Of everything that I have read and watched about Father Damien, I must state this is the best. It is an amazing biography of a man not easily understood. We can look back upon Damien’s times, and his conflicts with authorities within and outside the church and it is easy to judge or be harsh. For Damien is a saint. But as this book details, saints are not always easy people, and often their plight is a very difficult path.

Today I am reviewing, the book Rebuilding Catholic Culture: How the Catechism Can Shape our Common Life. This book is published by Sophia Institute Press, which is the publishing arm of Thomas More College and Holy Spirit College. “Rebuilding Catholic Culture” is like all their books I’ve read so far. They are dense and require you to focus and read slowly, which isn’t a bad thing.

I’ve come to realize that Apps are here to stay.  They aren’t just a fad, they’re here for the foreseeable future of mobile phones.  

Here are my top 5 apps for Catholics and top five apps for dads.

A 40 Day Spiritual Workout For Catholics
Bob Rice
Servant Publications
ISBN 9781616365264

(Posted with permission a sample day.)

DAY 6 

The Perfect Prayer 

So many talk about work/life balance, but what we really mean is getting our priorities in order and living an integrated (as opposed to compartmentalized) life. Faith at Work: Finding Purpose Beyond the Paycheck by Kevin Lowry hits the integrated nail on the head with impact. Three things made this book powerful: the humility of the author, the insights of how to be faithful at work, and the number of relevant examples and stories that made the ideas come alive.

Are you interested in learning how to “do” Lectio Devina, then Walking Toward Eternity may be worth reading.

Randy Hain, co-founder of The Integrated Catholic Life, has come out with his second book, Along the Way – Lessons for an Authentic Journey of Faith. I recommend it for all who are trying to live as authentic Christians, but particularly for Catholic dads. More on the Catholic dad double-down below.

It’s a couple days late, but Happy New Year to all of you! I hope 2012 was a good year for you and that 2013 will be better than the last. Today at Stuart’s Study, I am reviewing the book Divine Love Made Flesh by Raymond Cardinal Burke. Cardinal Burke is the Episcopal Advisor of the organization Catholic Action for Faith and Family. He is a man faithful to the Church’s teachings and doesn’t mind telling people they are not living correctly, such as telling “Catholic” pro-choice politicians that they should not receive the Eucharist. I bring up this example, because this book is about the Eucharist and the Church’s teachings on it.

The Circle Maker dream big, pray hard, think long Student Edition Mark Batterson and Parker Batterson Zondervan eISBN 9780310725145 ISBN 9780310725138 This is the second book by Mark Batterson that I have read in under a month. It was such an amazing read that when I finished it I flipped back to the first page [...]

Magnificat, Year of Faith Companion Magnificat ASIN B00A6CYPQM ISBN 9781936260508 This book will be an amazing devotional read during this Year of Faith. It has a new reading for each day of the year. The readings are a mix of profiles of characters from the bible, prayers, meditations and excerpts from the catechism. Everyday gives [...]