I recently had the opportunity to review a preview copy of The Catholic Briefcase by Randy Hain. I would highly recommend this book to Catholic dads or any Catholic who has to balance the demands of work with their faith.

The balancing act we often walk is not easy, and we often take on the task alone with little support. If we are honest, most of us would not give ourselves passing grades at doing this either. We tend to compartmentalize, worry over offending others, and end up making our faith a private affair – a distinctly unbalanced situation when we look at what our faith requires. If this sounds familiar to you, and if like me, it does, then this book is for you.

Randy takes the issue head on confronting our misconceptions and pointing to how we are called to more. He does this without being pedantic in an easy to read style (e.g., he does not use words like pedantic). Like an effective business person, Randy dissects the issue into constituent parts and addresses each with the idea of providing a solution. The chapters are full of inspiring examples, much upon which to reflect, and specific advice.

In my own reading, I experienced an immediate change. I was on a business trip meeting with clients. Such meetings are typically over a meal. Even though I will pray grace aloud with my family in front of strangers, I would not do so with clients. I would typically say grace quietly to myself without making the sign of the cross. This book was a direct challenge to that – while I did not get to Randy’s point of inviting my clients to pray with me, I did make my prayer more obvious by making the sign of the cross. I may have more to travel, but this pointed that out to me. And this is only one of many points well worth considering.

The book is great for individual business people, but could also be used in small groups. The end of each chapter has reflection and discussion questions which would make this ideal for men’s groups, Cursillo groupings, or even gathering together a few Catholics in your workplace.

I encourage you to find the right balance between faith and work. This book can help.
The official publication date is November 21, but you can pre-order it at Amazon today.

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Head over to The Integrated Catholic Life for a The Challenges of Modern Fatherhood by Randy Hain. Here is a short excerpt:

Sometimes I can almost imagine myself as a great father to my children…then I do something to mess it up. A week ago the boys and I welcomed my wife home from a five-day trip to California where she had been visiting her sister. What started out as my great adventure with the kids at the beginning of her trip turned into exhaustion at the end and I guiltily looked forward to my wife coming home so I could escape to my work and other activities. I had just experienced a great time with my sons (we really did have fun) and now I was looking to flee the scene and go back to activities which aren’t nearly as important. What was my problem?

Head over to The Integrated Catholic Life for the rest of the story.

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Today is Michaelmas, a special feast for my family (St. Michael is our patron saint – and we all have a Michael or Michelle as part of our names).

While the feasts of St. Michael and the other archangels named in the bible (St. Gabriel, St. Raphael) were once separate, they have been combined with the date that was once for St. Michael alone. It is traditionally referred to as Michaelmas and was once a holy day of obligation.

Here are some prayers to the Archangels you may be interested in:

St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle. Be our protection against the snares and wickedness of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host – by the Divine Power of God – cast into hell, Satan and all evil spirits who wander this world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

O Blessed Archangel Gabriel, we beseech thee, do thou intercede for us at the throne of divine Mercy in our present necessities, that as thou didst announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation, so through thy prayers and patronage in heaven we may obtain the benefits of the same, and sing the praise of God forever in the land of the living.
Amen.

Glorious Archangel St. Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide of those who journey by land or sea or air, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners. I beg you, assist me in all my needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the “medicine of God,” I humbly pray you to heal the many infirmities of my soul and the ills that afflict my body. I especially ask of you the favor (name your request) and the great grace of purity to prepare me to be the temple of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.

O God, send the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, & Raphael to our assistance. May they who stand forever praising You at Your throne present our humble petitions before You. May they be our safeguard in times of trouble and temptation. May they defend our country from attack. May they tirelessly work to end abortion and all the sins against life in the world. May these powerful angels help to assure the leaders of our country follow You first in all things. And may they help to strengthen our Holy Catholic Church and draw others to this vessel of the Way and the Truth and the Life. We ask this through Christ our Lord in unity with You and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.

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You can now +1 Catholic Dads Online from the main page (in the sidebar) and at the top of each post on the site. The widget on the sidebar is for the entire site. The one at the top of each page is for the specific post. So, go ahead and plus us!

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Give a welcome to “One Man” from The Whole Armor. He writes:

I’m a thirty-something husband and father by vocation, Naval officer by profession. Married 5+ years, with one beautiful daugher who my wife and I were blessed to adopt after struggling with infertility. I take my greatest joys from (1) the journey of Catholic life that the Lord has invited me into and sustains me in daily, and (2) the responsibility he has entrusted me with of leading my family into heaven.

Welcome!

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Be sure to check out the Fathers For Good Tribute to Fathers. Good stuff for the upcoming Father’s Day.

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Please welcome Brian Gill to the Catholic Dads and his site, A Catholic Citizen in America to our blogroll. Brian describes himself as a Catholic convert, husband, father of 4 surviving kids. Recovering English teacher.

In describing his blog Brian writes: “Following Catholic beliefs and practices in America: One man’s experience. My opinions and views of what I read, and experience. I’m a convert to Catholicism, and hope to spend the rest of my life learning more about what it is to be Catholic.”

Welcome, Brian!

Any Catholic Dad can become a member of our site by registering at (click here to go to our registration page). If you would like your blog to be included on our blog roll after you have registered, fill at the form here.

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He has risen indeed!

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My parent’s church, St. John Vianney – the church where I was married and my first daughter was baptized burned down last night. It is a crime scene. We have no idea what happened, but it is extremely sad for us out here in So Cal. Keep the parishioners, priests, staff, and first responders in your prayers. If this was arson, please pray for the arsonists as well.
[UPDATE] It was confirmed that this was arson.

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We are going to give IntenseDebate a try for the comment system.

We are looking to encourage more interaction and one thought is that the logging in with email and such is a hassle. This approach allows people to login through a variety of means OR as a guest poster.

If you have any other ideas on how to improve Catholic Dads Online, please send us your thoughts.

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