Holy Week Giveaway

Holy Week is nearly here and we have a little giveaway just in time to help us push a little harder with our Lenten resolves and devotions.

Frs. Gawrych and Grove added another little devotional book to their series this year:



Take a few minutes to consider how fruitful your Lent has been. Then leave a little comment sharing what you (or anyone) could do in these last few days to gain the most from this holy season.

Comments must be left by 1:00pm (EST) Wednesday, April 13 to qualify. One winner will be chosen randomly.

Unplanned: A Brief Review

This past weekend I had the opportunity to read Unplanned, the recently released autobiography of Abby Johnson.

It is an incredible book and I encourage everyone to find a copy and read it!

For any of you who may be unfamiliar with her, Abby Johnson is a former Planned Parenthood Clinic Director who left her job in 2009 after a dramatic realization (I hesitate to use the word conversion, though many have described it as such).

The clinic she ran just so happened to be the one in Bryan, Texas (near College Station/Texas A&M) - the home of the first 40 Days for Life.

The book is a very fast read. I devoured it in a few hours and my sister did as well. It is gripping, blunt, and speaks right to the heart.

Unplanned traces Abby's path from her college days as a very genuine psychology major who just wanted to help others, to Planned Parenthood volunteer, then staff member, then director and ultimately her escape.

Through the book we see into the heart, not only of Abby, but countless other women and men who fell for the same lies Abby was fed. We see a vivid picture of the pro-life movement and the myriad of tactics used by it - and what hurts and what works. Abby delves into the role of religion and churches in her journey.

Above all, Abby wonderfully shows her readers the complexity of the issues she faced, and asks us -regardless of where we stand - to look at them through the eyes of the other side. Below is her introductory note:

“My story is not a comfortable one to read. I think it’s only fair to warn you of that up front. Not comfortable, but honest and true. As you are about to discover, I’ve spent years on the front lines of the face-off between pro-choice and pro-life advocates. Which side? Both sides. You are about to enter my journey from naïve college girl to director of a Planned Parenthood clinic to advocate for families in crisis, including the unborn members of those families.

“I reveal my story not because I am proud of it. I am not. But my thinking and choices are not unlike those of so many people I have encountered. And until we each set aside our own preferences for how we wish others would think and behave, or how we assume others think and behave, we won’t be able to understand those with whom we differ in order to engage in real dialogue and discover truth.

“To this day I have friends on both sides of this polarizing debate. We all long for a story that shows ‘our’ side is right and good, and ‘their’ side is wrong and bad, don’t we? But I testify that there is good and right and wrong on both sides of the fence. And even more shocking – we have far more in common with the ‘other’ side than we might imagine.

“So what side of the fence are you on? In all likelihood, as you look through the fence, you see faulty thinking and harmful behavior on the other side. Here’s my question for you: are you ready to look through the fence and see goodness, compassion, generosity and self-sacrifice on the other side?

“Did you just feel yourself squirm? If so, welcome to my journey.”

Unplanned is published by Ignatius Press. Visit the book's website here and read the first chapter of the book.

This book is a valuable story for us all. Everyone, pro-life or pro-choice, must read this amazing book.

Bookish? Organized? Computer Efficient?

I received this email today from one of the most wonderful places (certainly) in the state of Minnesota and (quite possibly) on the continent:

How would you like to receive $100 in store credit at Loome Theological Booksellers every month? We are looking for bookish, organized, and computer efficient co-workers to finish cataloging our entire 30 year old inventory of books. The work entails going through our shelves, book by book, following a step by step guide to price and catalog the books for online sales. We are looking for a number of workers to come in one or two days a month (more if you're really eager) and help us complete this massive project. Your compensation would be $100 in store credit for every day you work. Help us save Western Civilization one book at a time!

If you would like to join us, please send an email expressing your interest with a short paragraph explaining why you would like to work with Loome Theological Booksellers, and your preferred work schedule. We expect to begin the work in earnest January 2011 - when our store is the coldest bookstore on earth (you are forewarned!).

Sincerely,

Christopher Hagen

Loome Theological Booksellers

If you read and have an interest in Catholicism, I'm certain you want to go here. (We always bring our out-of-state, Catholic guests.) If you read, have an interest in Catholicism, and have a little extra time, consider helping them with this massive project.

St Margaret, Queen of Scots

She was also a pioneer in another sphere. Bands of women met together at her invitation to study, discuss the Scriptures, and embroider vestments and altar cloths for the churches. So we can call Margaret the inventor of the Women's Club.

[Phyllis McGinley, Saint-Watching]

Lucy the Chair Lady

"[Rose] had also begged from an old aunt at Beverley Farms a couple droll little armchairs in white painted wood with covers of antique needlework. One had 'Chit' embroidered on the middle of its cushion, the other 'Chat.' These stood suggestively at the corners of the hearth.

"'Now Katy, said Rose, seating herself in 'Chit', pull up 'Chat' and let us begin.'"
[Susan Coolidge, What Katy Did Next]

You really can get just about everything here at Church Ladies- recently, there's been everything from spirituality to college football to needlework to great art to recipes. What can we say? We're women of many interests.

Here follows a double endorsement- both for the Katy books and for taking a stab at upholstery. Let's start with the former.

The Katy books chronicle the life of the Carr family in 1860s America. It is a lovely series about a family living out Christian values and a beautiful testimony to the friendship between siblings. Although the fictional Katy Carr is contemporary with Laura Ingalls Wilder, she has a very life. Katy grows up in a well established small Midwestern town, goes to boarding school out East, and travels to Europe; her siblings are a part of the great expansion of the West. I think the Katy books would make for delightful family reading- they are wholesome without being moralizing, like most literature branded Christian fiction.

Now for the heavier topic. Yours truly has a big heart.... especially for lonely chairs. It started innocently enough. I needed an extra chair for living room. Enter a nice chair from the consignment store. Then came the Holy Rosary parish rummage sale. It took 3 trips with my compact car, but I hauled 5 hand-carved cherry chairs home... for the grand total of $25. Another one of my collection, found on a street corner in a college town, is the most historic. When re-covering it, I discovered a manufacturing sticker dating the chair's construction to Matoon, IL, 1912 and freighted to Boise. I can only image the stories it could tell. And over Memorial Day weekend this year, I found a solid cherry captain's chair on my way to the market.

Changing the seat cover on a chair is one of the easiest skills. My mother taught me how when I was 5. All you need is a screwdriver and a staple gun (with staples at least 1/2" long).

If you are starting with a reclaimed chair, wash the wooden portion with oil soap. Dry it, then unscrew the pad. This is also a good time to rub the wooden frame with Old English scratch cover, in light or dark wood as appropriate.

Examine the condition of the chair cushion. If it's intact and clean, you can cover right over it. However, if the cover is in poor condition or has holes with padding exposed, you'll need to re-cover it with vinyl (more later).

Now comes the fun part, the trip to the fabric store. Don't panic- upholstery fabric can be expensive, but 1/2 a yard will cover 2 chairs, if lining up a motif isn't necessary, and some of the chains often have 50% off sales on decorator fabric. Also, check out the clearance/remnant section. Apparel or quilting fabric alone really isn't strong enough for upholstery, but if you find a print that's absolutely perfect, you can fuse it to a heavy-weight fabric, although it will be more prone to stains, since it isn't scotch-guarded like upholstery fabrics. If the original chair pad is a bright color or in poor condition, you will also need some lightweight vinyl in the same quantities as the decorative material.

If you are a handy needle-woman, you might be interested in embroidering or knitting a cover. Napa Needlepoint has some helpful guidelines for material & design selection for embroidery; here is a delightful knitted seat.

Re-covering the seat is as easy as can be. You use the same technique whether you are starting with vinyl or decorative fabric. Cut your fabric into a rectangle about 6-8" bigger than the pad, with the motife located as desired. Put the chair pad on the ground face up, then use a few straight pins to put the fabric in place. Flip it over, and pull a side taught, then staple in place about 1" from the edge, and again 3" from the edge. Repeat all the way around, taking care at the corners, then trim the excess. Screw the pad back in place, remove the pins, and you're done!

Happy Name Day!

Anna was an American, although she did not know it.

She was born in Wisconsin, but her family spoke Polish,

as did most of the families that lived around her,

so she thought of herself as Polish,

even though she knew Poland was far, far away.

So begins the first book in the Latsch Valley Farm series by Anne Pellowski, First Farm in the Valley: Anna's Story. I was recently reminded of this series while searching for children's literature that reflects our Catholic heritage. I liked these because my own family shares a Polish heritage and geographic location with those in the story. The family is Catholic, and while that doesn't play a huge role in the books, you will find beautiful little surprises like this:

As they were getting up from the table, they heard the sound of faint singing coming from the direction of the road. It grew louder and louder.

"It sounds like a procession at church," laughed Mother nervously. "Has Father Snigourski decided to come all the way here to celebrate St. Anna's Day?"

"Let's go see," said Father with a smile.

They filed out of the house and waited in the yard. The singing grew louder. Soon the procession reached the top of the hill and they could see it as well as hear it. In front came Frances Cierzan, bearing the lovely wreath. The colored ribbons fluttered and danced in the breeze like a rainbow that had been separated into strips...

Laughing and singing, the procession moved up to where Mother was standing.

"Happy Name Day," said Frances as she placed the first wreath on Mother's head. Then Julia stepped up.

"Happy Name Day," she repeated as she put the second wreath on Anna's head. Anna was speechless. Of course, she had known it was her name day, too, but in the excitement of planning the surprise for Mother, she had forgotten all about herself...

"And now your surprise," laughed Mrs. Walski as she thrust a package into Anna's hands. "Careful! It could break, too." Mrs. and Mrs. Walski were Anna's godparents but this was the first name day present they had given her. With trembling fingers, she opened the package and when all the paper was lifted away, she saw a small statue in blue, white and gold. It was of a woman, holding a small girl in her arms.

"Why, it's St. Anna and her little daughter, Mary," cried Mother. "That will be a keepsake for the rest of your life." Everyone started to sing, and before long they were dancing in a circle and going in and out, first right and then left. They danced and danced, forgetting all about their work for the moment. At last, they could dance no more...

As Anna munched on the delicious honey cake, she thought she would explode from all the happy thoughts that were welling up inside her. She realized that she had done something unselfish, not for a minute thinking about herself, and her sisters had shared in that unselfishness. The good feeling spread through every bone and muscle in her body. She could almost feel it in her fingers and toes. "I wish it could be like this every day," thought Anna.

From Amazon:

In this new series, Anne Pellowski traces five generations of her family as they experience life in the upper Midwest. In Wisconsin in 1876, Anna lives on a farm and helps with the chores that keep the farm going. But she can't help but dream of someday visiting Poland, the romantic land of grand houses and castles.

They're being republished by Bethlehem Books and might be available at your public library.

A Church Lady Must-Read

If you've never read Alice von Hildbrand's book By Love Refined, you simply must. That's all there is to it. It's subtitled "Letters to a young bride," but don't let that stop you even if you can't consider yourself one of those. I first read it a couple years ago, and make it a habit to reread every six months or so. When my roommate recently asked me if I could recommend a good relationship book, I didn't hesitate to lend her my copy. A couple days later, I walked into our room to find her reading sections aloud to her boyfriend. She says it totally changed her view on their relationship, and I've found the same to be true for me and mine.

Every chapter deals with a different aspect of relationships (married, dating, friendship, just plain interpersonal), with practical and down-to-earth advice. Von Hildebrand understands the strengths and weaknesses of women, and how this affects relationships. She's a master of integrating the unique - but certainly different - gifts of men and women, and turning what could be a weakness into a strength. One passage that particularly sticks out in my mind is from the chapter involving those those four "lovely" words that we all know we shouldn't say but somehow can't help thinking: "I told you so."

Alice could have been writing to me personally when she writes,

No doubt when Michael embarks on a hopeless enterprise or is about to make a serious blunder, you must warn him. But if he ignores your warning, you have to let him make his own mistakes. Once the error has been made, your theme changes radically: it's definitely not to stress how wise you were to foresee the catastrophe. It's rather to use your gifts to lessen the consequences of the mishap and help Michael not to lose face. (He should do the same for you when you're the wrong-headed one.)....

Objectively there's very little sense in ever saying "I told you so," because by the time you say it, the culprit knows it full well himself.

(emphasis mine)

I highly encourage you to move this to the top of your reading list. Read it all at once, a chapter or two a day, or just pick out the chapters that seem applicable (you certainly don't need to read them in order). At two pages each, a chapter is the perfect length for a quick reminder when you need it.

Lenten Reading

If your Lenten resolution involves more spiritual reading and you don't mind reading on your computer (or iPod, or phone, or whatever), check out this library of free PDFs. Some are familiar classics, and some I've never heard of.

(Link found via The Crescat)

Book Review: "The Gargoyle Code"

I recently received in the mail a copy of Fr. Dwight Longenecker's latest book, The Gargoyle Code. The cover bills it as "A book in the tradition of The Screwtape Letters," and that's what I found it to be - equally as challenging, engaging, and excellent as C.S. Lewis' classic. There is one key difference: it deals not only with "classic" sins and spiritual dilemmas, but also specifically modern problems (modern liturgies, reality television, etc.). Written as a series of letters from an experienced demon to his protege, this book details their strategies for leading souls astray, including spiritual laziness, bitterness, and criticism.

The book is divided into 40 chapters - generally 2-3 pages each - with one designated for each day of Lent. This makes it easy to fit into your schedule if you're too busy to read it all in one or two sittings (though that's also totally doable). Each day will challenge your spiritual life and habits, and ultimately lead you to Easter with lots to think about. The book is written in such a way that it's accessible and relevant to a broad audience: young and old, pious and less-so. Read it yourself and consider giving a copy to someone else. It may seem critical at times of conservatives, liberals, Anglicans, rad-trads, priests, men, and women, pointing out flaws and weaknesses. But then again, we're all targets of temptation, aren't we?

The Gargoyle Code can be purchased here.

Conversion of St. Paul

But the Lord said to him,

"Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name
before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;
for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
[Acts 9, 15-16]

Of course I have heard the Pauline epistles at Mass, Sunday after Sunday. It wasn't until reading Anne of Green Gables and other fiction of that era that employ Scripture in the prose that I realized how little of the epistles I knew offhand; it wasn't until the year of St Paul I read the epistles through for the first time. Take some time for that reading today, and share your favorite Pauline quote (or 2!) in the combox.

My picks are:
We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. [Rm 8, 28]

And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. [Gal 6, 9]

Top Image: Michelangelo, The Conversion of Saul, 1542-45
Bottom Image: Abraham Ortelius, Pilgrimage of St Paul, 1579

New Years Resolution: Quality over Quantity

As I reflect on the new year and feel the obligation to pick the Greatest Resolution Ever (tm), I come up with several ideas for things that I just *know* will make me a better person: I should read more, eat less, pray more, complain less, etc. As I think about it, though, a theme appears: "Quality over Quantity".

I keep thinking about a post I read over at Faith and Family yesterday about choosing a one-word resolution. The idea of having a "theme" for the year is intriguing to me. Having one word or phrase to really ingrain on my mind seems like a more sustainable way of accomplishing goals than having a few unrelated resolutions.

In the hope that perhaps one of my resolutions will spark something in your mind, here are a few areas in which I'm planning to enact that phrase this year.

Correspondence

Over the summer, I exchanged several letters with my roommate, who was several states away. Yes, we could've chatted on instant messenger, and probably would have scored a higher word count. Instead, I have a small stack of letters on beautiful stationery, filled with complete sentences, wonderful thoughts, personal confidences, and no "LOL"s or ";-)"s (which I use as much as anyone in online conversation). Not to mention the importance of having something physical. I have trouble finding blog posts I read two days ago, but I know exactly where those letters are. In a world filled with digital photos, e-books, and yes, blogs, having something tangible to keep in a box and look back upon is still important. As I wailed to my Pious Gentleman once when he was expressing his distaste for letter-writing, "But you can't put IM conversations in a pretty box in your wardrobe!"

A friend of mine wrote a letter a day, each to a different person, every day of Lent last year. I'm probably not going to be so rigorous, but I'm going to make it a point to write more letters. 44 cents and half an hour of my time is a small price to pay, I feel.

For more reading about handwritten notes, check out this post from last year.

Reading

I've come to my annual realization that I don't read nearly as much as I should. Class reading excepted, I'm certain I read less than 25 entire books this year. I would use the college student excuse of having "sooooooo much hoooooooomework," but then I realize that I spend far more time than I want to admit reading blogs all day. Obviously, I'm no enemy of blogs, but I have to wonder just what percentage of even the best blog is as edifying as a piece of classic literature or the writings of one of the saints. I'm still trying to decide on a reasonable goal for the year, but am finding it hard given the unpredictability of schoolwork and my schedule. In the meantime, I'd love to hear suggestions for things I must read. I'm open to fiction and non-fiction – anything you've found important in your own life.

Prayer

Enough of the half-hearted rosaries during which I'm just thinking about what I have to do tomorrow. This year, I'm making specific – and attainable – goals for my prayer life. What's more, I'm going to share them with someone else whom I know will keep me accountable. For myself, I find that just as important as the actual prayer time is the time I need to spend to quiet my mind beforehand. That daily rosary goes by without a snatch of actual meditation when I'm writing essays or emails in my head. Again, I have a hard time making excuses for my lack of a more dedicated prayer life when I know that I spend so much time doing far less important things.

This theme will, I hope, carry over into many more areas of my life – relationships, homework, purchases, etc. I have high hopes for this year; what are your goals?

Looking for Advent reading?

If you liked Andrew Gawrych's "The Cross, Our Only Hope: Daily Reflections in the Holy Cross Tradition," I would recommend the companion volumes, "The Gift of Hope: Advent and Christmas Reflections" and the "The Gift of the Cross: Lenten Reflections."

Compiled by one of the Congregation's youngest priests, the books feature a quote from the Constitutions, Father Sorin, or Bl. Basil Moreau, followed by a meditation by a member of the Holy Cross community (priests, brothers, and sisters).

In the wake of The Cross, Our Only Hope, and The Gift of the Cross, this accessible Advent resource offers a scripture verse and brief reflection for each day of Advent and the Christmas season and makes an affordable introduction to the themes of the Holy Cross spiritual tradition. Readers will experience the vision of the Congregation to educate both the mind and the heart, and its desire to make God known, loved, and served. Among other notable Holy Cross contributors to this booklet are Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Joel Giallanza, C.S.C., Mary Ellen Vaughan, C.S.C., and Mary Ann Pajakowski, C.S.C. This resource is also ideal for use in parishes and schools during the Advent and Christmas season, and because it is not associated with any particular calendar year, it can be used perennially.