Feels Like Home: A book for every Catholic bookshelf

(Photos provided)

By Sister Beth Murphy, OP | 
Communications director of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield

Though I’ve been quite aware of the shortage of Catholic sisters in the United States for some time, an experience last year took me by surprise. Our vocation director Sister Denise Glazik and I were at my alma mater—Eastern Illinois University—for a Busy Persons Retreat at the Newman Center where my religious vocation was nurtured 40 years earlier. It was Catholic Sisters Week, and I had a brilliant idea: We’d invite the students to create selfies for social media with posters that included a shout-out to their favorite Catholic sisters.

“I’m not sure that will work,” Sister Denise calmly remarked. “I don’t think the students have much contact with sisters.” She was correct. An informal poll that day uncovered two students among 30 or so who had a relationship with a Catholic sister. Two.

Catholic author’s values shine in suspenseful sci-fi read

(OSV News/courtesy Thomas & Mercer Publishing)

By Mike Mastromatteo | OSV News

Since publishing his first book in 1968, bestselling author Dean Koontz has been described as a horror genre specialist, a sci-fi writer with a yen for the paranormal and a master of the suspense novel. More recently, critics have recognized a subtle but persistent Catholic flavor in his work.

Koontz’s latest release, “The House at the End of the World,” might be categorized as “any or all of the above.” Catholic readers are certain to pick up on such faith-related themes as the salvific power of suffering, and the need to stay vigilant against the forces of evil.

“The Beast of Bethulia Park”: A Catholic tale for summer

(OSV News photo/courtesy
Gracewing Publishing)

By Elizabeth Scalia | OSV News

A few years ago, while musing on the Catholic imagination and the deep need for Catholic literary fiction that goes beyond pious themes with predictable outcomes, I encouraged creative Catholics to expose the faith to an increasingly jaded world by branching out into comics, or cartoons, song lyrics, games and puzzles. 

I made an especial appeal to writers, noting that every Catholic novel needn’t be the equal of Walker Percy’s or Graham Greene’s work — that indeed, regard for such literary luminaries may be intimidating some Catholic writers who believe they have a story worth telling, but fear comparisons to those greats. “It needn’t be world class, you know, to move a soul, somewhere,” I had written, concluding, “As Chesterton himself wrote, ‘Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.’ Let’s do our badly best.”

By my lights, any resurgence in marketable Catholic creativity should certainly be permitted to embrace more populist fare, including the sort of summer beach reads meant to be consumed lightly — enjoyably picked up and put down as leisure permits.