Share the faith at Christmas time

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Several new books make interesting reading for toddlers, teens and adults and deserve to be considered for Christmas gifts.
"All Shall Be Well: A Spiritual Journal for Hope and Encouragement" by Hilda St. Clair. Paraclete Press (Brewster, Massachusetts, 2016). 120 pp., $15.99.
Teenage readers and adults alike will find calm, inspired creativity and peaceful contemplation with this beautifully illustrated journal. Sixty quotes illuminated with bright watercolor are accompanied with activities to help focus the day on God. Hopeful and encouraging, the journal is a reprieve from a loud and hectic world. Ages 13 and up

Authors offer tips for improving relations, strengthening faith in kids

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  "Keep Your Kids Catholic" is a timely book written by husband and father Marc Cardaronella, who draws from his experience of leaving behind the Catholic Church after eighth grade and on into adulthood, to assist parents with strategies that may foster the lived experience of faith in their children.
Making a case against the assembly-line religious education programs that many parents blindly trust as a guarantee that the faith will be passed on, Cardaronella shares his own experience that is quite typical of many adult "revert" Catholics who went through a program without ever experiencing a living relationship with Jesus Christ.
One thing that is perfectly clear from this book is that any hope of having children living the faith must be preceded by parents who are fully engaged in living the faith. Faith formation that seeks adult conversion in children begins with an adult conversion for the parents.

Moms’ Faith, Health Important to Kids, World

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Two new books show that if mothers take care of their health and faith, the world can be a better place.
"Divine Mercy for Moms: Sharing the Lessons of St. Faustina" gives practical solutions for mothers to put into practice the Divine Mercy devotion. "The First 1,000 Days: A Crucial Time for Mothers and Children -- And the World" analyzes efforts to stop malnutrition at a very personal level by documenting the lives of several mothers and children in the United States, India, Guatemala and Uganda.
Although different in their nature and intended audience, both books address the value of motherhood for the spiritual and physical health of the world.

Author sees 500th anniversary of Lutheranism as a Catholic one, too

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It has been 500 years since Augustinian monk and theology professor Martin Luther set off the Protestant Reformation with his call for a debate on indulgences and other burning issues in the Catholic Church at the time. Prolific Lutheran writer Martin Marty centers his reflections on Luther's 95 theses on Christ's call to repentance, arguing that repentance formed the heart of Luther's spiritual crisis.
What might make this book challenging for many readers is the author's tracing of the history of Lutheran-Catholic rapprochement that led to a 1999 joint declaration on grace. While this topic is treated with sensitivity, it was the Catholic side that seemed to give more on the issue of grace as central to salvation.

Author Challenges Catholics to Live Church’s Social Teachings

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Stephen White is a fellow in Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. In “Red, White, Blue and Catholic” he challenges American Catholics to understand and to live out Catholic social teaching in its fullness in their daily lives and more.
In his foreword, he cites three different Catholics who made a difference in their own times and ours: St. Thomas More, Dorothy Day and Jerome Lejeune.
These three, he writes, represent the vocation of all lay Catholics to “bring peace, joy, justice and truth” to all humanity through the “sanctification of the world” and support for the family, the unborn and the poor.”
Such efforts, of course, include but transcend politics.

Bert Tranel recalls farming and faith

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East Dubuque man writes memoir

“Lucky 13: Rural Family of Faith” is a memoir of life on the farm in the far northwest corner of the Rockford Diocese.
Author Bert Tranel, the youngest of the 13 children, reflects on his life and the importance of faith to his family, from which came two priests for the Rockford Diocese and two sisters for the Sinsinawa Dominicans.
Tranel’s informal memoir has the tone of casual conversations in the family. In each section, he writes of a family member or a time in his own life, dropping in extraneious facts to help place each memory in historical perspective.
His father died shortly after the author was born, making young Bert the only family member who didn’t know him. “From then on, with the help of God’s grace and mom’s faith, we pulled through the rocky roads ahead,” he wrote.

Available on Amazon:
“Lucky 13: Rural Family of Faith”  by Bert Tranel. (River Lights Publishing, paperback) 167 pp., $17.99

Enter by Oct. 17, 2016, to win both books from The Observer Book Club. 

Joan Aubele considers her cure miraculous

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Somonauk woman shares her cancer fight

By Louise Brass
Observer Correspondent
Doctors thought she would be dead by the end of the week when the young mother of three, Joan Aubele, 29, was admitted to the hospital with stage-four acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
“My cancer was actually so advanced upon admission to the hospital that my chemo was postponed until the end of the week, assuming I would probably be dead by then,” Aubele said.
It seemed pointless to give her chemo at this stage — that was in March 1990.
Despite the diagnosis, and the anger and fear she was experiencing, she prayed and believed that somehow, someway her prayers would be answered.

“I was actually in constant prayer, begging God to let me live for the sake of my husband, and for my three little girls,” she recalled.

Richard Novak imagines building the church

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Rockford novelist writes of early Christian lives

Take a step into the past for a tale of two orphans, abandoned in Rome at the time of the early Christian martyrs. One becomes a Christian deacon while the other is horrified when his adoptive parents become Christians.
“The Platonia Chamber,” a foray into historical fiction, is Dr. Richard Novak’s third book. Retired as professor and chairman of the Department of Pathology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine's Rockford campus. He was also chairman of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Rockford Memorial Hospital. He is a parishioner at Holy Family in Rockford.
His other books are “Topping the Dome: Art and Politics During the Construction of the Capitol Dome” and “Adelaide Johnson’s Portrait Monument” with Catherine Davidson.
Writing is only one of his creative hobbies. Dr. Novak also sculpts; more than 70 of his creations are in public and private collections.

“The Platonia Chamber”  by Richard F. Novak. (SW Publishing, paperback, 2015) 118 pp., $5.95

Enter by Oct. 17, 2016, to win both books from The Observer Book Club. 

Frank Ardito remembers Chicago's YCW

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Huntley man's memoirs recall service to youth

By Pat Szpekowski
Observer Correspondent
Frank Ardito’s strong conviction of justice for the poor, his passion for playing the saxophone, and his strong belief in living his faith have followed him throughout his life. He believes it all moved forward and was bound together by Divine Providence.
It’s been the perfect assemblage that has given him a long successful career and now a busy retirement volunteering at St. Mary Parish in Huntley.
While in the parish narthex, Ardito displays a copy of his first book and brochures from the parish's child sponsorship program in Haiti.
Ardito has chronicled with fascinating details his experiences working with the poor and seeing the ravages of racism, riots and gang violence in Chicago in two books.
“The YCW I Remember” provides a snapshot of his faith journey from the time he was discharged from the army until he joined the Community Organization Division of the Chicago Commission on Youth Welfare.
“The Street Sweeper” offers a deeper look into his work in several inner city communities where he had the opportunity to express his faith and Gospel values in a variety of ways.

Durand family sustained by faith

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Walsh children recall 1955 polio outbreak

By Sharon Boehlefeld
Features Editor
In 1955, 11 of  the 14 children of Keron and Anne Walsh of Durand suffered from mild to severe forms of polio.
Five of the children were hospitalized. The two oldest children, teenage brothers Dan and Ed, died.
Sixty years later, Rose Walsh Landers, the youngest of the hospitalized children, along with family friend Mike Waller and sister Sue Walsh Cocoma, have written about the family’s struggles and survival in "Triumph on Baker Road: How the Walsh Family Defeated Polio."

Stroll, journey offer different paths to confronting stress

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Sure, you've heard dozens of talks and homilies about the Eight Beatitudes, but have you ever taken "a friendly stroll" through them? Sister Mary Lea Hill, a Daughter of St. Paul, invites readers to do that in "Blessed are the Stressed: Secrets to a Happy Heart From a Crabby Mystic."
If one thinks of strolling as a low-impact exercise, then this is a low-impact but effective spiritual exercise because of the content and how it is presented. Strolls are for conversation, for ambling with no particular purpose other than to take in the surroundings or to informally converse with a companion.
Here, the beatitudes are the surroundings; Sister Hill starts the conversation. And like conversation that occurs during a stroll, she jumps from topic to topic, always linking each to one of the beatitudes. From this conversation comes reflections such as: "The beatitudes are our spiritual selfies. They are individual snapshots of our soul at work." In speaking about the meek, she relates it to handles. Remember, this is strolling conversation; it can go in any direction, with any connection.

Books tell of Blessed Mother Teresa's life

With her canonization scheduled Sept. 4, 2016, people are more interested than ever in Blessed Mother Teresa. In the past several years, Catholic News Service reviewers have written about a number of books that tell the story of Blessed Mother Teresa. Here is information from a few of those reviews, originally published in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

Three books detail Mother Teresa's 'thirst,' teachings and impact

Much has been written in the past months concerning the interior darkness and long periods of spiritual dryness in the life of Blessed Mother Teresa, revealed through her private correspondence in the book "Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light," by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, a Missionaries of Charity priest who is the postulator of her sainthood cause. Both the secular press and scholars alike have delved into the meaning of her letters and the long periods in her life when she no longer felt the presence of Jesus.

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In "Mother Teresa's Secret Fire," Father Joseph Langford, a Missionaries of Charity priest and companion of Mother Teresa since the early 1970s, shares his personal encounters with Mother Teresa and sheds light on two words which can sum up her life: I thirst.

It is the thirst of Jesus on the cross that became Mother Teresa's own thirst and she spent the last 50 or so years of her life trying to satiate this thirst through her service to the poorest of the poor. It is this thirst that is at the heart of Father Langford's book.

Overview of religious freedom debate is easy to read

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The author of this readable and informative volume -- Kevin Seamus Hasson -- studied law and theology at the University of Notre Dame and is the founder of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, so is well qualified to take on what was a central set of questions for the founders of the American republic, questions still being debated today.
He begins with legal cases challenging the "under God" phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance recited in public schools and other events. Does this amount to the establishment of a religion or of religion itself?

Book reveals pope's secret spy network during World War II

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Who really was Pope Pius XII during World War II? Was he a weak pope, too afraid to speak out publicly against Hitler? Or was he an expert diplomat, calculatingly using his position to help posture assassination attempts of the horrific German leader?
Author Mark Riebling's book, "Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War against Hitler," contends that the pontiff was indeed a skilled man who used his role to help German plotters attempt to kill Hitler. The book even suggests that his initiatives came at the cost of his legacy and reputation, a point of wide controversy for historians.
"Church of Spies" reads like a spy thriller that is exhaustingly researched, as shown by its more than 100 pages of notes and sources. Riebling, a former editor at Random House and author of "Wedge: The Secret War Between the FBI and CIA," has researched and written about intelligence for various publications. He shares with readers many vivid details about the underground communication, secret meetings and failed attempts to take Hitler's life; the book truly is a treasure trove of surprising information.

Author finds controversy in life of great-grandfather most saw as heroic

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As a retired research analyst for the CIA, James Carson knows how to dig up secrets. But even Carson was surprised by some of the facts that turned up when he decided to research and write a book about the life of his great-grandfather, U.S. Army Col. Henry Lazelle.
Carson grew up hearing stories about Lazelle from his mother, who was only 10 years old when the colonel died. In her eyes, Lazelle was a heroic figure who scouted across the Wild West with Kit Carson, fought for the Union during the Civil War and retired after nearly four decades in the military.
It turned out that the story wasn't quite that clear-cut. While Lazelle had a formidable intellect, wrote articles on military strategy and served as commandant of cadets at West Point, he was known for overstepping boundaries and had a hand in several notorious incidents in Army history.

Book advocates using science to deepen faith, relationship to God

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Walking hand in hand through history has not been easy for science and faith. People on both sides too often and easily toss invectives at the other, such as "superstition" and "heresy." At the same time, ambitious historical efforts have been made, going back at least to the fourth-century St. Augustine of Hippo, to reconcile or bridge some of the gaps between the two.
True, faith and science abide comfortably in many people; but so far no one has succeeded in convincing all of the diverse mentalities in either camp to accept a basic compatibility.
Adding his voice to the reconciliation effort is Michael Dennin. A cradle Catholic who continues to attend Mass regularly and is active in parish life, Dennin also is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. Dennin's book, "Divine Science," uses his faith and scientific knowledge to make a case that believers should embrace science as a tool for deepening their belief.

New book offers an open window into Cardinal Wuerl's life, U.S. church

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Washington's Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl exemplifies an unusual aspect of the Catholic Church's governance: when most other men and women are retiring and winding down, senior prelates are reaching the zenith of their authority and influence. Although bishops are required by canon law to submit their resignation to the pope at age 75, many work well beyond those years, often wielding clout well into their 80s.
That is a primary reason the authors of this new biography -- they actually eschew the label of "biography" in the introduction -- caution us that this book is hardly the definitive story of Cardinal Wuerl, who only recently turned 75.
He arguably is America's most important and influential prelate in the midst of the pontificate of Pope Francis. Indeed, Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, CEO of Salt and Light Television Network in Canada and an English-language assistant to the Holy See Press Office, says: "He (Cardinal Wuerl) is one of the most articulate interpreters of who Francis is and what Francis is doing."

Priest's mission starts with getting people to the dinner table

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By Carol Zimmermann | Catholic News Service
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- For Father Leo Patalinghug, faith and food go hand in hand, or in cooking terms, they blend; there is no trick to folding one into the other.
"The idea of food in faith is implicit in our Scriptures.It's implicit in our liturgical calendar," he said, also adding that without question it's a key component of the Mass.
The 45-year-old Filipino-American, known as the cooking priest, has made the blending of those two worlds his life's work with his apostolate, "Grace Before Meals," which aims, as he puts it: "to bring families to the dinner table and bring God to the table."
He not only does a cooking show on the Eternal Word Television Network called "Savoring our Faith," but he also travels across the country giving parish workshops and speaks at conferences, on radio programs and via social media about the need for families to celebrate not just Catholic feast days but everyday meals together. He also has written three books (including "Epic Food Fight: A Bite-Sized History of Salvation") and is currently working on two more.

Thought-provoking books on an everyday topic

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These two slim books serve up substantial food for thought about the sacred at the family dinner table.

First, Susan Muto's "Table of Plenty: Good Food for Body and Spirit" offers inspiring stories, reflections and recipes garnered from her Italian-American childhood. Her mother Helen, a full-time homemaker, adhered to "slow food movement" principles long before their modern "discovery." She approached cooking as an activity to be shared and savored itself, as much as the meal it produced.
The book's pages are redolent with Helen's spicy chicken cacciatore, eggplant bruschetta, simple rustic bread and lemon meringue pie for dessert. Recipes for these and many other dishes are included, but Muto's real focus is how mealtimes can be rich spiritual experiences. This is something she learned from both her mother and her maternal grandmother, whom she describes as "two vivacious women who reverenced good food for God's sake."

'Story of discovery' shows priest's experience in spiritual counseling

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Anne, a divorced 40-year-old woman who essentially remains Catholic in name only, arrives almost by happenstance one evening at the Trappist Abbey of Sts. Philip and James in "The Abbey," Jesuit Father James Martin's recently published first novel.
Three years earlier a car struck and killed Anne's only child, 13-year-old Jeremiah. She wishes she "could stop obsessing" over Jeremiah's death but certainly does not want to forget him. She is confused about how she feels and how she is "supposed to be feeling."
Anne screamed words of hatred at God when Jeremiah died. She thinks God is not "close to her."
When Anne's car breaks down at work, she phones Mark, her neighbor, to ask if he might pick her up after his work and drive her home from the repair shop where her car was towed. Mark, "an experienced carpenter, not to mention an architect," is the abbey's handyman.
When Mark arrives, however, he suddenly realizes he left his cellphone behind at the abbey. So he and Anne drive there together to retrieve it.

Interreligious collection provides insights on all kinds of grieving

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A significant loss in life changes people. More than likely it will cause them to grieve, too. Where will this grief lead? "Grieving With Your Whole Heart" suggests that over time people tend to realize that grief changes them for the good.
"Somehow in the midst of sorrow you must begin to remap the world, to reorient to a landscape that has changed dramatically -- whether through the loss of a loved one or job or physical ability or identity," the book states.
People suffer losses of many kinds, as the book's more than 80 brief essays make abundantly clear. There is the loss of physical health or memory. There are painful losses resulting from natural disasters, job loss and the losses that accompany retirement, debilitating injuries or even divorce.
"One of the consistent surprises of working with those going through divorce is how seldom they recognize what they are experiencing as grief," writes the Rev. Carolyne Call of the United Church of Christ.
I must admit that when I hear the word "loss," I tend first to think of the death of someone's family member or good friend. The difficult, typically unwelcome grief journey that begins with a death is well addressed in this book.