Bill Kassel's Blog

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“Can’t Put It Down”

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REVIEWERS AGREE THAT
MBK IS A PAGE-TURNER

A couple of posts ago I shared a review of my novel about the family of Jesus — MY BROTHER’S KEEPER — from Catholic author Deanna Klingel, who described it as…

“a story well-told, well-researched, easy to read, with fresh imagination, and beautifully written …. Here’s a book you’ll be glad you’ve read; a book of substance, a book that will leave you wanting more.”

Now Virginia Lieto and Kelly Thatcher, two Catholic writers / bloggers with their own wide followings, express the conviction that this is a book that compels you to keep reading.

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Holy Attire — Examined

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DRESSING FOR CHURCH
IS A VERY HOT TOPIC

Last Saturday’s post — in which I raised the issue of wearing slovenly and/or immodest clothing at Mass — really struck a chord.

Each of the Facebook pages and discussion groups to which I linked the article has brimmed over with “Likes.” I’ve had more hits on this piece than any other essay in the history of my blog. Numerous comments have been posted all over.

Obviously, feelings about this topic are strong.

Most people agree with the point made by both Deacon John Amthor and myself that worship attire could stand some improvement.

But not everybody.

One objector put his view quite succinctly…

“Bullsh-t. Come as you are. God don’t care about how you dress. God cares about your heart.”

He saw the idea of applying standards to our physical appearance as a “doctrine of man,” which he rejects.

Another reader — named Lamont — had a similar edge to his critique, but he offered it with considerably more wit…

[Read more…] about Holy Attire — Examined

Holy Attire

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LET’S TRY TO LOOK
DECENT IN CHURCH

When I was a kid attending a Presbyterian church, people dressed to the nines for Sunday service. Ladies wore hats. Gents came in suits. Little girls carried their collection money in their lace-trimmed white gloves. Little boys wore ties — grudgingly — and did their best to keep shirt tails tucked in.

Well…that was the 50s and early 60s. Times have changed.

When I began attending Catholic Mass, I was taken aback to see slacks on the women, open-neck knit shirts on the guys. That was the 70s. Things have gone completely to hell since then.

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Ink on Paper

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MY NOVEL IS AVAILABLE
IN A NEW PRINT EDITION

eBooks may be cutting-edge — and, Lord knows, those wondrous little electronic readers have distinct advantages. But there’s something timeless and reassuring about ink on paper.

Whether you read on the beach or in the john, the printed word offers a sense of contact with an author’s writing, and the inspiration behind it, that just feels more tangible.

So, I’m pleased to announce that MY BROTHER’S KEEPER, my novel about the family of Jesus, is now available in its first commercial print edition.

You can click HERE for more information.

At the moment, the book is obtainable from one source: the website of Saint Joseph Communications. (Those are the folks who distribute the Lighthouse Catholic Media catechetical CDs you probably have on display at your church.)

But in July, Saint Joseph Communications will present my novel to book dealers at the annual Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show.

So if you prefer to support your local Catholic bookstore — and in today’s unsteady publishing market that’s a good idea — swing over to your hometown shop and put in an order. That’ll provide a “heads-up” about the book, and encourage your store operator to touch base with the Saint Joseph people at CMN.

I’m also pleased to present a review of MY BROTHER’S KEEPER by Catholic author, Deanna Klingel, who has created a delightful line of historical novels designed to be read by the whole family (with subject matter and language that’s age-sensitive for children).

Deanna is wonderfully enthusiastic about my representation of Jesus’ relatives. In a Facebook post linked to her blog she comments that MY BROTHER’S KEEPER…

“will be the best book you read this summer. I’m not a book reviewer, I don’t get paid for my comments, but I can’t stop talking about this book….

“Jews, Catholics, Protestants and non-believers can enjoy this, learn and talk. You’ll be glad you read it.”

From Deanna’s blog…

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The Deaths of the Innocents

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MEMORIAL DAY IS A GOOD TIME FOR
CAREFUL THINKING ABOUT TERRORISM

The carnage at that Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England has brought forth some really stupid statements. For instance, interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN, terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank shared that…

“in recent months in Europe there’s been a number of false flag plots where right-wing extremists have tried to frame Islamists for terrorism.”

Blessedly, Cruickshank didn’t carry this line of speculation too far. Somehow, a guy named Salman Abedi blowing himself up with a bunch of innocent little girls didn’t have a right-wing feel about it.

Perhaps the stupidest pronouncement came from Katy Perry, a member of that exalted sisterhood of pop divas to which Ariana Grande belongs…

“No barriers, no borders, we all just need to co-exist.”

Okay, Katy. I’ll ignore the implied slam at Trump’s border wall and just suggest that you and all your sister pop tarts go over to Syria, look up the ISIS guys, and deliver your impassioned plea to them.

Let me know how that turns out.

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Whatever He Damn Well Pleases

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TRUMP’S FIRST PRIORITY
IS SELF-CONTROL

Donald Trump is learning a fundamental truth of life — that our greatest strengths often contain within them our profoundest weaknesses.

Certainly The Donald’s candor and spontaneity were tremendous assets during his campaign. People loved that shoot-from-the-hip attitude by which he gave voice to their frustrations. As I observed in a blog post back in August of 2015…

“Trump is rich enough to not worry about alienating anybody. This has had a refreshingly liberating effect on his campaign style, freeing him to say whatever he damn-well-pleases about things that are obvious but politically charged.

“The public is eating it up …. People are weary of being told that what they know to be true is simply a shadow of their own fears and biases.”

They ate up all of his tweets just as eagerly. The more blunt and colloquial, the better.

Here was a guy who expressed himself “just like you and me” — who wasn’t intimidated by “The Establishment.” Maybe he really could “drain the swamp” in Washington.

For my part, I’ve often been annoyed at this Trumpian verbal bent, criticizing it as “stream-of-consciousness rambling.” But hey, it got him elected, so I guess you can’t blame the guy for assuming it’s what people want.

Now that he’s President, however, Trump is finding that the tendency to vent his inner convictions-in-formation does not serve the objectives of governance as well as it did those of ambition.

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The Coulter Effect

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BLOCKING ANN COULTER
IS HAVING CONSEQUENCES

Ann Coulter is a force of nature.

I had occasion to interview her once, sitting in as guest host on Ave Maria Radio’s flagship talk show, “Kresta In the Afternoon.” I asked her an opening question, the content of which escapes me now.

And that was that. She was off to the races.

Who can remember what she said? It didn’t really matter at the time, and it doesn’t matter today. She was just being Ann Coulter, dominating the twenty-or-so minutes of our interview.

This is the inimitable Ann Coulter style: a barrage of ideas, pointed observations, and inflammatory lines, fired at machine gun speed. It’s how she’s made her name.

The nation is blessed that her fusillades are made on behalf of conservative ideals. If her political/philosophical bent was toward the left, she’d be a genuine threat.

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The O’Reilly Factor

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MORAL LAPSES HELP THE
ANTI-TRUMP CAMPAIGN

I emerge from the distractions of Easter Season to find that the world has been shaken. Bill O’Reilly is gone from Fox News.

A pillar of conservative punditry is brought low by that most common human frailty: sexual crudity.

I have no trouble imagining that O’Reilly is a jerk with women.

Projecting and maintaining such a distinctive and well developed persona — the all-knowing, all powerful defender of truth — requires a mighty ego. And when the flame of self-confidence is stoked to such a degree, respect for other people’s personal dignity may not seem all that important.

Good-looking babe? Hey, what’s a little harassment between friends?

[Read more…] about The O’Reilly Factor

Remembering

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A SONG ABOUT THE LAST SUPPER
TO KICK OFF TRIDUUM OBSERVANCES

The first of my original song lyrics I posted after starting this blog focused on a key event of the Easter Triduum: the Last Supper. (I have reposted it in years since.)

The song was bit of conjecture about what one of the apostles (perhaps John?) might have thought looking back from a few years after. I wrote it as an Easter meditation piece, and have performed it many times at Holy Thursday services.

Give the lyrics a read, and have a blessed Easter…

[Read more…] about Remembering

Reconsidering the Crucifixion

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WHY JESUS DIED IS
OFTEN HARD TO GRASP

Why Jesus had to die on the cross is a question that becomes a major stumbling block for many people when they first consider the Christian story in a serious way.

It doesn’t seem to make sense that someone who touched people’s lives for the better, as Jesus clearly did (physically, morally, spiritually), should have been seen as a threat.

What could possibly have made anybody wish to harm him — much less put him to such a grizzly, tortuous death?

In my novel, MY BROTHER’S KEEPER, I attempt to answer that question in an engaging fictional narrative. But back in 2013, when I launched this blog, my first post was an essay that addressed the issue of Jesus’ execution.

That piece was republished by the online journal, American Thinker, and I have reposted it at Eastertime in succeeding years.

My approach is not theological. I don’t go into the salvific power of Christ’s death and resurrection. Rather, I examine the social, economic and political circumstances surrounding Jesus’ mission (as I do in the novel as well).

Since, 2,000 years later, much confusion and misunderstanding remain, it’s timely to examine the question once again…

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Don’t You Believe It!

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JOURNALISTS SHAMELESSLY
ABANDONING THEIR ETHICS

Whatever you may feel about Donald Trump’s assertion that he was wiretapped during the election campaign, his claim has been treated by the media in an excessively skeptical way.

After all, it’s not like the Obama Administration didn’t engage in such activities (see the link to a review of Obama shady ops below*).

But turn things around for a minute. Imagine it was Barack Obama leveling a charge of being spied on. Headlines would have run something along the line of…

President Claims Campaign Sabotage by Outgoing Administration.

Simple as that.

Instead — from the very first stories about The Donald’s infamous tweet — his allegation has been addressed in this way…

Trump’s Unsubstantiated Wiretap Charge Raises Doubts.

[Read more…] about Don’t You Believe It!

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