Category Archives: The Reading Life

Book and article recommendations

Wonder & Whimsy: “Weekend Coffee”

Now and then I like to share the helpful, enjoyable, and inspirational things that I have come across lately. Perhaps some of these might be just the thing you were looking for…

#1 — Quote from Bishop Robert Barron

I get Bishop Barron’s daily Gospel reflections (which you could sign up for here) delivered to my email. He had a beautiful take on the Transfiguration from Sunday’s Gospel passage:

“The Jesus who is both divine and human is the Jesus who is evangelically compelling. If he is only divine, then he doesn’t touch us; if he is only human, then he can’t save us. His splendor consists in the coming together of the two natures, without mixing, mingling, or confusion.”

#2 — Book Lists!

I am a sucker for a slug line that promises a curated list of books, and I find Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy to have good suggestions and well-organized lists. Ladies, here is one that sparked my interest: “25 Must-Read Classics for Women.”

I heartily agree with many on the list…Little Women, Kristin Lavransdatter, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables… How many have you read on the list? How many are on your TBR list?

#3 — “Weekend Coffee”

So, I love good coffee, but good coffee beans are hard on the wallet, especially if you brew them daily. So I have invented “weekend coffee” for myself. 🙂 I had my husband pick me up a bag of Kenyan beans from a local roaster/coffee shop (Vigilante) around the corner from his school. I think it was probably $20 (!), but I deserve that two mornings a week. My new moto: **parent hard-play hard.** (During the week it’s Aldi organic/fair trade for $5/bag.)

Do you have any favorite finds to pass on to me? Post them in the comments, please!

My Reading Challenge Pick for…”A Book on Catholic Prayer”

Are you participating in the 2018 Catholic Reading Challenge? If not, it’s not too late to start — join us! I share my picks for each category about once a month. So far, my choices are spot on for me, and my second read gets a universal recommendation if you want to improve your prayer life…

Category: “A Book on Catholic Prayer”

My Pick: Time for God by Jacques Philippe

My husband had read this book a couple of months ago and highly recommended it to me, and what do you know…it checks off a box on the reading challenge. Boy, was he right; it is good. But apparently everything by Jacques Philippe is great, according to a friend of mine. This was my first time reading one of his books.

Two motivations to read this book:

#1 — It’s really short — about 100 pages.

#2 — It may be the most helpful book on mental prayer that you ever read.

I say the most helpful, not necessarily the best. Philippe references all of the great works by saints who were quite advanced in mental prayer (Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales, St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Siena, etc.). But sometimes, as Philippe notes, in our modern times we have trouble getting to the root of what these great contemplatives teach us about communing with God.

Philippe’s definition of mental prayer:

“…facing God in solitude and silence for a time in order to enter into intimate, loving communion with him.”

His bottom line:

“Mental prayer is basically no more than an exercise in loving God.”

Philippe was exactly who I needed to read on mental prayer, because he concisely and beautifully gets to the heart of why and how this type of prayer should be a daily habit. He essentially reminds us that silent, mental prayer is all about loving God. There is not a magic “technique” that you can manipulate, he says, because communion with God is a grace, a gift, from God. It is not something that we conjure up. Philippe says that we have to simply come to mental prayer with the intention of loving God, with humility, out of our poverty, and be faithful to continue coming daily.

I think this excerpt from the book puts it well:

“What ensures progress in the life of prayer, what make it fruitful, is not so much how we pray as our inner dispositions in beginning and continuing it. Our principle task is to try to acquire, keep, and deepen those dispositions of the heart. God will do the rest.”

Before this book, I had recently read Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life, and I was inspired by his detailed account of the steps of mental prayer, and I wanted to begin this habit in earnest. (Previous descriptions of mental prayer hadn’t be so clear for me.) However, Philippe’s book is just what I needed to read on the heels of that. It helped me develop the correct attitude toward silent prayer, to remember the ultimate purpose of loving God and entering into a deeper communion with him — as he leads.

What did you read for “a book on Catholic prayer”?

Wonder & Whimsy: Now I know where “Ask Jeeves” comes from!

Now and then I like to share the helpful, enjoyable, and inspirational things that I have come across lately. Perhaps some of these might be just the thing you were looking for…

#1 — Quote from St. John of the Cross — Mind your own business!

From time to time I use my Small Steps for Catholic Moms devotional that someone told me about when we first came into the church. It is full of inspirational quotes, and I stumbled on a great piece of advice by St. John of the Cross earlier this week:

“Take care not to meddle in things which do not concern you, nor even allow them to pass through your mind; for perhaps you will not then be able to fulfill your own task.”

Ouch. Yes. Got it. Eyes on my own paper.

#2 — RB Digital app

Libraries are offering more and more digital options, which is so helpful. Our library system now uses RB Digital for some magazines and audiobooks. Previously, I was only aware of the Overdrive app for checking out digital content through the library. What’s nice is that RB Digital has some content that Overdrive does not. You use the RB Digital app (just like the Overdrive app) on your smart phone or tablet, and it links to your library account. Now I have another free option to check before going to Audible for my audiobooks.

#3 — Baking soda and white vinegar

No, I’m not eating it — it’s a very effective blood stain remover which my friend just told me about today. And we need one of those! My boys get a lot of bloody noses (sometimes because of dry winter weather and other times because of toddler fist fights), and my carpets and upholstery suffers. You sprinkle the baking soda on, pour a little white vinegar on top, let sit for a minute and fizz, and then dab up with a rag. It was kinda like magic. Previously I have used Oxi Max spray, but it’s great to have a non-toxic option!

#4 — P. G. Wodehouse

I just started listening (through the Overdrive library app) to the audiobook of “My Man Jeeves” by P. G. Wodehouse. Delightful! It’s just the thing to fold laundry by — so light-hearted and funny. The narrator is absolutely spot on. This volume is the first in a series about Bertie Wooster and his butler/valet Jeeves, who has exactly the right answer for any predicament. Now I know why the website is call Ask Jeeves!