Go To Joseph

by Fr. Richard W. Gilsdorf

 

We all know Joseph is the father of Jesus, that he is was Mary’s husband, that he is was a carpenter, that he was a saint. But does your knowledge or reflection end there?

 

This book, being only 134 pages could be an easy weekend read, or it could be a month long spiritual journey. Either way, this contemplative book works well for someone who knows nothing about St. Joseph, or his biggest devotee.

At the conclusion of each chapter, Fr. Gilsdorf asks a handful of study questions if you want deeper reflection, or even if you had a study group. These are questions that have you looking through issues in your life at home, in society, and diving into the catechism.

I don’t want to give away too much from this book, but a few parts that had me hooked were the discussion of St. Joseph sanctified in the womb, St. Joseph’s Staircase, his role in heaven, and the list of St. Joseph prayers and devotions in the appendix. In the St. Joseph Litany, I learned 2 names for Joseph I instantly fell in love with: Guardian of virgins and Terror of demons. If these are not two things we need, then what are?

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Go To Joseph.

Rating: (out of 5)

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Purity 365 – Daily Reflections on True Love

by Jason Evert

This book is a must have. Observe:

+ Do you have (or know) a teenager?

+ Are you married or in a relationship?

+ Are you alive?

It doesn’t take a theologian to know that our purity and sexuality is attacked everyday. I love this book because it is straight and to the point. It gives the reader one great quote a day and then asks a different saint to pray for us each day. 

This book is not written by some old fogy who is out of touch. Jason Evert is amazing. He is the best speaker on purity that I have ever heard. He has dedicated his life to helping teens be chaste and love their boyfriend/girlfriend, future husband/wife. Jason has given talks to over 100,000 high school and college students internationally. No matter who you are, if you hear him, you will be moved. He practices what he preaches and is a great role model and warrior for the Church. Take a minute to check out YouTube and watch a video or two, you won’t be disappointed.

Parent Tip of the Day: If you teenager won’t read this book, you could easily text or email them the daily quote. Or…write it down and leave it for them on their pillow each day. This could get you back to writing a sweet note for your child each day, so they know you are.

You can find out more about Jason Evert on his website www.chastity.com or request him to speak at your parish/event http://www.catholic.com/seminars/evert.asp.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Purity 365.

Rating: (out of 5)

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First off, I love the site TotallyLooksLike.com. (I warn you, if you click, you will loose a few hours of your life, but at least you will be laughing the whole time).

 

At first, I didn’t know what the picture was on the left. Yes, this could be a coincidence, or you could chalk it up to God has a sense of humor. I choose to say that God is a Star Wars fan. I just hope the baby doesn’t really end up coming out looking like the Emperor, especially if the baby is a girl .

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Let me start off by saying this blog post in a part of Catholic Speakers Month. As we celebrate All Saints Day, we can help our faith and work on our sainthood by checking out 101 great Catholic speakers at FallibleBlogma. If you are not familiar with the website www.FallibleBlogma.com, (Catholic Social Commentary), that is another story.

Back to the topic at hand; no one would deny that we are in a spiritual battle. With every battle comes warriors. I am not talking about soldiers who just do their jobs and follow orders. I am talking about warriors who go above and beyond their call of duty, men and women who devote their lives for the battle of truth. One such warrior is John “Scripture” Salza (yes, I added scripture, but every good fighter needs a good name).

John Salza is an apologist for the Catholic faith, an author, a lawyer, a speaker, and creator of www.ScriptureCatholic.com. (For a full bio, go to http://www.scripturecatholic.com/john_salza.html.) Scripture Catholic has over 2,000 Scripture citations from the Old and New Testament that explain and defend the teachings of the Catholic Church. It also has hundreds of writings from early Church Fathers that clearly show that the early Church was indeed Catholic.

John has authored 5 books about the Catholic faith, which can seen here. He can be heard on Relevant Radio, on a show called Relevant Answers (hear 52 topics). You can watch YouTube videos where John exposes the evil of Freemasonry. I even did a book review for his book Masonry Unmasked.

God Bless you and please support Catholic Speakers Month.

CatholicNerd.com

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by John Desjarlais (http://www.johndesjarlais.com/)

This 272 page mystery has all that you need:

• + well developed plot
• + interesting characters
• + no lag or drag
• + twists and the unexpected
• + murder, betrayal, suspense, love

…but most importantly:

This is a great novel by a Catholic author. Yes, I said it…fiction, mystery, by a Catholic author. Not only that, but it has a priest (with no mention of molestation)! But not just any priest, a priest with stigmata!

I liked the subtlety of the faith that ran through the pages. It didn’t hit you in the faith or distract from the story, but it came in at the right times. Here is my favorite part:

“As a loving Father, he knows what it is like to lose a son to death, and in the Son, he knows what it is like to be rejected, to be betrayed, to be hurt, to be afraid, to be lonely, and to die. And his suffering Mother has much to teach us about grace in sorrow. When we get to heaven and ask our Lord about suffering, he will perhaps, merely embrace us with his own pierced hands.”

I could tell you more, but why waste the time. Just buy this book, support a Catholic author, and then spread the word of the book to others.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Bleeder.

Rating: (out of 5)

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Last Call: The Catholic Teaching on Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell – 5 cd set by Tim Staples

I love Catholic Answers ( www.Catholic.com ) or their apologetics, their Catholic Forums, and their great speakers. Possibly my favorite Catholic speaker is Tim Staples. He converted from Protestantism in 1988 and has been on fire ever since. Not just any “on fire”, but the kind of “on fire” that only a good ol’ country boy from the south could be. If you ever get the chance to see him live, or bring him to your church, jump on the opportunity. His energy alone will bring your church alive.

But back to the review. This is an amazing cd set that kept me enthralled the entire time. Tim does a phenomenal job going through death, judgment, heaven, and hell. No matter how much you think you know about these 4 topics, you are bound to learn even more.

The only downside was the recording and cd quality. The recording was a little below par and had times where the audio level went up and down. The cd’s labels were actually stickers, and not printed, so the first disc got stuck in my car cd player because the disc was too thick with the label on it. But don’t worry, I got it out and was able to finish the set without any other worries!

Check out this cd set and other Catholic Answers speakers, you won’t be disappointed.

Rating: (out of 5)

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Last Call - 5 CD Set.

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Today, September 15th is of course a special day, near and dear to my heart.

What could I possibly say to make you want to find out about the Seven Sorrows of Mary and her Sorrowful Heart?

Mary was, and is, instrumental to our salvation. She led a life that is an inspiration to all Christians. She is the mother of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. She was the one woman that God chose from all time to be the mother of his child.

But Mary has also suffered more than any other human on Earth. Any pain and sorrow that we have felt on this Earth, we can know that Mary endured much worse and did so with great love.

I want to keep this short, so I will lead you to a few places to find out more.

• Biblical Explanation and list of the 7 sorrows of Mary
• Devotions of Our Lady of Sorrows and awesome graces you receive
• Seven Sorrows Catholic Band

Also, feel free to email me with any questions or if you would like more thought on Our Lady to sevensorrows.com at gmail.com

If you ever want the son, remember, the mother can lead you to him.

Our Lady of Sorrows…Pray for us. Luke 2:35 “and you yourself a sword shall pierce…”

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