I’m no stranger to reflection. I think my life would be very different if I were not such an introspective person by nature. I can point to a few specific moments when my habit of thinking deeply before acting has actually changed my life. Generally, though, I trust my own thoughts more than anyone else’s,… [Read More]
More Than Preaching to the Birds (Review: Francis of Assisi: A New Biography)
I really like saints. This is fortunate, because I am a Catholic and can therefore experience the fullness of communion with those brothers and sisters in Christ that have gone before us. I have my extra-special favorites and my preferred companions, and then there are saints that I’m pretty apathetic about. For me, St. Francis… [Read More]
Much Better than Zombies (Review: “The Returned”)
Please accept my apologies for my unplanned hiatus. My life outside of Austin CNM got the best of me, but I’m back in action now, and I have recently finished one of the most inventive and lyrical novels I’ve read in a long time. Death scares us. It’s not quite as terrifying as public speaking,… [Read More]
Your Intro to RCIA (Review: “Waking Up Catholic”)
The journey to Catholicism can be a winding one. Some sharp stones have been pressed in by years of habit, and some gems are waiting just around the next bend. It can be tricky to navigate the path. Sometimes you want a companion on the journey. Sometimes you just want a simple road map. Waking… [Read More]
6 Things You Need to Do Before Mass
Going to Mass is about more than just making it in the door for Communion. My day-to-day life has changed significantly in the last few months, so I have found myself approaching Mass attendance in a whole new way. It used to be part of work. My biggest concern was getting to attend a whole… [Read More]
Wandering Through Worldviews (Review: “Starting at the End”)
Living in a Catholic bubble can be nice, but I like to pop my head outside and take a look around every now and then. In the context of Austin CNM, that means reading books by non-Catholics or without explicit religious themes for this Catholic book review column. Sometimes that leads me to gems like… [Read More]
Breaking Open Revelation (Review: “The Lamb’s Supper”)
I love learning. That sounds so cheesy, but I really do! My favorite learning experiences are always connected to finding out earth-shattering new information about something I thought I already knew well. I used to think that car turn signals were activated by the car (not the driver; in-car navigation systems seemed unremarkable at first!),… [Read More]
We’re All in This Together (Review: “Bound Together”)
If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you’ll have noticed that I don’t always review Catholic books. This will be one of those other reviews. As Catholics, we are committed to ecumenism. If other Christians are reflecting on beliefs that we share, we should at least be willing to listen, even if we… [Read More]
Roamin’ Home (Review: “Confessions of a Mega-Church Pastor”)
I love conversion stories. As a cradle Catholic who lapsed for a few years, I have my own story of coming to know Christ and his one true Church, but I am always fascinated by the journeys other people have taken to get to Catholicism. Some of my favorites are the stories that came with… [Read More]
The God Who Is Just Like You (Review: “Strange Gods”)
I don’t worship false gods, at least not on purpose. Let me explain. I never say I was raised Catholic. My mom’s side of the family is Catholic, which is the reason I am a Catholic (although not the reason I remain one). We didn’t go to church for most of my childhood. Because of… [Read More]
Meditations on Mama Mary (Review: “The World’s First Love”)
Oh, May: the month of flowers, of the fullness of spring, of mothers, and especially of the Blessed Mother, Mary, the Mother of God. I must confess that I didn’t quite realize the convergence of these annual symbols when I selected my next book for this column; the Holy Spirit surprises me like that sometimes…. [Read More]
Every Woman’s Mission (Review: “Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious”)
I’ve been thinking a lot about mission lately: what I want from my life and from my work, and whether what I actually do with the time God gives me is working toward those goals. If it’s not, then I am really just wasting time. I’m more than just a cute machine, though; being the… [Read More]
What Love Really Means (Review: “The Four Loves”)
Love is complicated. After I came back to the Church, I realized that the world’s definition of love wasn’t going to cut it. I knew that it had to be more than just a feeling, but I was still confused. How could I define something so powerful, so sacred, and so broadly applicable to everything… [Read More]
The Irish Struggle (Review: “Flight of the Earls”)
As a Notre Dame grad, I am always in the company of proud Irishmen (and women). Even though St. Patrick’s Day was suppressed for the Fifth Sunday of Lent this year, I managed to wear a little bit of green, and I randomly heard a track from my twin friends’ St. Patrick’s Day compilation on… [Read More]
The Purpose-Driven Catholic Church (Review: “Rebuilt”)
I am a parish employee. Campus ministry works in some significantly different ways than geographical parishes, but for practical purposes (such as when people ask what I do), I work in a parish. I’m betting pretty strongly that most of you reading this either currently belong to a parish, go to Mass, or used to… [Read More]
Your New Catholic Toolkit (Review: “The Confirmed Catholic’s Companion”)
“Now, Lindsay,” you might say, “it’s barely Lent! Confirmation season isn’t for months!” Well, you’re right. It’s not Confirmation season, and except in emergencies, no one is going to be confirmed for at least six more weeks. That makes it the perfect time to consider not only what delightful Catholic reference book you’re going to… [Read More]
When Your Very Own Ideas Are the Truth (Review: “Orthodoxy”)
I like reading. I’d be crazy to have written a book review column for a year and a half if I didn’t like reading. But, in addition to reading, I like getting to know people. I’m an interesting person to make friends with because I have a knack for focusing very intentionally on developing the… [Read More]
How to Really Fight Evil (Review: “Messenger”)
I am a sucker for a series. I love Harry Potter, and I used to love The Baby-sitters Club, and I’m really only still watching Glee because I have a great gift for the virtue of hope and I hope it will eventually be good again. Somewhere deep down, though, my belief in eternity makes… [Read More]
Reading Your Way to Rome (Review: “Rome Sweet Home”)
As many Catholics are, I am a sucker for conversion stories. I was baptized Catholic but not really raised that way, so mine is more of a reversion story, but I even enjoy telling that! There’s something about getting the inside scoop on someone’s journey to God and to the Catholic Church that is so… [Read More]
Irreverent Mary (Review: “Looking for Mary, Or, The Blessed Mother and Me”)
People come to the Catholic faith through many avenues. As Dr. Robert Koons put it during his recent apologetics series at the University Catholic Center, where I work, there are “many roads to Rome.” Some roads are bumpy and long, and some are clear forks. Some roads, however, are more like the roundabout in National… [Read More]
The Answer to a Really Good Question (Review: “The Problem of Pain”)
Christianity is a faith of paradoxes. We are alive now, and then we will die (unless Christ returns before we die), but there is life after death. On Sunday, we officially begin to look upon the Virgin who will give birth to a son. By dying, Christ conquered death. Either this all makes perfect sense,… [Read More]
A How-to Guide For Those Who Wonder How (Review: “The Jesuit Guide to [Almost] Everything”)
At work this year, I have been slowly training our student leaders on aspects of leadership. The framework I’m using is the six aspects of campus ministry, so last month, I spoke about appropriating the faith. That was fun, because who doesn’t love appropriating (i.e. getting stuff)? It was also fun because I was able… [Read More]
The Truth Will Set You Free (Review: “Thumped”)
You may remember a little novel that blew my mind last year: Bumped, by Megan McCafferty. I couldn’t believe that someone had combined three of my favorite things: dystopias, life issues, and teenagers with problems. I also couldn’t believe that no one was talking about it! It’s not a stretch to think that our world… [Read More]
A Proposal to the Youth (Review: “YOUCAT, the Youth Catechism”)
I’m a little late in the game, but I’m also right on time for the Year of Faith: I finally took a deeper look into the YOUCAT*. Released to coincide with the last World Youth Day (WYD) and distributed to all official pilgrims, the YOUCAT was written to transmit content based from the Catechism of… [Read More]
An Unacceptable Compromise (Review: “Unwind”)
“Ripped from the headlines” used to be an incredibly popular slogan for movies and TV episodes. A story based on real situations rather than one pulled from a writer’s mind was intriguing and a little frightening. When I heard the premise of Unwind, the most captivating aspect was that I could see it really happening…. [Read More]
Religious and Happy About It (Review: “OyMG”)
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, ends tonight at sundown. That might not be terribly significant to readers of a Catholic blog like ACNM, but it is to me. Not only do my work responsibilities include frequent, delightful interaction with non-Catholic religious professionals, but I like knowing that other religions have non-secularized holidays, too. The… [Read More]
Not So New Anymore (Review: “Brave New World”)
I have never had my heart broken by a book so quickly. I cried when I first read A Walk to Remember (hey, it’s romantic and sad!), and I was upset when Mockingjay was such a lame conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy (I got sick of Katniss’s PTSD), but I don’t think any book… [Read More]
The Other Side of the Future (Review: “Gathering Blue”)
If The Giver blew your mind, it may further blow your mind to know that The Giver has sequels. As if the journey of twelve-year-old Jonas through the frightening truth about his seemingly perfect world weren’t enough, Lois Lowry has spun another tale. The Giver presented a futuristic world with no choices and an oligarchy… [Read More]
The Gradual Road to Hell (Review: “The Screwtape Letters”)
I have finally found some paranormal romance that I like! Well, that’s not entirely true. This week’s book is about the paranormal and does contain romance, though. I will concede only one thing to Twilight and its successors in the paranormal romance genre, and I will admit to two: they’re getting girls to read, and… [Read More]
Hollywood Never Gets It Right (Review: “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers”)
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and discussing media lately. Aside from my recent post on media discernment, I had a lively discussion with some friends about the same subject, and there’s always another trashy TV show or a movie like Magic Mike to start a firestorm. It’s enough to make you want… [Read More]
How God Calls Us Back (Review: “Brideshead Revisited”)
Sometimes, I fail at being Catholic. As I’ve mentioned here before, I try to live my faith and usually succeed, but I am far from perfect; if anything, I am acutely aware of how imperfect I am. The one constant is that I always come back. God is loving and merciful, so he always takes… [Read More]
A Halo with Some Smudges (Review: “The Possibilities of Sainthood”)
We are all called to be saints. I’ll say that again, with help from St. Bernadette and a friend’s email signature, “I must become a saint. My Jesus demands it.” Most of us aren’t actively working on that, but some must be. In my never-ending quest for good Catholic YA, I picked up The Possibilities… [Read More]
Media Discernment and You
I have a love/hate relationship with the media. I am Catholic and I am committed to my faith, but I work with many non-Catholics and with Catholics who are seeking direction. Being a good evangelist means I have to keep track of what’s going on outside the Catholic bubble, to follow the Bible’s advice to… [Read More]
A New Media Guide for the New Evangelization (Review: “The Church and New Media”)
Here at Austin Catholic New Media, we strive to harness the most popular social technologies of the day to aid in the New Evangelization. In other words, since everyone and his grandma is on Facebook, can we share our Catholic lives in photos and status updates? Can we use YouTube to teach people about Catholicism?… [Read More]
Jesus Had Battle Scars, Too (Review: “My Peace I Give You”)
Some things are difficult to talk about. There’s an adage that some things should never be discussed in mixed company: sex, politics, money, and religion. Well, I work in religion, and this is a Catholic blog, so brace yourselves. Now that the Church is ten years from the horror of the public revelation of the… [Read More]
Prayer, Personality, and Plugging In (Review: “Style, Sex, and Substance”)
I realized recently (and very awkwardly) that I read a lot about being single. I need more balance in my life, which is one of the reasons I turned to The Thrill of the Chaste for my last review. However, that was still a book about being single. In came Style, Sex, and Substance: 10… [Read More]
Clothes On, Eyes Open (Review: “The Thrill of the Chaste”)
As I’ve mentioned before, I am a big fan of the theology of the body (TOB). It has changed the way I view past and future relationships and the way I relate to other people in my life, male and female. Most of what I’ve learned about TOB has been from Christopher West or from… [Read More]
God Has a Problem: It’s You (Review: “Sinner”)
I struggle a lot with my faith life. Many people think that I am somehow better or holier because I work for the Church. Correction: I am not. If anything, being so closely connected to the inner workings of my sort-of parish makes me more aware of how much of a mess I am (and… [Read More]
Beware the Players, Beware the Game (Review: “The Westing Game”)
And now for something completely different. Although I have used my other two reviews this Lent to recommend good spiritual reading (Theology for Beginners and No Man Is an Island), not all of my ACNM reviews are of specifically Catholic or Christian books. I genuinely believe that, although it’s important to put God first in… [Read More]
Wading into Spiritual Waters (Review: “No Man Is an Island”)
Sometimes, what your faith life needs is someone to break things down, but not too far down. Adults do not like to be talked down to or made to feel like they don’t know anything, but not everyone is a rocket scientist (and I know several actual rocket scientists). Lent in particular is a great… [Read More]
