May is Mary’s Month

Michael Dubruiel conceived and put together the small hardbound book, Praying the Rosary. 

Click on the cover for more information.

And read “Rosary Walk” – a post from 2003 by Michael Dubruiel, in which he describes on of his lunchtime walks in Huntington.

Confirmation Gift Idea

The How to Book of the Mass  by Michael Dubruiel would be a great gift for a newly-confirmed Catholic.

The How-To Book of the Mass is the only book that not only provides the who, what, where, when, and why of themost time-honored tradition of the Catholic Church but also the how.

In this complete guide you get:

• step-by-step guidelines to walk you through the Mass
• the Biblical roots of the various parts of the Mass and the very prayers themselves
• helpful hints and insights from the Tradition of the Church
• aids in overcoming distractions at Mass
• ways to make every Mass a way to grow in your relationship with Jesus

If you want to learn what the Mass means to a truly Catholic life—and share this practice with others—you can’t be without The How-To Book of the Mass.

Discover how to:

• Bless yourself
• Make the Sign of the Cross
• Genuflect
• Pray before Mass
• Join in Singing the Opening Hymn
• Be penitential
• Listen to the Scriptures
• Hear a Great Homily Everytime
• Intercede for others
• Be a Good Steward
• Give Thanks to God
• Give the Sign of Peace
• Receive the Eucharist
• Receive a Blessing
• Evangelize Others
• Get something Out of Every Mass You Attend

“Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them; sitting with them at table ‘he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.”
1347, Catechism of the Catholic Church

Find more about The How to Book of the Mass here.

“This is why you pay Catholic tax dollars”

I have to admit ignorance on this, do Canadians pay religious tax dollars? This story is about an attempt to get the Catholic school board to ban a book that was approved for use in the district by the family life office (which I’m guessing didn’t carefully read the book it approved). From The National:

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board should stop using a resource book that students never see because it presents homosexuality as “morally neutral,” a group says.

Defend Traditional Marriage and Family objects to “Open Minds to Equality” because it could lead people “to reject scriptural teaching on homosexual acts,” group spokesman Jack Fonseca told the board’s family live advisory committee on Wednesday.

“They will have been led to reject Jesus,” Mr. Fonseca said.

The book is an optional resource teachers can use if, for example, they want to address objectionable things being said in class, said Catholic board spokesman John Shewchuk.

The book was approved by the family life committee several years ago and kids never see it, Mr. Shewchuk added.

But even the fact teachers can use it is dangerous, Mr. Fonseca said.

Many resources are secular and parents trust teachers to use them with discretion, committee chairwoman Cathy Sweeney said.

But committee member Joann Schmalz said Catholic parents want their kids to be taught Catholic teachings, such as that sex is for procreation.

“This is our faith. This is why you pay Catholic tax dollars,” she said.

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

I have written a lot about the Mass–without ever really intending to do so. First, I wrote about the Mass in The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You–this book has done so well that I was asked to write a follow-up to it. That book How To Get The Most Out Of The Eucharist, probably should have been titled “How to Offer Your Sacrifice at Every Mass.” Then this year, A Pocket Guide to the Mass, which is part of the “A Pocket Guide” series. Each book is different and offers a slightly different way to open oneself up to the riches that are being bestowed upon us by fulfilling the Lord’s command to “Do this.” Thanks to everyone who has read any of the three and offered very positive reviews of them.

Is Harry Potter Bad or Good?

Nancy Carpenteir Brown, a homeschooling Catholic mom has an answer for you:

DeStefano’s "Yes" Prayer Set to Music

On You Tube so with video also! From his new book…Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To: Divine Answers to Life’s Most Difficult Problems

Four New Offerings from Doubleday

Not the Pope book yet….one more week until that is out!

So far, I’ve only had a chance to browse these four books…but all are very interesting and different in there own way….

1. Mother Angelica’s short pithy sayings (compiled by Raymond Arroyo) is an excellent little book that can be read in chunks–or whenever you feel you need a boost in relation to a particular area of your life. By now everyone knows about the little nun from Canton, OH who built an international Catholic network (where many more powerful entitities have failed)…and how she did it with a great deal of Faith in God. So there has to be a lot we can learn from her and there is…for example:

“If you are following God, He never shows you the end. It’s always a walk of faith.”

If you know Mother’s story you can see the wisdom in that saying…

2. Anthony DeStefano’s Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To: Divine Answers to Life’s Most Difficult Problems is an excellent little book that could serve as a primer on what is really important to pray about–namely how God wants me to live my life with all the reality that it brings. Too often prayer is addressed to God in a way that is asking God to make me something else, rather than make me what I am and give me the tools to do it with joy. DeStefano gives a good foundation here and then neatly ties it all together with a prayer at the end of the book that incorporates the “ten” prayers all into one.

3. The Physics of Christianity by Frank J. Tipler would not be a book that I normally would even pick up, but I when I did–I found a wealth of very accessible answers to the big questions that people’s faith often hinges upon…like the problem of evil and free will (something that Einstein rejected). I have to think that this book is a must read for anyone involved in apologetics–explaining the faith to a modern world. Great insights here and the possibility of seeing the world in a different light.

4. Scott Hahn’s latest offering is an apologetic book, but as he told me a few monthis ago when I asked him about it, not your typical apologetics book. This is a book that helps you through Scott’s own story to learn to look for answers as to why do we believe as we do (you might want to also check out Father Benedict Groeschel’s little book Why Do We Believe?). Written in the very accessible way that all Hahn books are this will please both longtime fans and those who haven’t been exposed to him yet. Faith is not unreasonable, and here Scott gives you a reason to believe!

Catholic Author Karl Schultz

I have worked with Karl Schultz on a number of projects: a pamphlet on the Bible, The How-To Book of the Bible and Praying with the Bible. There is one project that he had been after me to publish ever since I first had contact with him back in the late 1990′s–a book that extolled the teachings of Pope Paul VI We never took him up on this offer, but thankfully the book is now published.
Last week the former Univeristy of Michigan basketball player (6’7″) presented me with a copy that he autographed. It is a great overview of the teachings of Paul VI, check it out–as well as Karl’s new book on Lectio Divina:

The Power of the Rosary Against the Devil

From Vultus Christi:

Concerning the Holy Rosary, once while the priest placed a rosary around the neck of the person who was being exorcised, all of a sudden the demon began crying out, “It is crushing me, it weighs on me, it is crushing me, this chain with the Cross on the end of it.” The exorcist exclaimed, “From this day forward this sister of ours will pray the Rosary every day.”

Immediately the demon replied, “But you are so few who say it (the Rosary), compared to the whole world!” It is just as well for me that it should be so, because it (the Rosary) harms me. You invoke That One (referring to our Lady), you make me remember the life of That One (referring to the life of Jesus meditated in the mysteries of the Rosary).

Another day, while exorcising the demon, the exorcist pulled a rosary out of his pocket; immediately the demon cried out: “Take away that chain, take away that chain!” “What chain?” “The one with the Cross on the end. She whips us with that chain.” This, of course is metaphorical language; it makes us understand, all the same, in very concrete terms, the power of the Rosary and how much the devil fears it.

Translated from Possessioni diabolici ed esorcismo by Father Francesco Bamonte (Paoline, 2006)

You Tube: HUnting Fishing Priest

And Catholic author Father Joe Classen….

New Father Benedict Groeschel Book

Released this month:

Seach Inside of my New Book

Bulletin Insert in Florida

Its the first time I’ve walked into a Catholic bookstore and seen one of my books featured…and praised. The manager was effusive with her praise (and she didn’t even know that I was the author)!

Here is the book:

A Unique Florida Church

Yesterday the Vicar General of the St. Petersburg Diocese gave me a short tour of a truly unique church (in Florida anyways). St. Mary’s. Even though I’d been to St. Petersburg quite a few times, I’d never noticed this beautiful church before.

I also made a visit to the Cathedral bookstore–where the bookstore manager told me how much she loved one of Our Sunday Visitor’s new books and couldn’t keep it on the shelves. The book? “A Pocket Guide to the Mass” She was surprised when I told her that I was the author.

On another front, I received an email from a teacher in Iowa yesterday who said that she is using The How to Book of the Mass with her youth group. They talked about one section of it last night and said that the kids were the most interested they have ever been about any subject–the session ran an hour over!

I made a quick visit to my parents last night in upper Florida. My brother in law made an early bold prediction that Kentucky will beat Florida in football (he’s from Kentucky). Since he and my sister moved to Florida–the Gators have won three national champions….and the last time that we were in Lexington together the Gators were actually losing 21-0 in the fourth quarter (the Zook era)but ended up winning…I reminded him of that…we’ll see.

Meanwhile, I’m tired of being on the road.