Author Archives: jptomey

Wonder & Whimsy: prayer and purity

A weekly curation of quotations I come across in my reading life (or on random condiment jars) — from the inspirational to the miscellaneous. Perhaps one inspires you or catches your fancy too…

Our fulcrum and lever…

“Our fulcrum is God: our lever prayer — prayer which burns with love. With that we can lift the world.” – St. Therese of Lisieux

Authenticity is overrated…

“‘Authenticity’ of feeling is quite often inimical to truth in behavior.” – St. John Paul II (Love & Responsibility)

Detaching…

“Fasting detaches you from this world…prayer reattaches you to the next world.” – Venerable Fulton Sheen

Being undivided…

“To be pure is to be simple, in the sense of undivided. For every sin sets part of me against the rest. Impurity involves a loss of integrity, of integration; it is a dissonance, a crack in the mirror of the soul.” – Stratford Caldecott (Beauty in the Word)

My Reading Challenge Pick for… “a book about a social or moral teaching of the Church”

It honestly kind of feels like we just started the 2018 Catholic Reading Challenge. Is it just me?? How is it the middle of November?! I am continuing to share what I am reading for the challenge. I’m a little behind schedule on reporting back to you…so onward to the next pick…

Category: “a book about a social or moral teaching of the Church”

My Pick: Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (St. John Paul II)

One of my reading strategies for this year’s challenge has been to “shop from my shelves.” There are numerous books on my physical and digital walls that have yet to be cracked; so it has been a fun added challenge to find unread books that fit this year’s categories.

My husband was reading Love and Responsibility earlier this year for a class in his Philosophy M.A. program, and our conversations pulled me in. I will go ahead and say that this book falls into “heavier” reading, at least I think the average person would say so. It’s more of an in-depth look a the framework for the Church’s teaching on sexual ethics, rather than a summary/easy-read text. I don’t say that to dissuade you from reading it — because it is profound — I just want you to know what you are getting into. It’s well worth your time.

Originally published in Polish in 1960, St. John Paul II wrote this back before his papacy, as Karol Wojtyla. There is a lot here, and I’m not going to summarize it all. I will just focus on what is most primary and why you should read it. He’s unpacking the philosophical and theological foundation for the Catholic understanding of sexual love’s role, which is very much contrary to mainstream society’s view of sexuality. Continue reading →

Wonder & Whimsy: love means responsibility

A weekly curation of quotations I come across in my reading life (or on random condiment jars) — from the inspirational to the miscellaneous. Perhaps one inspires you or catches your fancy too…

Understanding in God’s timing…

“Today we understanding the sacred word what we did not know yesterday; tomorrow we will understand what we do not know today. God has graciously disposed this so that every day we many be nourished.” – St. Gregory the Great

Love means responsibility…

“Love divorced from a feeling of responsibility for the person is a negation of itself, is always and necessarily egoism. The greater the feeling of responsibility for the person the more true love there is.” – St. John Paul II (Love & Responsibility)

Remembering eternity…

“It is the memory of time that makes us old; remembering eternity makes us young again.” – Stratford Caldecott (Beauty in the Word)

Jessica Ptomey

Author | Speaker | Catechist