The Best of Being Catholic


Book Description

A kaleidoscope of spiritual values in Catholicism that don't divide but bring people together and will instill peace and love in those who take the time to better understand them. Here are beautiful, simple, profound ideas that few people think about these days when they talk about the Catholic Church. Yet they are truths that make a positive difference in peoples' lives. They include: Catholicism is a community that remembers Jesus Catholics draw on a rich tradition of spirituality They always have something to celebrate The church is a family It has splendid heroes and heroines It takes staunch stands on peace and justice It has universality At a time when many Catholics have grown frustrated with their church, The Best of Catholicism reminds them of the positive values and practices that they will never read about in the daily news.




Why Be Catholic?


Book Description

The popular blogger and publisher of Envoy magazine offers 10 key reasons why he loves being Catholic (and you should too). Drawing heavily on poignant anecdotes from his own experience as a life-long Catholic born in 1960s, Madrid offers readers a way of looking at the Church--its members, teachings, customs, and history--from perspectives many may have never considered. Growing up Catholic during a time of great social and theological upheaval and transition, a time in which countless Catholics abandoned their religion in search of something else, Patrick Madrid learned a great deal about why people leave Catholicism and why others stay. This experience helped him gain many insights into what it is about the Catholic Church that some people reject, as well as those things that others treasure. Drawing upon Madrid's personal experiences, Why Be Catholic? offers a deeply personal, fact-based, rationale for why everyone should be Catholic or at least consider the Catholic Church in a new light.




Waking Up Catholic


Book Description

Are you new to Catholicism and become a recent Catholic convert? Did you grow up Catholic and return as a Catholic revert? Are you interested in becoming Catholic for the first time? If you want to learn more about basic Catholic beliefs, Waking Up Catholic: A Guide to Catholic Beliefs for Converts, Reverts, and Anyone Becoming Catholic is the book for you. The depth of Catholic theology is one of its greatest beauties, but understanding it can be one of its greatest challenges. You have questions. Waking Up Catholic has answers. Learn about: How does Catholic Tradition fit in with Scripture? Why do we have a pope? Do Catholics really worship Mary? Why do Catholics pray to saints? Is Holy Communion just a symbol of Christ? What is the purpose of Confession? Do repetitious Catholic prayers really work? And more... Waking Up Catholic answers these questions, and more, from the perspective of someone who converted to Catholicism himself. Waking Up Catholic may be the first Catholic book you've ever read, but after you're done, it won't be the last.




Being Catholic Now


Book Description

Some of America’s most extraordinary celebrities, artists, and thinkers reveal what they believe Catholicism is–and what it should be In this illuminating collection that redefines an ancient institution in the most contemporary of terms, human-rights activist Kerry Kennedy asks thirty-seven American Catholics to speak candidly about their own faith–whether lost, recovered, or deepened–and about their feelings regarding the way the Church hierarchy is moving forward. “Has something to say to almost every Catholic, or even one-time Catholic, who cracks open its pages. . . . One finishes the book feeling grateful for [Kennedy’s] subjects’ honesty and moved in a hundred different ways by what they reveal of their aspirations and struggles.”–National Catholic Reporter “Revealing . . . offers an unusually intimate view of how much being raised Catholic shapes the identity of many prominent Americans, but also how much tension many feel with the institutional church.”–Boston Globe




Why I Am Catholic (and You Should Be Too)


Book Description

Winner of a 2018 Catholic Press Association Award: Popular Presentation of the Catholic Faith. (First Place). With atheism on the rise and millions tossing off religion, why would anyone consider the Catholic Church? Brandon Vogt, a bestselling author and the content director for Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, shares his passionate search for truth, a journey that culminated in the realization that Catholicism was right about a lot of things, maybe even everything. His persuasive case for the faith reveals a vision of Catholicism that has answers our world desperately needs and reminds those already in the Church what they love about it. A 2016 study by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 25 percent of adults (39 percent of young adults) describe themselves as unaffiliated with any religion. Millions of these so-called “nones” have fled organized religion and many more have rejected God altogether. Brandon Vogt was one of those nones. When he converted to Catholicism in college, he knew how confusing that decision was to many of his friends and family. But he also knew that the evidence he discovered pointed to one conclusion: Catholicism is true. To his delight, he discovered it was also exceedingly good and beautiful. Why I Am Catholic traces Vogt’s spiritual journey, making a refreshing, twenty-first century case for the faith and answering questions being asked by agnostics, nones, and atheists, the audience for his popular website, StrangeNotions.com, where Catholics and atheists dialogue. With references to Catholic thinkers such as G. K. Chesterton, Ven. Fulton Sheen, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and Bishop Robert Barron, Vogt draws together lines of evidence to help seekers discover why they should be Catholic as an alternative. Why I Am Catholic serves as a compelling reproposal of the Church for former Catholics, a persuasive argument for truth and beauty to those who have become jaded and disenchanted with religion, and at the same time offers practicing Catholics a much-needed dose of confidence and clarity to affirm their faith against an increasingly skeptical culture.




Why I Love Being Catholic


Book Description




On Being Catholic


Book Description

In his first full-length book since converting to Roman Catholicism over ten years ago, Thomas Howard presents his wonderful, refreshing insights on the "glad tidings" of the deeper meaning of Catholic piety, dogma, spirituality, vision and practice, rendered in his unique style of prose for which he is well-known. The book's chapters take the form of lay meditations on Catholic teaching and practice, opening up in practical and simple terms the richness at work in virtually every detail of Catholic prayer, piety, liturgy and experience.




Being Catholic


Book Description

This book is…an act of witnessing, a testimony to the generosity of God that Catholics experience in accepting and living out the gift of faith that Christ has bestowed on them.—from the Introduction A bishop is not only a spiritual shepherd but a teacher. In Being Catholic Archbishop Pilarczyk teaches in clear, concise language the basic beliefs and practices of Catholics and what shapes a Catholic's thinking. The book discusses: HOW WE BELIEVE: Believing Catholic is a matter of knowing, understanding and responding to a story-the true story of God's love for us. It offers "the fundamentals that have to be there if thinking and practicing Catholic are going to have any appeal or make any sense." HOW WE PRACTICE: Reflections on the behaviors that express our faith and our membership in the Church, such as going to Mass, receiving the sacraments and raising children Catholic. By being a practicing Catholic, we strengthen our behaviors so we can proclaim them to others. HOW WE THINK: A series of thoughtful, pastoral and heartfelt reflections on all aspects of our lives in the world, seen through the eyes of one deeply faithful to the tradition and teachings of the church. Topics for "Thinking Catholic" include respect for life, spiritual maturity and a universal Church.




Hungry Souls


Book Description

After a week of hearing ghostly noises, a man is visited in his home by the spirit of his mother, dead for three decades. She reproaches him for his dissolute life and begs him to have Masses said in her name. Then she lays her hand on his sleeve, leaving an indelible burn mark, and departs... A Lutheran minister, no believer in Purgatory, is the puzzled recipient of repeated visitations from "demons" who come to him seeking prayer, consolation, and refuge in his little German church. But pity for the poor spirits overcomes the man's skepticism, and he marvels at what kind of departed souls could belong to Christ and yet suffer still... Hungry Souls recounts these stories and many others trustworthy, Church-verified accounts of earthly visitations from the dead in Purgatory. Accompanying these accounts are images from the "Museum of Purgatory" in Rome, which contains relics of encounters with the Holy Souls, including numerous evidences of hand prints burned into clothing and books; burn marks that cannot be explained by natural means or duplicated by artificial ones. Riveting!