Ellen Gable's Blog, page 130

The Longing to Be Loved and Cherished

Today, in anticipation of its June release, I'm posting another excerpt from "Come My Beloved: Inspiring Stories of Catholic Courtship." Today's excerpt is from the courtship story of Damon and Melanie Owens and it's entitled "The Longing to be Loved and Cherished."

Damon: Our journey back to Christ began with what we now simply call "The Question," "Melanie, what if we stopped having sex?"

It's funny how different a question can be asked (or heard) with just a slight change of inflection. I intended to start an interesting conversation. Chastity had not been an issue of debate or even conversation between us, so I offered the question not as a proposal to stop but as a hypothetical-California graduate student-latte sipping-cosmic-what if. Neither of us had any idea what Our Lord had in store for us.

Though being from opposite coasts, we both grew up in similar Catholic families. We attended Mass regularly, went on retreats and participated in youth groups. At thirteen, I had a profound experience of God on an Antioch retreat that played a significant part in helping me remain chaste and drug-free through high school. Melanie's childhood memories are filled with songs from Catholic family summer camp and piling in the station wagon with seven brothers and sisters.

When we met as new graduate students at the University of California, though, we were both recovering from spiritually dark college years distant from God. During my undergraduate years at Brown, I partied, rarely attended Mass and, drawn by gospel choirs and organs, dabbled in other faiths.

Melanie: I had suffered in relationships during my college days at U.C. Santa Barbara, but continued to attend Mass regularly, though more out of habit than desire.

Damon: So, when we began dating, there was not much virtue, or even desire, left for us to draw on to be chaste.

Melanie "wowed" me the first moment I met her. What a smile! What a sweet soul! We could talk effortlessly for hours—and we did. I wanted to share everything with her. I wanted to know everything about her. I wanted to protect her. I wanted to love her, and I thought I did. Then, I asked . . . The Question.

Melanie, my new beloved, cried. I didn't know what was going on. Is she hurt? Is she pregnant? Or, is she just emotionally unstable? (I had not known her for that long!)

After ten inconsolable minutes, she simply said, "Yes."

Yes? Yes, what? Did she think that I was proposing we stop? Well, while my dulled conscience had been thinking our sexual "intimacy" was deepening our love, Melanie had been tortured with the reality that something was very wrong. When she tried to explain, it was as hard for me to hear as it was for her to speak.

Damon Owens and his wife, Melanie, are the co-founders of the New Jersey Natural Family Planning Association (njnfp.org). Their story in its entirety can be found in Come My Beloved: Inspiring Stories of Catholic Courtship which will be released on June 15, 2011.

Photo and text copyright 2011 Damon and Melanie Owens and Full Quiver Publishing

Bulls Eye Marriage Book Review

My latest review at Amazing Catechists.com is for a marriage enrichment book called "Bulls Eye Marriage" by Francis and Sara Fontana:

"Marriages work when you work on the marriage" and "Everyone wins when a marriage succeeds" are two quotes which set the theme for this Catholic marriage enrichment book.

When trying to decide what title and focus to give to their book, they write, "It was the word 'aim' that moved us to focus on the analogy of the Bulls eye. When we discuss our marriage and what we are aiming at we always conclude that what we want is a great relationship. There are many tools, books, and experiences that assist us in getting where we want to go, but to be effective we need to keep in mind what we are shooting for in our marriage. The archery analogy began to form in our minds."

Chapter Titles include: What's Your Bulls eye? What's Your Experience? Are you Right-Handed or Left-Handed? Men and Women Shoot Differently? What Happens When you Get Tired? Tips and Tools for Target Practice; Those Who Benefit from Target Practice and Resources.

Throughout the book, the authors take turns with the narrative, sharing parts of their story and their marriage.

"We discovered that marriage was more like showing up at an archery range every day, getting the target in sight, picking up the bow and arrow and shooting. There are days when we hit the Bulls eye. There are other days when don't but we at least hit the target. Some days we totally miss the target. Then there are those times when we are too tired to even pick up the bow and arrow and try…"

Included are quotes from Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, movies, books, authors, philosophers, songs and even a few quotes from their relatives. At the end of the book, each of the Fontana children (as well as their daughter-in-law) share a bit about how they have benefited from their parents' "Bulls Eye Marriage."

Helpful exercises include sensory brainstorming and masterpiece time line activity.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and I can envision it being used at marriage preparation classes or marriage retreats. As well, I would recommend it to anyone seeking to improve their marriage.

Copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach

Latest Article on Catholic Exchange

My latest article on Catholic Exchange is entitled "NFP Q & A," some common questions and answers about Natural Family Planning:



What is Natural Family Planning?

Natural Family Planning is a safe, moral and effective way to avoid and plan pregnancy. With NFP, a couple learns to interpret certain signs in the woman's body that indicate her fertile and infertile times. If a couple is avoiding pregnancy, they abstain in the fertile time. If they are planning a pregnancy, they engage in relations during the fertile time.

To read the rest, click here:

http://catholicexchange.com/2011/05/1...

Copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach

Fiction Friday – Willa Cather

Willa Cather wasn't Catholic, but her book "Death Comes for the Archbishop" is one of the best Catholic novels I've ever read. I reviewed this book for Catholic Fiction.net last year. This week for Fiction Friday, I'm posting my review again for this wonderful book. Cather's books are free on Amazon Kindle, and are available in most libraries and bookstores.

Willa Cather's outstanding novel Death Comes for the Archbishop tells the story of Bishop Jean Latour and his friend, Father Joseph Vaillant, as they travel to New Mexico in the mid 19th century to bring the Catholic Faith to the natives. The novel is based on the true stories of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy and Father Joseph Machebeuf. Even the author's choice of names is appropriate: Father Latour (the tower) and Fr. Vaillant (valiant) and describes, in part, these characters.

Cather's graphic, yet artistic descriptions of the unforgiving landscape of the Southwest are part of the brilliance of this novel: "The sun was sinking, a red ball which threw a copper glow over the pine-covered ridge of mountains, and edged that inky, ominous cloud with molten silver. The great red earth walls of the mission, red as brick dust, yawned gloomily before him — part of the roof had fallen in, and the rest would soon go." Cather was a gifted artist who painted the canvas of her book with rich, sensory descriptions.

The character studies are also brilliant, from the scholarly, gentle and academic Latour to his equally gentle and faith-driven friend, Vaillant. Both Latour and Vaillant have particularly non-judgmental ways of bringing the Catholic faith to others. Secondary characters like Magdalena and Jacinto are described in such a fashion that the reader feels as if he/she knows them intimately. Kit Carson, a true life friend of Bishop Lamy, makes several appearances in the book.

This novel is not without its humorous moments. When Father Latour arrives at a large ranch to perform weddings and baptisms, Father Latour asks the owner, Manuel, "Where are those to be married?" Manuel tells him that the men are in the field, but that there is no hurry, and that he ought to baptize the children first. Father Latour's response is firm but gentle: "No, I tell you, the marriages first, the baptisms afterward; that order is but Christian. I will baptize the children tomorrow morning and their parents will at least have been married overnight."

Bishop Latour and Father Vaillant must contend with licentious priests, abusive husbands and others throughout their long stay in the Southwest. Eventually, it becomes Bishop Latour's deepest wish to see a Cathedral built in the new land. He and Fr. Vaillant come to respect the natural beauty of the land and the Cathedral becomes the first Romanesque church in the New World built in and part of the landscape.

I thoroughly enjoyed this 83-year-old novel and I understand why it is thought to be one of the author's greatest works.

In the end, this story is so thoroughly Catholic, from its characters to its setting to the very illustration of the Faith that it is difficult for me to believe that Cather was not Catholic.

Copyright 2010 Ellen Gable Hrkach

2011 National March for Life in Ottawa

Today, we are headed to the National March for Life in Ottawa (with thanks to the local Knights of Columbus who provide free transportation to and from the March.) Keep us in prayer for a safe march.

http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/index.php?p=March_For_Life

Photos and more to follow.

Come My Beloved Receives SOA

Full Quiver's upcoming book, Come My Beloved: Inspiring Stories of Catholic Courtship, has just been awarded the Catholic Writers' Guild Seal of Approval!

Many thanks to the Seal of Approval Committee!

Come My Beloved will be published next month. Check the book's website for up-to-date information.

An Inspiring Catholic Historical Romance Novel

Special thanks to Dana Doyle of "Catholic Working Mom" for this incredible review of my second novel, In Name Only:

Ellen Gable's book In Name Only is truly the best work of Catholic fiction that I have ever read. Mrs. Gable draws her readers into the story right away. It's not one of those books that take several chapters to get rolling. The author masterfully develops her characters, so that the reader has a clear understanding of their appearance, personality and traits. Throughout the course of the book, one develops a sense of knowing these characters and caring about what will happen to them. Mrs. Gable keeps you turning the pages!

To read the rest, click here:

http://danardoyle.wordpress.com/2011/...

"Life's" Richest Resources

When I was a pre-teen, my favorite game was "Life." My goal when playing the game was never to "win." Instead, I always wanted my little pink car to be filled with lots of children. I saw children as the most valuable and important resource, more so than stocks, real estate or my occupation. In fact, if I made a lot of money and won, but had no children, I never really felt like I had won.

Fast forward 40 years. If someone were to look at all the material possessions my family has, they would probably describe our way of life as "modest." We don't have extensive real estate, investments and/or stocks and bonds. But with five living children (and seven in heaven), I truly feel "rich."

Text copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach

Cartoon copyright 2011 Full Quiver Publishing

Royal Wedding Sermon

I hadn't planned on getting up in the middle of the night to watch the Royal Wedding festivities. However, I did plan on watching the coverage the next morning…except we had no power (the result of a windstorm and the reason I couldn't post last Friday). So I had to wait until much later in the day to watch.

I was particularly moved by the Bishop's Sermon and especially this sentence: "In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future."

The entire text can be found here.

Fiction Friday – Infinite Space, Infinite God II

My thanks to Karina Fabian, co-editor of Infinite Space Infinite God II, a sci-fi compilation, for allowing me to post an excerpt from her book. Check out my review here.

Karina is offering a free e-copy of her book to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment below before Monday, May 9th.

This excerpt is from Karina Fabian's short story, Antivenin:

No, Ann was not durak. Now if Rita could just keep from doing anything lethally stupid. She grabbed the line, gave it a tug of her own to make sure it was secure, and pulled herself to the Mark 16:18.

Once inside the other ship, they exited the suits, positioning them for emergency donning. Then Rita set up the rescue balloons: nanomylar bags large enough to hold a man. Once sealed, a small motor generated air and heat for thirty minutes–an hour with an expansion pack. She pulled out the retractable strap on her medical kit and slung it over her shoulder.

Ann, meanwhile, had tried to contact the pilot and passenger both via the intercom and by yelling down the hall. Nothing.

Sr. Thomas spoke over their headsets. "Small asteroids coming. Brace yourself!"

They managed to grab the threshold just as the ship jinxed wildly to the left.

Sr. Thomas called, "At least two more, but you have a couple of minutes. Ann, can you disable those sensors before we jerk that tow line off?"

Rita's stomach clutched at the thought. "You go to engineering. I'll search for wounded."

Ann hurried down the corridor, while Rita followed more slowly, opening each door to scan the room. The ship was larger than she'd expected: six doors on each side led to rooms that had been converted to storage. Most were packed wall to wall, floor to ceiling, with an empty strip just wide enough for a person to pull something off a shelf and carry it out. She wondered what kind of cargo the ship carried.

It was eerily quiet, with nothing but the background hum of the engine, the hissing of doors and the sound of her own footsteps. What had happened to the crew?

"Rita! I found someone in the center compartment. He's unconscious. Respiration shallow. He's drooling a lot. I've never seen anything like it."

"Ann, pull up your collar, now." She pulled at the collar of her own skinsuit. The tightly compacted fibers stretched until the fabric covered her mouth and nose. She pressed along her nose and cheeks with thumb and forefinger, creating a seal. The fabric, actually a sophisticated biofilter, would enable her to breathe while blocking most airborne hazards. "Make him comfortable. I'm on my way. If there's nothing you can do, go on to engineering."

"I thought I heard something in the port corridor. I'm going to check that first."

"But if the tow line breaks–"

"Basilica has more. Tommie will catch us again."

It only took Rita a minute to get down the long hall, through the pie-shaped galley room and into the central hub. Ann had set the man upright against the wall and put a slap-patch on his cheek: Oxyboost and a mild stimulant. A second patch read his vital signs.

Rita knelt beside him and puzzled over his stats. They looked more like poisoning than a virus. His face was slack, eyelids drooping. She lifted one. The dilated pupils responded sluggishly to the bright light of the room.

Sr. Thomas called over the headset: "Brace!"

Rita braced one hand on each side of the victim. Again the ship jerked. Rita heard the metallic sound of dishes sliding and clattering to the floor. The man bumped against her arms, but did not fall.

Sr. Thomas said, "One more coming. You've got about two minutes-thirty, maybe three."

"Ann?"

"I'm fine. I definitely heard something this time. Last room on the left, port corridor. Door's jammed."

The man was stirring feebly now, but not enough to help. Rita muscled him around until she could get her arms under his and drag him back to the rescue bag. Despite the months of heavy exercise, she was panting from exertion as she all but dumped him into the nanomylar bag. The man forced a moan. His hand twitched and bumped her.

"Be still. We'll get you to our ship where we can treat you."

He tapped the floor: three slow, two fast. Universal Space Code for "Attention."

"You want to tell me something? Go ahead. I'm listening." They'd drilled the universal tap code daily in her training, and at the convent Mother Superior declared "tap code hours" to keep everyone in practice. It had annoyed her no end, but she was glad of it now.

But he tapped, "No. Look. Attention."

"All right. I'm watching your hand." Slowly, as if it took great will, he spelled:

A…

N…

T…

I..

"Anti?"

Ann called, "Got it! Opening the door now."

V…

E…

N…

O…

M

"Antivenom? What?" Was he hallucinating? She pulled up his sleeves, then his pantlegs.

"Rita?" Ann's voice was a thin ghost of a wail. "Serpents…"

Two small puncture marks, like pinpricks around a slightly swelled area.

"Annie. Just walk out quickly but calmly–"

"Brace!" Sr. Thomas called.

The ship swung, knocking Rita off balance. Through the headset and the ship, she heard Ann scream.

This book is available from Twilight Times Books

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Last but not least, there's a great promotional trailer for this book on youtube.

Leave a comment below to win a free PDF of Infinite Space Infinite God II!

Copyright 2010 Karina and Robert Fabian