Author shares Catholic view on common mental health challenges

(CNS photo/courtesy Ave Maria Press)

By Nancy L. Roberts | Catholic News Service

Depression, anxiety, trauma and grief are common mental health challenges. In the sea of advice given to deal with them, “St. Dymphna’s Playbook” offers a Catholic perspective.

Tommy Tighe, a licensed marriage and family therapist, combines his extensive clinical experience with insights from Scripture and the saints to give readers practical tools to cope.

Based on Tighe’s podcast of the same name, each chapter of the book gives an accessible explanation of a specific mental health concern. These include loneliness, irritability, hopelessness and relationships.

Book traces history of religious cinema

(CNS photo/courtesy BearManor Media)

By Nancy L. Roberts | Catholic News Service

The life story of Jesus Christ has fascinated filmmakers for more than 100 years. It’s not surprising that more movies have been made about Jesus than about any other subject, but the variation among these portrayals is stunning.

We see the classic, miracle-performing Son of God in epics such as “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965) with its all-star cast of Max von Sydow as Jesus and Charlton Heston as John the Baptist. This film achieved success as “an intellectual epic that carefully unfolded the power of Jesus’ ministry,” writes the author of “Jesus Christ Movie Star,” Phil Hall.