Summer Reading

There are times that Christ tells you to take a break from whatever it is that you are doing.  To listen to him as he chooses to speak to you.

This summer has been one of those times.

I have always been an avid reader.  But, this summer, I have set records.  I got led to one book and then another and then another.  Last week, I listed them in the order that I had read them.  I noticed a pattern.

The Ascent of Money – Niall Ferguson (the history of our capital markets and money; the engine and the power of our secular world).

Rules for Radicals – Saul Alinsky (the political playbook for our current secular rulers).

Ugly as Sin – Michael Rose (how many of our churches were stripped of their Catholic identity by those inside and outside the Church).

Something Beautiful for God – Malcolm Muggeridge (Mother Teresa at her simplest and saintliness; following Christ with her every breath; never caring what the secular world thought).

Rome Sweet Rome – Scott & Kimberly Hahn (a searing conversion story of devout Presbyterians who found Christ in the Church and defied all that they thought was true, facing up to their family and friends).

Abandonment to Divine Providence – Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, SJ (live for the moment and do so in Christ, doing whatever he tells you to do).

Invisible Kids – Holly Schlaak (a horrowing story of the kids, God’s children, stuck in intolerable situations, with solutions on how each of us can help).

No Turning Back – Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC (drug addict and societal dropout turned priest; the Virgin Mother worked overtime with him and got her prize).

Be a Man – Fr. Larry Richards (no excuses; we have to rise up and be true men of God for our families, our communities, our Lord).

The Long Loneliness – Dorothy Day (a true believer; from aethistic communist to worker in the Catholic vineyard; she learned to live Christ every moment of every day, forsaking all that she knew and loved; that is until she found a new love).

The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand (yes, she was an aetheist, but her message in this novel rings true – do not care what other men think, stay true to yourself; my extension of this message is to stay true to Christ and not man and you will stay true to yourself).

Fatherless – Richard Gail (a fictional account on how our Catholic generation was left adrift and the damage inflicted on families and clergy alike by our culture and expectations of success; thoughts on how we can reclaim our Catholic identity and strength in Christ).

The reading hasn’t ceased.  I’m on a roll.

Check out some or all of these books.  Listen to Christ as to what he wants you to read and learn.  Allow him to take you where he wants you to go.

And, if you are wondering what immediate benefits that these books have had on my life.  Mother Teresa, Scott Hahn, Fr. Calloway, Fr. Richards and Dorothy Day all had one thing in common – they all promoted daily Mass.  I haven’t missed a weekday Mass in a month and I have to tell you – the experience has been transforming, rock-my-world kinda of stuff.

I can’t wait to see where Christ takes me next.

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