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

(Observer photo/Dan Szpekowski)

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.