Book Review: In Convesation with God

Are you looking for help with your prayer? Are you looking for some spiritual reading that will help you to enter into a conversation with God? Well then, I recommend none other than the In Conversation with God series of daily meditations by Francis Fernandez. This series of seven books walks you through the Liturgical year, giving you a meditation based on scripture each day of the year.

Volume Three, the book I selected for review focuses on Ordinary Time, Weeks 1-12. (Why, you ask, did I start with Volume 3? Well, it's because we were in the midst of the first part of Ordinary Time when I ordered the book!) The weekday meditations focus on one of the scriptures for the day. During the week, the meditations may come from any of the three years of the cycle. For Sundays, there is a specific meditation for each year in the cycle. You just pick on the cycle we are in and read and meditate on that selection.

What do I like about this series of books? First of all, I like the fact that it follows the Liturgical Year. The Volumes are as follows:

Volume 1: Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany

Volume 2: Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide

Volume 3: Ordinary Time, Weeks 1-12

Volume 4: Ordinary Time, Weeks 12-23

Volume 5: Ordinary Time, Weeks 24-34

Volume 6: Special Feasts: January - June

Volume 7: Special Feasts: July - December

I also like the theological focus of each of the reflections. The daily reflections appeal to both the intellect and the spirit. It draws you into the scripture and makes you think about what is written in the Word of God. It has given me a lot of food for thought and has drawn me into a deeper conversation with God.

You can purchase this book here.

I wrote this review of In Conversation with God, Vol. 3 for the Tiber River Blogger Review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and First Communion Gifts. For more information and to purchase, please visit Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.
Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases.
I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

Be A Man: Book Review

I could go on and on quoting different passages from Fr. Larry Richards' book that have inspired me to become a better man. But if I were to do that, I would end up copying most of the book into this review. What a truly wonderful book this is. It is easy to read--hard to put down in fact--and inspirational. I have ready many books on faith and spirituality and Be A Man is among the best books I have ever read.

Be A Man is an insightful, thought provoking look at the challenges that men face. It provides sound advice on how to carry out our mission as men of God in all areas of our life. He challenges men to be strong against the temptations and daily struggles we encounter in our lives.

Each chapter ends with an action plan and a list of questions for reflection. This gives the readers an opportunity to pause, reflect on what they just read and to take it to prayer.

Don't let the title fool you! This book is not just for men. Although Fr. Richards speaks directly to men in his book, I highly recommend women read it too. It will give women an insight into the struggles that men face, but it will also inspire women to be all that God created them to be as well. The advice and inspiration that Fr. Richards gives in Be A Man is good for women as well as men.

I wrote this review of Be A Man! for the Tiber River Blogger Review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and First Communion Gifts. For more information and to purchase, please visit Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.
Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases.
I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

Grace of Ars: A Book Review

Let me start out by saying that the Grace of Ars was not what I was looking for. I was looking for a biography of sorts on St. John Vianney. While this does contain biographical information on the Cure of Ars, the book is mainly about the priesthood of which St. John Vianney is the patron (Maybe I should have read the description first.)

With that being said, I read the book anyway, and I enjoyed it. The book takes each aspect of the priesthood from ordination to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and describes in detail the role and call of the priesthood. The author, Fr. Frederick Miller, holds up St. John Vianney as a model for priestly life. I can honestly say that I learned a lot about the priesthood, the call and role of a priest, and the struggles that priests face day to day. I have a renewed appreciation for our priests.

This is a great book for priests. St. John Vianney lived during a difficult time this book helps priests (and seminarians) to understand how and why St. John Vianney should be a model for priestly life. The Cure of Ars was assigned to a very difficult parish, one where there was no faith or spirituality present. He worked hard to change the church, and the town. He spent up to 17 hours a day hearing confessions. What an amazing model for all priests!

While the primary audience for this book is priests, I do recommend that all Catholics pick up a copy of this book. Read it for yourself. Try to understand what a priest goes through to serve you. And pray for your priest. Our priests struggle with many things in our modern culture and they need our prayers now more than ever. And with Christmas coming, this book is a great gift for the priests in your parish.

You can purchase this book here.

I wrote this review of The Grace of Ars for the Tiber River Blogger Review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Oplatki and Advent Calendars. For more information and to purchase, please visit Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.
Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases.
I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

A Guide to Christian Meditation: A Book Review

My first impression of this book when I received it in the mail and opened the package containing it was: "Wow! This book is small!" At 75 pages, and the size of my hand, it really is a small book. A Guide to Christian Meditation, I discovered, is actually derived from a much larger book, The Better Part - A Christ Centered Resource for Personal Prayer, both written by John Bartunek, LC.

Fr. Bartunek is a Legion of Christ priest. This didn't scare me away, despite the issues surrounding their order. I have met a few Legionaries and all of them are wonderful, holy men. Despite it's size, this book packs a powerful punch. It is chock full of wonderful advice on how to focus and enter into a deep meditative prayer with God. It uses a four step approach to meditation: Concentrate, Consider, Converse, and Commit. If you are looking for a good book on Christian meditation, I highly recommend this one. Take your time with it. Just because you can read this book in an hour, it doesn't mean you should. Spend a few days with it and really focus on what Fr. Bartunek is trying to say.

If I had to say anything negative about this book, its that it seems to be written specifically as a primer for the members of Regnum Christi (RC), the lay apostolate of the Legion of Christ. I only know this because I spent some time with RC a few years back. There are a few references to things that are specific to RC, their spirituality, and their apostolates. If this book is meant to be written to a wider audience than just members of RC, then these references should not be present. With that being said, the references to RC and their ministry does not distract from the overall message of the book.

(I receive this book for free from catholiccompany.com in return for giving an honest review of it.)

The Gargoyle Code: A Book Review

Lent is over. We now are in the midst of the beautiful season of Easter, where we celebrate the risen Christ.

At the start of Lent, I set out a healthy set of goals for myself, goals designed to strengthen my faith and my life. I wrote about my goals here. I was successful at some of them, others turned out to be more difficult. One of the goals I set out for myself that I succeeded in achieving was reading Fr. Dwight Longenecker's The Gargoyle Code. What a truly wonderful book this turned out to be!

Written in the tradition of The Screwtape Letters this book follows the correspondence between Tempter Slubgrip and his trainee Dogwart. I followed this book through Lent and read it along the format with which it was written.

This book really hit home with me. I was impacted by how closely this book followed my own life and my own temptations. Now, certainly, there were many temptations discussed in the book that I don't struggle with, but with the ones that I do struggle with....it really hit home.

I found myself thinking about the temptations in my own life while reading this book. The devil uses the same tactics with all of us. Reading this book really helped to raise my awareness of the temptations that I face and how to combat them.

If you haven't read this book yet, you need to. And, although the timeline is centered around Lent, you don't need to wait until next Lent to read it. The themes discussed are relevant all year long.  The devil doesn't wait until Lent to tempt us....You shouldn't wait until Lent to read The Gargoyle Code.

Prayer and the Will of God: A Book Review

It's been a while since I've reviewed a book. I've spent a lot of time with this book, not because it was a difficult read, but because I've wanted to prayerfully consider what Van Zeller is telling his readers.


All in all, this is a fabulous book. The ultimate goal of this book is to help its readers, as the title indicates, to merge prayer with the will of God. Prayer, without surrendering to God's will, is nothing. It is not fruitful. You must be willing to surrender your will to God's in order to have effective prayer...and a joyful life.


What I enjoyed most about this book is the fact that it is realistic. What I found particularly beneficial is the chapter on distracted prayer. What Van Zeller tells his readers is that you cannot pray without distractions. I so often get frustrated with myself for being distracted while in prayer and I found it beneficial to me to find that it is natural to have distractions. The challenge is what you do with those distractions. Do you allow them to take you away from your prayer, or do you push them aside and refocus on surrendering your will to God.


Van Zeller provides practical advice throughout his book that we can take into our prayer lives and make it more fruitful. If you are seeking help with prayer in your own life, grab a copy of this book. You can get Prayer and the Will of God from The Catholic Company.


(I received this book for free in return for giving an honest review of it.)

Saint of the Day: A Book Review

I knew that Saint of the Day was going to be a good book when I showed my wife and she said, "Ooooh, Cool!" It is indeed a very good book!

I decided to get this book from The Catholic Company for a couple of reasons. First of all, while I grew up Catholic, I know very little of the wonderful saints of our faith. I want to learn more. Secondly, and most importantly, we are all called to be saints. We should all get to know the saints better so that we can have an example with which to live our lives by.

Now, on to the book review. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of saint books available. One of the reasons I've never purchased one before was that it seems as though the choices are overwhelming. Well, let me make the choice easier for you. This is a wonderful saint book. Does it have every saint that has ever been named by the Vatican? No, and I don't think such a book exists. It does, however, have entries for 239 saints and blesseds and 16 Marian feasts. It is ordered by feast day and includes an alphabetical listing in the index.

In addition to the format of the book, I really enjoyed the format of this book. With each saint there is biographical information, a comment, and a quote. What I enjoy most are the comments because they contain reflections to help the readers become more like the saints.

If you are looking to get a good saint book, I highly recommend this one.

(Required disclosure: I received this book for free in return for giving an honest review)

Doers of the Word: A Book Review

I recently read Doers of the Word by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan as a part of the reviewer program for The Catholic Company. I have been wanting to read on of his books for a long time as was excited when I saw it as a part of the program.

This book is not what I expected it to be. I expected it to be a typical book on faith and spiritually. While it is a book on faith and spirituality, it is set up differently than a standard book. It is set up as a series of short essays on a range of Catholic subjects. I really enjoyed this format because in my busy schedule I don't have a lot of time to sit down and read long chapters.

Abp. Dolan does a fantastic job at helping readers to understand the precepts of our faith, from the Sacraments, to the liturgical calendar, to Mary and the Saints. He closes the book out with a chapter entitled "Workers in the Vineyard." This is our call to action. Abp. Dolan takes key issues in our Catholic faith and explains, in plain English, the reason for our stance and the need for us to take a stand on these issues that plague our society. The issues he tackles range from abortion to caring for the sick.

I really enjoyed reading Abp. Dolan's book. I looked forward to picking it up every day and am longing to read more of his work.

(Required Big Brother Disclosure: I received this book for free in return for writing an honest review of it.)

Tracking Virtue, Conquering Vice--A Book Review

When I was trying to find a new book to review for The Catholic Company, I came across Tracking Virtue, Conquering Vice by Rev. Joseph E. Classen. What initially attracted me to this book was not the hunting and fishing exploits of Fr. Joe. I am certainly not an outdoorsman. I've never been hunting and the last time I went fishing was....well I can't remember when. I don't even own a gun. What intrigued me about this book was the author. When I saw Fr. Joe's name listed as the author, my mental rolodex started spinning. I kept trying to figure out where I had heard that name before. Then it finally dawned on me. I was in the seminary with Fr. Joe! And, he and I went to the same high school. Even after realizing that I knew Fr. Joe, I still had reservations about reading his book. I just don't have any interest in hunting and fishing and I did not think that I would get much out of it or enjoy reading it.

I decided to order a copy anyway. I was pleasantly surprised! Fr. Joe is a brilliant story teller. I felt like I was right there with him as I read the stories of his hunting and fishing expeditions. He has had some amazing adventures and tells his stories in an entertaining way. It almost made me want to go out and buy a compound bow to do some deer hunting.....almost.

In addition to being a great story teller, Fr. Joe does a fantastic job at helping his readers see the vices that they have in their own lives and how to overcome them with virtue. So often when we think of the vices of gluttony, greed, envy, etc. we don't see ourselves as being guilty of them. Fr. Joe makes the connection between these vices and human behavior that may be sinful. He also gives us practical advice on how to overcome these vices with virtue.

I highly recommend anyone who wants to grow in virtue to pick up a copy of Fr. Joe's book, whether or not you are an outdoorsman. You will come away with the inspiration to become a better person.

(Required FTC mumbo jumbo: I received this book free in return for giving an honest review of it.)

Fire of God's Love Book Review

I need all the help I can get in my prayer life. Oftentimes, it is extremely difficult to focus on prayer without my mind wandering. That is why I picked up a copy of Fire of God's Love: 120 Reflections on the Eucharist. This compilation by Mike Aquilina did the trick. In this book are wonderful reflections on the Eucharist. I take it with me to prayer every day. Some days I read just one reflection and then just meditate on it. Other days, I read several reflections. I am truly amazed by the love for the Eucharist that all those represented in this book had. The authors, saints, and ordinary people that Aquilina include in this book truly had a zeal for the Eucharist.

What I am most impressed by is the Early Christians. They were willing to sacrifice everything just to celebrate the Eucharist. These days, particularly in America, we take the Eucharist for granted. It is there every day if we choose to receive it. I think that we have lost our zeal for the Eucharist. We have lost our passion for our faith.

This is a book that I recommend everyone to read over and over again. It will truly help us to gain a better understanding of the Eucharist. It will also help us to deepen our faith and our prayer life. It will bring back the zeal for our Church and the Eucharist.

You can purchase this book, and others, from The Catholic Company.

Story of the Church--Book Review

What a truly wonderful book! When I selected this book as a part of the reviewer program for catholiccompany.com, I was expecting a dry, factual history of the Church. While there is nothing wrong with that format for a history book, this is not that type of book. The author tells the history of the Church through stories, fictional accounts, of life in the Church. He then delves deeper and explains what is going on during each significant period of Church history. I was truly excited to read this book!

The chapters are short and there are questions at the end of each chapter for personal reflection or discussion. If you are a homeschool parent with high school students, I highly recommend using this as a text on Church history for your teens. It is engaging and informative and definitely not "boring", as some teens find history. Make sure you check out The Story of the Church today!

"God Help Me"--A Book Review

Anyone who has been following my blog for a while knows that I am an avid reader. As a matter of fact, I'm in the middle of three different books right now. I believe that good spiritual reading can bring you closer to Christ, so I always try to have a spiritual book with me. When I found out that an acquaintance of mine wrote a book I picked it up. Jim Beckman, whether he realizes it or not, has played a pretty significant role in my spiritual development. I first met Jim last summer at a conference at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. I was there to get my youth ministry certification, and Jim was the coordinator of the program. Jim recently published a book titled God Help Me: How to Grow in Prayer. Of course when I saw it as an available review book for Catholiccompany.com I had to get it to review.

I have mentioned in a couple of my recent blogs the importance of prayer. Prayer and Sacrifice discusses the need to sacrifice ourselves in prayer and force ourselves to do it even in the midst of feeling spiritually desolate. Beckman addresses this issue that we all face in our prayer and encourages his readers to be consistent in prayer despite how we feel. I make specific reference to Beckman's book in Honesty and Consistency, which are two main themes of prayer in his work.

This is a fantastic book and one that I will re-read over and over again. Beckman really challenges his readers to deeper prayer and gives some practical tools to do so. This book is recommended to anyone who wants to grow deeper in prayer.

"What the Church Teaches About Sex"--A Book Review

I recently became a book reviewer for The Catholic Company. The first book I received as a part of the program was Robert L. Fastiggi's book, "What the Church Teaches About Sex." It is a very well written book that gives a lot of insight into the history of the Church's teaching on sex. It also explains in easy to understand terms why the Church holds the stance that she does.

While overall it was a very good read, there is one chapter in particular that I want to focus on for this review: Chapter 4: Sexual Sin and God's Mercy. Fastiggi explains that "sins engaged in freely and repetitively inevitably result in 'perverse inclinations, which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil'" (59). He goes on to point out that lust is a capital sin and that:

As a capital sin, it leads to other sins and a lessening of the love of God and neighbor. What other sins are engendered by lust? Frequently, it involves the exploitation of others for one's own gratification, which is a grave offense against charity and justice. Patterns of manipulation likewise come into play, and lustful people often employ deception to seduce others. Lust can also lead to reckless behavior, infidelity, unwanted pregnancies, and abortions. (60)

There has been a progression of moral decline in sexuality over the past 50 years. It started with the wide acceptance of artificial contraception and then moved to the sexual revolution. It has led to an increase in the divorce rate and a proliferation of pornography and the murder of unborn babies. In his book, Fastiggi spends time talking about these different types of sexual sin: pornography, masturbation, homosexual acts, fornication, cohabitation, and contraception. He states that "these sins are so widespread in our present culture that many people find it difficult to understand how they are sinful at all" (62). We are sliding down the slope towards complete moral depravity. If the murder of babies is now accepted by much of our culture, I fear what comes next as we continue this slide. What could be worse?

There is, however, an answer to all of this. God's mercy. Our God is a loving God. He sent His Son to die for us because of His love for us. Fastiggi notes that "Jesus came to call sinners, and the Catholic Church is well aware of the weaknesses of human nature. Those who 'miss the mark' in sexual matters must humbly and sincerely ask God for mercy, forgiveness, and the grace to resist temptations in the future" (63). We have, as Catholics, the wonderful Sacrament of Reconciliation. We need to make use of it. We also need to guard our minds and souls from the temptations and attacks to give into sexual sin. We need to seek out the strength of the Lord to help us.