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]
5 Secrets of a Happy Summer at Home
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1 Central Texas is amazing place to live. I’ve been here for 10 years and never desire to live elsewhere… unless of course it’s summertime…..when (as a visiting friend once described to me) we feel as though we… [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]
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]
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]
Beginning the Year with Thomas Merton (Book Reviews and Shameless Plug!)
I’d like to take this post to do a total shameless plug for Thomas Merton – a holy man who has taught me so much that I consider him to be a spiritual father. At the end of the old year and to help me start the new year, I picked up his book Thoughts in… [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]
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]
Seven Big Myths About the Catholic Church – Dr Kaczor Interview
I had the opportunity to interview Ignatius Press, author Dr. Christopher Kaczor by email through the Maximus Group this week. His new book is called The Seven Big Myths about the Catholic Church. The book has been released today, Wednesday, September 26. The book is very well written and describes in detail the seven biggest misunderstandings about 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]
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]
Book Review: Our Lady of the Lost and Found
I’d like to offer this book review in honor of our Blessed Mother, as it is currently her month – May! I came across “Our Lady of the Lost and Found” lying around my parents’ house – which is the way I stumble upon many of good books. My mom was just finishing it. She… [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]
Not Quite for Beginners, but Worth It (Review: “Theology for Beginners”)
It is amazing how much I do not know. I came back to the Church seven years ago tomorrow (which was Ash Wednesday that year, too). I am a joiner by nature, so when I decided to become a practicing adult Catholic, I went in full-tilt. That led me to my current lifestyle, where I… [Read More]
The Heat Is On (Review: “Catching Fire”)
While I was home for Christmas, I saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows with my mom and sister. I loved it. It was one of the best sequels I’ve ever seen, because it didn’t strictly require knowledge of the first movie, but it built beautifully on what had been established. Reading Catching Fire, the… [Read More]
Playing with the Girl Who Was on Fire (Review: “The Hunger Games”)
This may be the hardest review I’ve written for ACNM. This is not because I didn’t read the book. I did; I’ve read it twice now, and I would never try to review a book I hadn’t finished reading. This is not because I didn’t like the book; it was amazing. This is because the… [Read More]
Trusting in the Truth (Review: “How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul”)
I hate to begin blog posts with apologies, but I feel I must offer mine for the tardiness of this review. I spent the day after-Christmas shopping with my mom and sister. I don’t see my family very often since they almost all still live in Maryland, so I try to make myself available to… [Read More]
Presbyterian Lies and Literary Truths (Review: “The Wednesday Wars”)
As a happy Catholic who is involved in media, I try to keep my ears open for positive portrayals of religion in any setting: movies, television, and especially books. Religion in literature tends to be more honest than movies or TV. It’s very easy to toss a cross around a character’s neck or pan past… [Read More]
The Long View (Review: “A Canticle for Leibowitz”)
I’ll admit it: I like sci-fi. My mom and I used to tease my dad endlessly about how much he liked to watch Star Trek. I finally sat down to watch an episode with him one day, though, and I was hooked. It’s not just the scientific aspects that draw me in, though, it’s the… [Read More]
Happy to be a Dummy (Review: “Catholicism for Dummies”)
Most people don’t know that I haven’t been this religious all my life. I experienced a major conversion in my first year of college that brought me back to the Catholic faith of my middle school years and my first year of high school. At around that time, I combined my love of learning with… [Read More]
Real Role Models (Review: “Saints Behaving Badly”)
Happy All Saints’ Day! Remember, today is a holy day of obligation, so if you are Catholic, you must attend Mass sometime today if you didn’t go last night. Check out the parish locator, call for Mass times, and take advantage of the graces of such a fantastic feast! (Snag our communion of saints coloring… [Read More]
Deep in the Shallows (Review: “The Giver”)
We Americans live in a world where choice reigns supreme. Everything from what exotic fruit to enjoy at any given time of year to when and whether to have children is up to our choosing. Whether we should make those choices is an entirely different question. That requires wisdom, faith, and a well-formed conscience. But… [Read More]
