

Please help us bring these and many other awesome stories to life!

To make the project happen, they need some help. Check out their website, JoinTheMultitude.com, and if you can donate a few bucks over at their Kickstarter page to help bring these stories to life.

Because today's Gospel demands it...

2012-05-11T13:00:00.006-04:00

From today's Gospel, John 15:12-15, which is also the Gospel this Sunday:

"This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends."

Must-read follow-up: The Inexhaustible Poetics of Sonseed

Weekly Giveaway (5/11)

2012-05-11T09:18:00.001-04:00

"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others." - St. Augustine

Brideshead Revisited
by Evelyn Waugh

This week's giveaway is a copy of Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Fr. Barron calls this book "the best Catholic novel of the twentieth century." Here's how Amazon describes it:

"One of Waugh's most famous books, Brideshead Revisited tells the story of the difficult loves of insular Englishman Charles Ryder, and his peculiarly intense relationship with the wealthy but dysfunctional family that inhabited Brideshead. Taking place in the years after World War II, Brideshead Revisited shows us a part of upper-class English culture that has been disappearing steadily."

In order to win this week's giveaway, leave a comment below answering this question:

What do you think is the best novel of the twentieth century, Catholic or not?

The winning comments will be randomly selected on Friday morning using a random number generator, and the giveaway will be sent out, free-of-charge, shortly thereafter to the three winners.
In the future I'll be giving away many more books and resources--sometimes multiple items per giveaway. So check back next Friday!

Update: The drawing is closed for the week of Friday, May 11. Congratulations to Charley for winning this week! Check your e-mail for instructions on receiving the book. If you don't see an e-mail from me, check your spam box--apparently e-mails with "giveaway" in the subject line often end up there.

Congratulations, Fr. Barron! + His Reflections on the Priesthood

2012-05-10T23:18:00.000-04:00

Tonight, Cardinal Francis George announced that Fr. Robert Barron, my great intellectual hero, has been named Rector of Mundelein Seminary/University of St. Mary of the Lake in Chicago, IL.

"As a priest of Jesus Christ I accept this responsibility with joy,” said Father Barron. “The appointment brings together many of the elements that have long been of great importance to me, namely, the priesthood, theological scholarship, pastoral care and evangelization."

The good news is that despite the new appointment, Fr. Barron still plans to continue working with his Word on Fire ministry:

“The mission of evangelization will continue to be a priority for me, and Word on Fire is essential to this mission,” said Father Barron. “I will continue to set the ethos for the Word on Fire apostolate and provide new media content to enhance the Church’s outreach to the culture. I remain focused in my commitment to help promote the Catholicism series and study programs as indispensable tools for the new evangelization.”

So the weekly podcasts, YouTube vignettes, blog articles, and films won't be going away anytime soon.

The better news, however, is that Fr. Barron will be shaping the future of a whole new generation of priests.

In my book, Cardinal George couldn't have picked a better Rector. Fr. Barron is a model priest: he loves the sacraments; he's warm, welcoming, and very pastoral; he feeds on the Church's rich intellectual tradition; he's befriended the saints; he's fundamentally evangelistic and uses all the technical tools at his disposal; and he engages the culture on it's own terrain.

Over the years, Fr. Barron has spoken several times about the priesthood and in honor of today's announcement, I've collected some of the best material.

The first is from way back in 1997, when Fr. Barron was a mere Assistant Professor at Mundelein. He did a fascinating interview with U.S. Catholic on "How to Build a Better Priest":

"As a seminary professor, I've been sensing that my students are looking for a new vision of priesthood-some way to emphasize its importance without falling into clerical patterns. My research led me to these two images of the priest: priest as one who guides others into the mystery of God and priest as soul doctor."

The rest of the article unpacks those two images and covers topics like vocations, celibacy, clericalism, and spiritual leadership.

Next, in one of his characteristic YouTube videos, Fr. Barron gives some personal reflections on "Being a Priest Today":

Finally, here's a wonderful article Fr. Barron wrote for Patheos during their Future of Seminary series. It's titled "Priesthood as Balm: Seize This Chance to Heal":

"Your priesthood has a great assist in the accessibility of communications technology that men like Billy Graham or Fulton Sheen would have embraced and quickly mastered, to powerful effect. Take advantage of all of this; seize it for the sake of the Gospel. Jesus told us to preach to "all the nations," and Vatican II specified that that the primum officium (first duty) of the priest is to proclaim the Word.

Today the average parish priest has the capacity to get the message out 24/7, all around the world. Use new media pro-actively; let the Holy Spirit guide you to the allurement of God's people—as in Hosea 2:14—in bold and sanctifying contrast to the vast wasteland that clutters the mind and warps the soul.

Mount a website, get something on YouTube, podcast your sermons, post advice on FaceBook and tweet daily. Yes there is always the danger of superficiality, but Fulton Sheen faced that same danger fifty years ago and met it with enormous intelligence and creativity.

I really believe that now is a great time to be a priest. Some of the holiest saints have emerged during periods much like our own, fraught with difficulties and rich in opportunities. Don't shrink from any of it, brothers. Ad multos annos!"

Dr. Peter Kreeft: "The Church is the best friend of homosexuals..."

2012-05-10T15:00:00.006-04:00

In light of the President's recent "evolution" on same-sex marriage, here's a 2004 interview Dr. Peter Kreeft gave to the Boston College Observer (text posted at PeterKreeft.com):

What are your thoughts on the current debate about gay marriage?

Dr. Peter Kreeft: As a philosopher the thing that strikes me most is the brilliant strategy of the gay marriage movement. Like Orwell in 1984 it sees that the main battlefield is language. If they can redefine a key term like "marriage" they win.

Control language and you control thought; control thought and you control action; control action and you control the world.

Mussolini knew that too. He made it illegal for Italians to say "hi" in the traditional way. The Italian for "how are you?" is "Come sta lei?" "Lei" is the feminine inclusive pronoun. Fascist ideology held that this was emasculating and weak, so you had to say "Come sta lui?" from now on. "Lui" is the masculine pronoun. So no one could say "hi" in Italy without identifying themselves as pro or anti-fascist.

In America, the feminists have succeeded in exactly the same way. They've labeled the traditional inclusive language, the language of every single one of the great books of Western civilization written in English, as exclusive because it uses "he" and "man" to include women; and they've labeled their new artificial ideological invention, which insists, contrary to historical fact, that "he" and "man" exclude women—they've labeled this "inclusive" language. And amazingly, nearly everyone follows like sheep!

So it will be easy, I think, for them to redefine marriage. Hell, they've already redefined "human beings" or "persons" so that they can murder the littlest ones whenever they want to. Why should they feel any guilt about dishonesty when they don't feel any guilt about murder?

I think you will find that there is an overwhelmingly strong connection between these three agendas: gay marriage, feminism, and abortion. Very seldom do you find people who are for one but not the other, or against one but not the other. And what they all have in common is this attitude toward language: it is what the most powerful and insidious propaganda film in history called "the triumph of the will." Already in Canada it is a crime, punishable by a fine or even imprisonment, to speak against homosexuality in public. Politically incorrect ideas, such as Biblical morality, are now defined as "hate speech."

One of the things I fear from this is an ugly backlash against homosexuals. If the truth is now whatever we will, then just as there is nothing to stop society today from redefining marriage, there is nothing to stop it tomorrow from redefining personal dignity and rights so as to take them away from homosexuals. The Nazis did exactly that.

The Church is the best friend of homosexuals, both because she tells them they are made in God's image and have intrinsic dignity and rights and are called to be saints, and because she is the only social force left that insists on moral absolutes—so when they sin against themselves she says NO, just as she does to heterosexuals who sin against themselves sexually, but when others sin against them she says NO also.

No one else dares to say NO. She speaks up for everyone, including homosexuals.

Read the rest at PeterKreeft.com.

Dr. Kreeft also has a wonderful talk titled "Moral Theology and Homosexuality" where he goes deeper into this topic. It's definitely worth a listen.

30-Second Book Reviews (5/10)

2012-05-10T08:40:00.000-04:00

The Catholics Next Door: Adventures in Imperfect Living
Greg and Jennifer Willits

Real parenting involves grit and that’s what you’ll find in Greg and Jennifer Willits' new book, The Catholics Next Door: Adventures in Imperfect Living (Servant Books, paperback, 160 pages).

The authors, co-hosts of the popular SiriusXM radio show by the same name, have written a real-world guide for Catholic families who stumble toward holiness. They don’t ignore the daily grind of screw-ups, arguments, yelling, pooping, and trying to form saints against all odds.

The book is a collection of stories showing the up’s and down’s of their own family life. You’ll find children lassoing each other with rosaries, the difficult darkness of miscarriage, profound moments of conversion, and fun adventures in between.

Greg and Jennifer don’t sugar-coat the tough times, nor do they embellish the good. They simply tell it like it is without disguise and it's this authenticity that makes the book so attractive.

The Catholics Next Door will refresh and inspire any parent with one foot on the floor and one in heaven, who seeks saintliness even in an imperfect world.

Encountering Jesus in the Gospels
William C. Mills

A couple years ago I reviewed a great book by Fr. William Mills, an Orthodox priest, titled A 30 Day Retreat. I complimented Fr. Mills’ “eye for the transcendent,” which was his deft gift for spotting the divine in ordinary situations.

In his newest book, Encountering Jesus in the Gospels (Orthodox Research Institute, paperback, 119 pages), he turns that same vision to Christ himself. The book follows the style of Eric Sammons’ Who Is Jesus Christ? by devoting a chapter to each of Jesus’ titles, including Shepherd, King, Prophet, and Rabbi. Fr. Mills unpacks each name through Biblical analysis and first-century background, providing a colorful picture of the God-made-man.

Encountering Jesus in the Gospels is a bit simpler than Sammons’ book, and leans less on theology and the Church fathers, yet it’s a breezy devotional ripe for personal reflection. To love Jesus more you have to know him better, and this book helps you do that.

Infinite Bandwidth: Encountering Christ in the Media
Dr. Eugene Gan

If we don’t use the media, the media will use us. That’s the warning proposed by Infinite Bandwidth: Encountering Christ in the Media (Emmaus Road, paperback, 144 pages), a new book by Franciscan University professor Dr. Eugene Gan.

To make sure we’re the ones in control, Gan offers seven timeless principles culled from seventy-five years of Church teaching on social communications. They include:

Balance
Attitude Awareness
The Dignity of the Human Person
Truth-Filled
Inspiring
Skillfully Developed
Motivated By and Relevant to Experience

Gan devotes one chapter to each and provides real world technology tips, several quotes from Church documents, and useful questions Catholics can ask of any media in order to use it well. There’s also a helpful Appendix with info on every Church document dealing with social communications since 1936--more than 65 in all.

To master the media around you, and to see Christ in it all, pick up Dr. Gan's helpful book.

Cardinal Tebow on Twitter

2012-05-09T13:00:00.006-04:00

The same day Pope Benedict encouraged bishops to use social media, Cardinal Timothy Dolan launched his own Twitter account with this tweet:

Hey everybody. It's Timothy Cardinal Tebow. I mean Dolan. I'm on Twitter. And I'm live on Town Hall on SiriusXM's The Catholic Channel 129.
— Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) May 8, 2012

If you're on Twitter, be sure to follow Cardinal Dolan (and me too while you're at it)!

(HT and Image Credit: Rocco Palmo)