Books Take on Raising Kids in A Culture that Devalues Faith

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 Kim Cameron-Smith cuts through a great deal of fluff that's out there in the Christian/Catholic parenting world and gets to the heart of the matter in her book titled "Discipleship Parenting." She asserts that raising your children for heaven must be the goal for every Catholic parent in a society that asks much more shallow questions and is more concerned with superficial concerns.

She puts forth the mission of Catholic parents in the introduction, "The Great Commission of Parenting": "Our mission must be to raise children who know and love God. Our mission is to raise children with searching hearts who continue to grow spiritually for the rest of their lives. Our mission is to raise children who possess a heroic fidelity to the truth, so they cannot help but share that message with others." This is a monumental task, but it's the only real task that supersedes everything else a parent does.

Guide offers valuable information

 Investing is a very human behavior. We invest time in a hobby with the hope of being paid back with enjoyment. We invest in an education with the hope that we will benefit from what we learn. We invest money in a bank account or in the stock of a publicly traded company with the hope that we will be rewarded monetarily.

There are, thus, many ways to invest our assets. In "Faithful Investing," an interdenominational writing team of financial leaders representing many Christian churches presents an argument and steps for successfully investing church assets in such a way that they not only create a financial gain on one's investment but also a moral and ethical gain as well.

New books for summer reading focus on Jesus, forgiveness, saints

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The following books are suitable for children’s summer reading.

“The Creator’s Love Story” by Madeleine Carroll, illustrated by Jen Olson. Isaiah Books. (Little Bookham, United Kingdom, 2020). 28 pp., $9.
“The Creator’s Love Story” teaches children with simple verse and soft watercolor illustrations major events in the New Testament. Wholly focused on Jesus, this picture book is truly a love story for young disciples to help them know Jesus and his divinity on an introductory, but personal level. Ages 0-5.

Authors explain Catholic topics clearly

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But each writes from certain ideology

 These two books give readers an overview of what it means to be Catholic. They share the strengths and weaknesses that any such book is bound to have.

On the positive side, each gives clear explanations for topics related to being Catholic in today's world. On the negative side, each encourages the reader to believe that there is only one acceptable Catholic point of view, one acceptable Catholic answer to ethical and moral conundrums -- indeed, one acceptable way to be a good Catholic.

In other words, these books present a black-and-white view of Catholicism, as if no gray areas exist. They tend to overlook G.K. Chesterton's observation that Catholics know the relatively few "transcendental truths on which they do agree, and take rather a pleasure in disagreeing on all the rest."

Book launches historical series

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James Papandrea's "The Early Church" is the first in a series of books on "Reclaiming Catholic History." The seven books in the series will recreate for general readers the experiences and development of the church through the periods of the Roman Empire, the Dark and Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and into modern times.

Judging from the quality and readability of this initial effort the series should prove to be a great help to Catholics interested in understanding the development of church doctrine, theology, philosophy and responses to changes in society throughout the centuries.

Authors celebrate cathedrals in wake of Notre Dame fire

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Among the many disasters of 2019, the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris evoked, possibly, the most universal sadness as this cathedral and the Eiffel Tower are the two most famous symbols of Paris. The cathedral fire which started April 15 destroyed the roof, brought down the spire and damaged many precious objects housed in by the cathedral.

The silver lining is that no human lives were lost; an alarm was sounded and the cathedral was cleared a half hour before flames were sighted. There has been no evidence found, as of yet, that the burning was the act of a terrorist.

Catholic history of Civil War era blends scholarship, storytelling

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"Faith and Fury" by Father Charles P. Connor aptly describes the atmosphere that 19th-century American Catholics must have experienced. Then, waves of Irish and German Catholic immigrants invigorated the church and also encountered nativist rage and violence from the Protestant majority.

Debates about slavery's morality swirled everywhere, not only in the halls of government but also in the churches. There was no respite from sharply divisive conflicts and moral soul-searching. When war finally came in 1861, Catholics on both sides, convinced of their righteousness, implored God to grant them victory.