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Faith & Religion

The Trusting Prayer

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THAT EVIL MAY BE DEFEATED
AND THAT RIGHT MAY PREVAIL

It’s hard to know how to pray these days.

The country is in such turmoil, and clearly, we need God’s help. But I find it hard to keep my daily supplication from sounding like a blog post (like my last blog post, for instance).

I know God cares about our welfare. But does He care about our politics?

How do I implore His benevolence, without presuming He endorses my particular agenda?

What’s the proper way to frame my appeal to One whose perspective is eternal and all-encompassing?

The cute graphic above — currently circulating online — hints at the difficulty of keeping willfulness from imposing itself on prayer. Apparently a lot of people face this challenge.

I suspect the answer to my quandary lies in trust. Which is to say: in trusting that God knows what’s best, and assenting to His will, no matter how He permits things to work out.

Easier said than done, I’m afraid.

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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…

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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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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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Back to the Ashes

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IT’S GOOD TO REMIND OURSELVES
OF OUR FLAWS AND FAILINGS

Ash Wednesday kicked of Lent last week. Perhaps some thoughts I posted back in 2014 would be of interest…

____________

I have to confess that there are certain Catholic pious practices I don’t entirely get.

It probably reflects the fact that I’m an adult convert and wasn’t raised in the Church — or that I’ve made less progress on my spiritual journey than I like to assume.

One of the things I don’t get is fasting.

As I understand it, the Church advocates self-denial as a way of detaching ourselves from fleshly preoccupations. Yet I’m never more preoccupied with concerns of the flesh (that is to say, eating) than when I deny myself food.

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Lenten Lift

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A SIMPLE SONG FROM THE ’80s
TO AID YOUR LENTEN PRAYERS

Chomping down our last few bites of punchki (pączki), we now face the reality of Lent: 40 days of prayer and self-examination aimed at disposing ourselves properly for Easter joy.

While Lenten prayers tend to have a penitential character, we shouldn’t ignore their mystical potential. Indeed, this season is a good time to let ourselves be lifted away from daily care to a higher level of spiritual communion.

A few years ago, I posted the lyrics of a song that seeks to describe this kind of prayerful elevation. The piece had originally been written for my musical group, Company, the ’80s entertainment ministry I’ve mentioned from time to time. It became part of our concert repertoire, and we included it on the album we released back in the day.

It’s a simple tune, in 3/4 time, intended to convey the peacefulness which certain prayer experiences can induce. I think it’s held up pretty well over the years. See what you think…

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The Speech

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TRUMP’S ADDRESS ASSERTED
OUR NATIONAL CHARACTER

The inaugural address was more than just Trump being Trump.

For one thing, it was a ringing and unashamed declaration that America is going to reassert its Judeo-Christian cultural and religious heritage. We saw as broad a representation of clergy as might be expected after eight years of strained multiculturalism.

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The Prophet

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HIS WIN WAS DOWNRIGHT RELIGIOUS
CAN HE SATISFY THE HOPES RAISED?

Let’s be honest. Relieved as we are that the nation’s leftward march has been interrupted — and despite expectations of positive change — there’s no denying that the Trump Era is beginning in deep uncertainty.

We’ve come through a very odd election that offered a choice between two candidates with unusually high negative poll numbers. And while I believe that people decided early on how they were going to vote, most still went into the booth with conflicted feelings.

As I observed in a blog post back in August…

“…Republicans and Democrats alike don’t really support either candidate. Rather, they feel they must cast their ballots against either Clinton or Trump — choosing to oppose the one they’re most desperate to keep from winning….

“…this year, people really aren’t voting to elect their favorite candidate. They’re voting to avoid their worst nightmare.”

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Great Winter Reading

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FOR ALL eBOOK-LOVERS
MY BROTHER’S KEEPER

What if your brother was the most controversial figure in the history of the world and your job was to protect him? That’s the question raised by my novel about the family of Jesus.

MY BROTHER’S KEEPER is the perfect curl-up-and-read title for those long January nights — available in all eReader formats.

It plunges you into controversy surrounding Jesus’ ministry, and reveals how it touched the lives of people closest to him — especially the Rabbi James of Jerusalem, whom the Bible identifies as “the brother of the Lord.”

 

MY BROTHER’S KEEPER is available from your favorite online eBook vendor. And what a bargain! A nearly 600-page religious / historical novel for only $5.99.

This blog offers plenty of information, including four audio tracks, posted at right, in which I read brief excerpts.

And here’s an interview I did on Ave Maria Radio, in which I discussed the book with talk show host Al Kresta.

To assure you that MY BROTHER’S KEEPER is not only absorbing fiction but a truly worthwhile effort at historical recreation, here’s a thumbs-up commentary that appeared in Homiletic & Pastoral Review, a leading journal for clergy…

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Generosity

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BE A CHEERFUL GIVER WITH BOTH
DISCERNMENT AND GENEROSITY

(This brief reflection is has been appearing on American Thinker since Christmas Eve.)

Christmas has become a complete religious / commercial mash-up. From post-Thanksgiving “Black Friday,” it seems we’re in a virtual orgy of materialism.

But the Salvation Army bell ringers I’ve seen in front of Kroger over the last few weeks remind me that Yuletide highlights the spirit of generosity and a specific kind of gift giving that flows from it — namely, charitable sharing.

The surfeit of stuff that clutters most Americans’ lives today can mask the reality that there are people in need.

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