Starting the Year Right with Spiritual Reading

One of the common recommendations in spiritual direction is to incorporate spiritual reading in your daily plan of life. I think it would be a reasonable and attainable goal to read one good, authentic Catholic book per month. This year, I will recommend a different title to read each month. I hope to also squeeze in a few book reviews throughout the year.

I chose Be a Man! by Father Larry Richards as my first recommendation because Father Richards wrote the book specifically for men. Furthermore, the book lays a great foundation for beginning or revitalizing your spiritual game plan. The book is divided into ten manageable chapters that conclude with reflection and action questions.

What are you waiting for? Be a man!

Tuesday Tech Talk: Last Minute, Low Cost Christmas Gift Ideas

For this final Tuesday Tech Talk entry before Christmas, I thought I would share my last minute low cost, gift ideas to give your Catholic techie.  Most of the items I recommend are priced under $20 and can be downloaded instantly or picked up at a local office supply or electronics store.

Amazon Gift Card - We love gift cards in our family because you can buy what you want, when you want. We often wait for after-Christmas sales to use our gift cards. The Amazon gift card provides the techie with a number of flexible options. He can purchase apps, media content or even electronic hardware. By the way, Amazon has a large number of Catholic eBooks, including the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I recommend using this link with a discerning eye as not all the content is guaranteed to be loyal to the Church magisterium.

iTunes Gift Card - OK, I promise this will not turn this into a list of gift cards, but this time of year you can often find deals to purchase iTunes cards at reduced rates. That means FREE money. The iTunes store has the largest app library and lots of media content too, including the iMissal app.

Surge Protector - I think it's crazy that we will invest a large sum on a quality laptop or other electronic device and skimp on a surge protector (if we even get one). I recommend doing some research for the appropriate surge protector for your needs.

Screen Cleaners - I like to use the iKlear products for cleaning my iDevices and laptop screens.  The cloths that come with the kit are good to carry in a laptop bag to clean up before a meeting.  The larger cloths are great to keep in your desk.

Catholic e-Books - I mentioned above that Amazon carries a number of Catholic e-Books.  If you don't want to worry about the fidelity of the content, I recommend purchasing your e-Books at Aquinas and More. Wherever you choose to make your purchase, I recommend  Be a Man! by Father Larry Richards and The Church and New Media by Brandon Vogt.

Father Larry Richards: "Be a Man!"

If you have listened to Relevant Radio or Guadalupe Radio Network or received a free CD from Catholicity, you may have heard Father Larry Richards preach and teach. Father Richards is a parish priest in the diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania. He is known for his direct, yet understandable preaching. He blends personal anecdotes and humor into his talks and homilies.

Father Richards recently published his first book, entitled Be a Man! The book earned the #1 bestseller for Ignatius Press in 2010. The book is a guide for teaching men to be authentic Christian men. Father Richards is also the founder of The Reason for Our Hope Foundation and often speaks at Catholic Men’s conferences (see the video above). Later this month, he will be the keynote speaker at the Guadalupe Radio Summer Speaker series.

If you would like a great resource to learn more about the sacrament of reconciliation, I recommend ordering the $1 CD recorded for Catholicity by Father Larry Richards.

FAQ of the Faith: IMPRIMATUR and NIHIL OBSTAT

The imprimatur and nihil obstat  collectively make up the evidence that the document or book has been reviewed by the bishop (where the work is published) and determined to be free of moral and theological error (i.e., nothing contrary to church teaching). Normally, these statements indicate you can read the work without worry that you are going to be reading something fishy. Unfortunately, a few "liberal" bishops have been known to approve questionable works. Additonally, absence of the statements does not mean a work is not loyal to the Church Magisterium. For example some of Scott Hahn's early book editions did not have them because he publishes with a mainsteam publisher.

So you're probably saying, "great so how do I know when something is a legitimate Catholic work or not?"  First, let me say absolutely DO NOT rely on an internet search or by just going to the Catholic section in a book store.  There is a lot of junk out there being sold and published under the guise of "Catholic."  Jesus did warn his apostles to "beware of false prophets (teachers)" [Matt 7:15]. Here are my suggestions for obtaining authentic Catholic materials:

• Find a reputable Catholic book store.  Locally, we have three: Sacred Heart in Richardson, Little Angels near St. Anne's in Coppell and Divine Mercy in Denton.  The obvious omission is deliberate.
• Ask someone you know who is well versed in Catholic reading material.
• Get to know the reliable publishers.  This site includes the links to many of these.
• Get to know the reliable authors like Scott Hahn, Tim Staples, Father Larry Richards, Patrick Madrid, etc.
• Go to reliable websites like EWTN which has a religious catalogue.
• Use this web site.  I often include links to books you can buy through our Amazon partnership.  Joe Catholic actually gets a small percentage of those proceeds.

I have included definitions from Catholic Dictionary:

IMPRIMATUR

NIHIL OBSTAT
For good measure I have included a link to Scott Hahn's new book which covers some of our Catholic customs.  I found it to be a great read.

Let me know what you think about me adding a monthly book review.