Book Review – Page 3 – Daily Graces

Book Review: Born to Soar: Unleashing God’s Word in Your Life

Published on June 16, 2017June 17, 2017 by KateLeave a comment

As many of you know I have been trying to stay more organized with a pen and paper planner. So far, so good! Not only am I more organized and peaceful about my schedule, I am finding it is easier to remember things I want to write about (because now I have a single place to write them down!) Discovering the benefits of journaling seemed to be the next logical step in the “pen and paper journey.” As luck would have it, the opportunity to review a book that is part scripture reflection, part monarch butterfly life cycle, and part journal landed in my inbox that same week!

Melissa Overmyer’s Born to Soar is a unique book that integrates so many ideas but in a new and creative way. She bases the structure of the 6 week study (this can be read individually or in a group setting) around the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Jumping from each stage – egg, caterpillar, cocoon and butterfly – Overmyer takes the reader, or perhaps I should say the participant or reflector, on a spiritual journey that starts with how God made us and travels through the Eucharistic as spiritual food, cocooning with God, and the practicing and strengthening our virtues. The reflections take on their fullest potential in the final chapter/week where Overmyer explores the ways we, as joyful, fed and transformed people are called to spread God’s love with intensity each and every day.

This book truly embodies the oft-mentioned phrase “You get out what you put in.” If you want to hunker down and really commit to 6 weeks of daily prayer and reflection Born to Soar would be a great choice for you. Each week has not only an opening reflection that is linked to one of the stages of monarch development, it also has excerpts from John of the Cross’ poetry for added spiritual wisdom. There are journaling questions that can be done individually and then, when desired, discussed in a group study. Finally, each day of the week has a daily Scripture verse and journaling prompt. There is ample space to journal which I appreciated.

Born to Soar brings a fresh take to long standing desire for many people. How do I make time for God? How can I incorporate more Scripture, journaling or reflecting into my day? This book not only provides the text, it is itself a journal which you can come back to time and again to see how you are maturing toward your imago state, the place of fullness of being, in the presence of God.

Book Review: The Hope of Lent: Daily Reflections from Pope Francis

Published on February 28, 2017February 28, 2017 by KateLeave a comment

There are so many options for Lenten reflections out there. Many bishops and priests will write a reflection series, most parishes will offer some kind of booklet like the Little Black books or a Magnificat Lenten Companion prayer book. If you are starting to think, oh this is just another one of those books/series, keep reading! The Hope of Lent by Diane M. Houdek is a brand new series of reflections….hold it right there. It may say that these are “reflections” in the title, but I would respectfully beg to differ.

What is so delightfully refreshing about Pope Francis is that in one breath he can cause a person to stop, reflect and be moved to act. Houdek has very thoughtfully chosen key moments in Pope Francis’ daily homilies and addresses which invite the reader to not simply consider the daily readings, but to be inspired into practical action.

Lent isn’t only a time for sitting back and internal soul searching, though this can be extremely fruitful. Pope Francis is fearless in his interpretation and explanation of Gospel truths.

How often we find people – ourselves included – so often in the Church who proclaim: “I am a real Catholic!” They should be asked, “What do you do?”

…

The Lord’s mercy is in doing. Being Christian means acting: doing the will of God. And on the last day – because we will all have one – what will the Lord ask us? Will he ask us: “What have you said about me?” No! He will ask about the things we have done.

– Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Houdek rightfully explores the exhortations of Pope Francis by offering a brief follow-up meditation which typically includes an idea for how to put our pope’s words into action. The daily entry finishes with a few lines of prayer from Pope Francis.

Something I really appreciated about The Hope of Lent is how Houdek frames the purpose for it. She says:

The greatest hope of Lent is the discovery that it’s not only about penance, deprivation, spiritual struggles, and rooting out sin in our lives. Those are often the things we do during Lent. But the hope of Lent lies in what God does (vii).

So here we have a simple book that has found a way to hold two key truths in balance with one another. In one hand, it isn’t enough to talk the talk, we must walk the walk. However, while we are doing all that walking, we must not get caught up in our own action. Rather, the more we are called to action necessarily means we are called to greater contemplation.

We live in a rush, we are on the run, without noticing what the path is like; and we let ourselves be carried along by the needs, by the necessities of the days, but without thinking…Today, at the moment in which we stop to think about these things and to make decisions, to choose something, we know the Lord is with us, is beside us, to help us. He never lets us go alone.

– Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Even though Lent has just begun, The Hope of Lent is more than worth going back and reading from the beginning. And then reading again in June or July. And possibly in October or November as well. Pope Francis’ meditations are full of spiritual insight and practical wisdom that can inspire us to become hope-filled, joy-filled Christians.

Book Review: God is Not Fair

Published on January 12, 2017 by KateLeave a comment

I almost didn’t review this book because I didn’t slow down long enough to read the whole title. God’s not fair? Of course He’s fair, who came up with such nonsense anyway? Then I re-read the title: God is Not Fair and Other Reasons for Gratitude. Well, ok, since I slowed down enough to read the whole title, I suppose I could slow down enough to recognize the wisdom behind that statement. Thank goodness I did!

This slim-ish book by Franciscan priest Daniel P. Horan has been a game-changer for me. I read the first page, still just the introduction, and before I got to the end I got up and got a pen so I could underline the following:

God’s lack of fairness by human standards should challenge us to consider now how capricious or malicious God is, but rather how inappropriate, unchristian, and inhumane we are. It seems to me that too much of our faith is governed by our own insecurities, self-interests, and fears.

I have underlined, taken notes, asked myself questions and written down challenges in this book in a way I haven’t done since formal schooling (and I loved it!). One of the many positives of Horan’s work is that he writes it as a collection of essays. Each “chapter” or essay is between 2-3 pages in length, some just a single page. Though short in length there is nothing lacking in content, depth or message.

Horan’s book is so refreshing because he is not afraid to proclaim boldly the ways we humans often completely miss the mark in order to show the reader the overabundance God showers on us. Consider the following in a chapter reflecting on Luke 6:36-38:

It can be easy to think about the Gospel in the abstract, but it is very difficult to live it in the particular…It is often for this reason that mercy is not our path; wrath is. Generosity is not our disposition; selfishness is. Forgiveness is not found in our attitude; anger is…Christ calls us to do something else, something far more difficult than minding our own business and watching our own backs. It is to love, forgive, heal, and be merciful in the way that God is already with us, even if we are so preoccupied with ourselves that we cannot recognize it (71-72).

So good, right! And yikes, I think I have some life evaluation to do.

No one is perfect, which is all the more reason why we should be grateful that God isn’t fair by our standards. This truly is the main message. God is Not Fair highlights the ways that we not only need God, we desperately need God’s overabundant love, mercy and forgiveness. It challenged me to slow down and consider my relationship with God and to see the areas that I project my opinions on Him, rather than allowing my attitudes and actions to be formed into His.

~ Happy New Year! If you pick one book to read this year, God is Not Fair should definitely be on the short list of candidates