Ellen Gable's Blog, page 62

Review: A Catholic Gardener’s Spiritual Almanac

Ellen Gable Hrkach:

Wonderful review for Margaret Realy’s new book!

Originally posted on Will Write for Tomato Pie:

Even I want to garden now!

I���m one of those people who gardens because I have to stretch the food budget, not because I enjoy spending time covered in dirt, dripping with sweat, and being bitten by bugs. I���m also a true member of Generation X, and as a rule, we don���t trust beauty. We do, however, crave meaning, and A Catholic Gardener���s Spiritual Almanac shines light on the meaning that lies in the dirt, sweat, and bug-bite side of gardening as well as the beauty of human touches added to the ever-changing landscape of nature.

Full of low-pressure options, A Catholic Gardener���s Spiritual Almanac takes all the heaviness out of the manual labor of gardening and infuses it with the lighthearted joy that can only be found in prayer.��In my little world, I���d give this one six stars.

Look here tomorrow for an interview with Margaret Rose Realy, the���

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7QT – Free Book, Winners, New Movie and Photos

Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at This Ain’t the Lyceum for 7QT Friday.

1. FREE KINDLE BOOK

From the Hub to the Heart by Andy LaVallee and Leticia Velasquez is FREE on Kindle today and tomorrow. Download it here.

2. Dynamic Women of Faith Conference

I had a wonderful time in Toronto this past Saturday at the Dynamic Women of Faith Conference. I’ll be writing a more detailed reflection of the event in the coming weeks, but it was a beautiful day listening to the other speakers and getting to know some of the participants. I spoke on “Coping With Difficult Losses.”

Photo credit: Gustavo Kralj/DWF Conference/Gaudiumpress Images

Below is a cool photo of me speaking (I’m behind the podium) and gives you an idea of the size of the group. They were wonderfully receptive. It was a pleasure speaking!

Photo credit: Gustavo Kralj/DWF Conference/Gaudiumpress Images

4. Winners of Last Week’s Contest

Tamira Elkins

Katie Humanae Vitae

Mary Ovalle

4. “Do You Believe” – New Movie by the Producers of “God’s Not Dead”

I can’t wait to see this new movie by the producers of “God’s Not Dead.” It’s entitled, “Do You Believe.” And, yes, I believe!!

5. Disturbing Story

“Pregnant Women’s Baby Cut From Womb.” When I wrote Stealing Jenny six years ago, these occurrences weren’t as common. They are, unfortunately, becoming more frequent. Thankfully, the mother in this story survived. Sadly, her baby did not.

6. Reading Shelf

Specter – John Desjarlais (Pre-publication copy)

7. Ceasefire Cartoon

Image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach/FQ Publishing Please do not use without permission

Dynamic Women of Faith Conference

Special thanks to Dorothy Pilarski for organizing the Dynamic Women of Faith Conference this past Saturday in Toronto. All three photos below are of me giving my presentation on “Coping With Difficult Losses,” the bottom one showing the size of the crowd. They were a wonderfully receptive group of women!

Photo credit: Gustavo Kralj/DWF Conference/Gaudiumpress Images

Photo credit: Gustavo Kralj/DWF Conference/Gaudiumpress Images

Photo credit: Gustavo Kralj/DWF Conference/Gaudiumpress Images

Season of Mercy Excerpt

This excerpt is from Catherine Doherty’s book “Season of Mercy,” published by Madonna House Publications:

I was praying and it came to me that Lent is a sort of sea of God’s mercy. In my imagination Lent was warm and quiet and inviting for us to swim in. If we did swim in it, we would be not only refreshed but cleansed, for God’s mercy cleanses as nothing else does.

Then I thought of our reticence. I don’t know if it is reticence or fear to really plunge into God’s mercy. We really want to be washed clean; we want to be forgiven. But these desires meet with something else inside. I say to myself that if I do enter into the sea of mercy I will be healed, and then I will be bound to practice what Christ preaches, his law of love, which is painful, so terribly painful. There by that sea I stand and think: If I seek mercy I have to dish out mercy; I have to be merciful to others.

What does it mean to be merciful to others? It means to open my own heart, like a little sea, for people to swim in.

If we stand before God’s mercy and drink of it, it will mean that the Our Father is a reality, and not just a prayer that I say. “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come…” We like that part and have no problem saying it.

But then we come to: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We shake our heads and say, “Yes, it’s Lent; it’s true we should be forgiving everybody.” But we don’t like trespassers. If strangers come to use our beaches we will say to ourselves: What are they doing here? Why do they come to our beach? It’s not easy to make of one’s heart a little sea of mercy for the other.

We should also be listening to God’s will. But we think: Wait a second! “Thy will.” What does that mean?

It means many things. For instance somebody is thinking of entering a convent and they say, “Well, I don’t know; I’m afraid. Maybe I won’t measure up.” Silly people! Of course they won’t measure up, but God will measure up for them. If he calls them, he’ll give them the grace. As we look at the will of God���to go to a convent or to marry or to just live in the world in the conditions of today, to submit oneself to somebody else���our hackles rise up against authority. To submit to the will of God would be to put our toe in the sea of God’s mercy.

Lent relentlessly moves on and shows us who we are���our true identity as Christians, what it means to be Christian.

The mercy that we must give to others includes that of standing up for the poor, the lonely, those who have no education and cannot stand up for themselves. It means to engage in what we call social justice on behalf of our sister and brother. That involves opening ourselves to being pushed around and crucified. This always happens to those who stand up for others. Do we want to go into the sea of God’s mercy, to be washed clean so that we begin to do the things of Christ?

What is this Lent all about? It is to go into some strange and incredible depths of ourself and there to meet the sea of God’s mercy and swim in it, having shed all garments, garments of selfishness and fear.

Take for instance the fear of ridicule. Christ said to St. Francis, “I want you to be the greatest fool that anyone ever saw.” Did you ever stop to think what an absolute foolishness Christ is? It borders on idiocy, not mental idiocy, but a sort of passionate foolishness. Just think of a human being letting himself be crucified for someone else���in this case for the world. How high can the foolishness of love go? How deep, how wide? That’s the foolishness he wants us to assume.

There was a little Franciscan brother, Juniper, who used to play see-saw with children; people thought it funny for a man to do that. He did it specifically so that people would ridicule him. Lots of saints went about being ridiculed. The Russian urodivoi���fools for Christ���loved to open themselves to ridicule. They wanted to play the fool to atone for those who call Christ a fool.

Those are extremes of people falling in love with God so totally that they desire ridicule. But what about us? Are we going to allow Lent to give us the Holy Spirit’s immense gift of fortitude? It is a gift that is little spoken of and is neglected. Fortitude is courage, the courage of our convictions. Christ said, “Who is not with me is against me.”

Lent is here to remind us that the mercy of God is ours, provided we embrace his law of love; provided we realize that it’s going to hurt, and hurt plenty, but that the very hurting will be a healing. That is the paradox of God, that while you hurt, you heal. That’s true healing.

The sea of his mercy is open before us. Lent definitely and inexorably leads us to it and makes us think about what it takes to swim in it. Lent also reminds us that each of our hearts can be a sea of mercy and forgiveness to others. This is a very great shortcut to God’s heart.

The Pass It On! articles are free to use under the terms of a Creative Commons License.

7QT – Enter to Win FREE Books!

Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at This Ain’t the Lyceum for 7QT Friday.

I’ve got several free books to give away!!! (North American readers only, please!)

1. A Subtle Grace Giveaway

It’s the one-year anniversary of A Subtle Grace’s release. I’m giving away one free print copy as well as one free Kindle copy. Please leave a comment below before Friday, March 20th and I’ll enter you to win one of the free books. (If you’ve never commented on my blog before, I will have to approve your comment. Be patient! I’ll be traveling this weekend with little access to internet. I will approve comments on Sunday!)

2. From the Hub to the Heart Giveaway

Leave a comment (before March 20th, 2015) to win a free print copy of this wonderful book by Andrew LaVallee and Leticia Velasquez!! It’s an ideal book for Lenten reading that encourages fasting.

3. Catholic Conference 4 Moms Video Package

Conference Package is $39.99. Enter code word Hook to get $10 off and purchase the package for $29.99 (which includes all kinds of bonuses!!)

4. Dynamic Women of Faith Conference

I’ll be traveling today to Toronto to speak at this conference tomorrow. I’ll also be selling and signing copies of all my books!

5. Milan, Italy

Eight years ago this week, James and I were on a whirlwind tour of England, France and Italy (My husband and I, along with another teacher and his wife, were chaperones for 48 high school students). Memorable trip! The photo below is of us in front of Santa Maria delle Grazie where we were able to see Leonardo’s Last Supper, which was one of the highlights of our trip! (We almost didn’t get inside because we didn’t purchase our tickets in advance…the other chaperone begged and pleaded and we were finally allowed to purchase tickets!!)

photo copyright Ellen Gable Hrkach Please do not use without permission

6. Reading Shelf

Pope Francis, Life and Revolution

7. Less Cost Cartoon

Image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach. Please do NOT use without permission.

Copyright 2015 Ellen Gable Hrkach

Catholic Conference 4 Moms $10 off!

Have you been attending the Catholic Conference 4 Moms? If you’ve missed any presentations or if you’d like to watch all the talks in your spare time, you can purchase the entire conference here at this website. However, if you put in the code: Hook (case sensitive), you can get $10 off so you will receive the entire conference plus bonus materials for only $29.99! (US dollars)

Remember, to receive $10 off, the code word is Hook.

7QT – Catholic Conferences and Lenten Books

Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at This Ain’t the Lyseum for 7 Quick Takes.

1. Catholic Conference 4 Moms

The Catholic Conference 4 Moms begins today and continues through Monday. For registration and more the information, click here. There are many great speakers on the schedule. I’ll be talking about Responsible Parenthood (or How I Came to Have Five Kids When the Doctors Told Us to Stop at Three). Registration is FREE.

2. Dynamic Women of Faith Conference

I’ll also be speaking at a one day women’s conference in Toronto next weekend (March 14). The topic of my talk will be “Coping With Difficult Losses.” I’ll be signing and selling books as well.

3. Discover or Rediscover Fasting

Lent is an ideal time to discover or rediscover fasting. Andy LaVallee’s book, From the Hub to the Heart, is not only an inspiring conversion story, but it is a great resource re: fasting!

4. Amazon Author Page

Amazon has recently designed Amazon Author Pages. Check out my author page here.

5. Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter by Catherine Doherty

I highly recommend this wonderful book by Catherine Doherty.

6. Reading Shelf

My Battle Against Hitler - Dietrich von Hildebrand

7. Burger/Texting Cartoon

Image copyright James & Ellen Hrkach

Copyright Ellen Gable Hrkach 2015

Cartoon copyright James and Ellen Hrkach (Please do not use without permission)

7QT – 7 Lenten Practices

Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at This Ain’t the Lyceum for 7QT Friday.

1. Fasting

This seems like a no-brainer, but too many of us don’t realize the importance of this ancient practice. Fasting doesn’t have to be just bread and water (since I’m gluten free, on fasting days, I don’t eat meat and eat less food). To find out more about fasting, check out Andy LaVallee’s book, From the Hub to the Heart and his website: http://livethefast.org

2. Daily Mass

Although we live in a small community, we are fortunate that Daily Mass is available every day (not just during Lent).

3. Stations of the Cross

Most churches offer Stations at some point during Lent, usually on Fridays. If you’re doing the Stations on your own, this series of prayers and reflections was written by Mother Angelica.

4. Spiritual Reading

Daily Reflection booklets and websites like The Word Among Us and others are ideal for Lent. Also check out As Morning Breaks, a daily reflection e-book compiled by Lisa Hendey, with contributions from my fellow Catholic Mom contributors. Another wonderful reading for Lent is Working Mother, short fiction from Erin McCole Cupp.

5. Lenten Movies

Some of my favorites are The Passion of the Christ, Ben Hur, King of Kings, The Robe.

6. Confession

Attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation frequently, not just during Lent! You can find a good examination of conscience here.

7. Daily Rosary

Again, this seems obvious, but reciting the Daily Rosary has many spiritual benefits.

photo copyright Ellen Hrkach

8. DeCluttering

(I know this makes eight, but I can’t stop at seven!)

This might seem an odd thing to do during Lent, but it’s actually something I’ve done for many years. North Americans hold onto too many material possessions. If you haven’t used something in over a year and it doesn’t have sentimental value, consider giving it away.

Catholic Moms Online Conference Gains Popularity Over the Web

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tami Kiser, (864) 270-3410 CC4Moms@Yahoo.com

Greenville, SC (Feb. 10, 2015)���Catholic Mothers are excited about a free, online conference that will be held the March 6- March 9 at http://www.CatholicConference4Moms.com. Unlike other conferences, where mothers may have to drive long distances, give up some cash, and worse, arrange the logistics of a busy family with the matriarch missing���this one promises the ultimate in convenience. Not only is it free, but it is available on her own computer, tablet, or mobile device. Just a week after registration, over 1000 Moms have already joined.

Unlike other online seminars where the presentation is running live and you have to tune in at a certain time, these video presentations have been prepared far in advance. Organizer, Tami Kiser, gives the reason for this: ���For most of us busy moms, it���s very hard to predict when we are going to have a chunk of time during the day to listen to a presentation. This online conference is different���for any given day of the conference, moms can pull up any of the presentations available that day at any time. She can even listen to part of the talk now and finish it later. With all of the presentations about 20 minutes, this makes it very convenient and actually doable.���

Michelle Shorter, parishioner of St. Mary Magdalene Church in Simpsonville, SC, regularly listens to Catholic programs on her Iphone and computer during her housework and while running errands. She is excited about the wide selection of popular Catholic speakers. “I am always looking for ideas to help my family—when you start looking for materials, it can be overwhelming. I appreciate this incredible selection of speakers and topics combined in one location, so conveniently available.”

The presenters and topics are first-rate. Over 25 speakers are taking part of the conference, and the presentations range from ���Managing Stress��� to ���Talking to Your Children about Sex��� to ���Family Meals.��� Each presentation feels like a TED talk meets a Fireside Chat in that the speakers are experts in their field and passionate about their topics, but they come across as though they are speaking to each mom individually from her living room or kitchen table.

Uniting so many moms together from across the country was an exciting prospect that helped presenter, Stephanie Wood Weinert, decide to be a part of this project. ���I love anything that can unite Catholic moms���especially moms from such diverse backgrounds and ages. We can all see that we have the same struggles, same hopes, and the same desires.��� There are over 60 affiliates who have agreed to help support this conference. Most of these affiliates are Catholic mom bloggers���the lifeblood of Catholic moms who use the internet for support, inspiration, and education.

The Catholic mom bloggers make a conference like this possible. Because of their powerful role in ministering to Catholic moms, Tami Kiser, organizer of the CC4Moms, is hoping to help them. ���After the conference is over, it will be available for sale. Not only will the affiliates be able to offer the conference at a discount price, but they will also make a profit on each conference that they sell. This money can go back into their ministries.���

But why would the conference be for sale? And why would anyone buy it? That���s easy. The conference can be used in a Mom���s group setting to help mom���s develop meaningful friendships and to support one another. Many of the speakers themselves during their presentations refer to the importance of developing these kinds of relationships with other moms. In fact, Susie Lloyd, award-winning author and speaker, does an entire presentation about Catholic friendship called, ���Caf�� Confidante-Why Women Need Girlfriends.��� Blogging and Facebook may be helpful ways that moms connect, but nothing can replace a real, live meaningful relationship.

The conference will be bundled into a convenient package, including some bonuses like ebooks, podcasts, downloads, coupons, and discussions questions so that it can be used in a mom���s support group. This can be a parish support group with over 50 moms or for just 2 moms discussing it over a cup of tea.

The conference is free and will be online for those who have registered through the website, http://www.CatholicConference4Moms.com. The conference begins on Friday, March 6, the eve of the Feast of the Catholic mother martyrs Sts. Felicity and Perpetua and ends on Monday, March 9, the Feast of St. Francis of Rome. St Francis of Rome has this advice for mothers, ���It is most laudable in a married woman to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a housewife. And sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her housekeeping��� (Butler���s Lives of the Saints). The conference will be available to purchase afterwards at the website or at an affiliate Catholic mom���s blog or website.

End of Press Release

(Note: I’m one of the presenters at this online conference. I sent in a video presentation on “Responsible Parenthood or How I Came to Have Five Kids When the Doctors Told Us to Stop at Three.” As an affiliate blogger for this conference, I’ll also be giving out a coupon code to my blog readers to purchase the videos when they are available for sale.)

Register for the conference at this link: http://www.catholicconference4moms.com/register.html

7QT – 7 More Recommended Alternatives

On Tuesday, several bloggers and myself took part in a #ShowUsYourList campaign to offer reading that is good, true and beautiful. My post here at my blog focused on Theology of the Body Fiction. I also posted a similar article at Amazing Catechists, entitled “The Antidote of 30 Shades of Degradation: TOB Fiction” and at Catholic Mom under the title, “Trash or TOB: 50 Shades Versus Soul-Satisfying Fiction.”

Today I’d like to recommend seven more novels that are good, true and beautiful entertainment! Please check these books out!

1. Treason by Dena Hunt

2. Fatal Rhythm by R. B. O’Gorman

3. Hijacked by Leslie Lynch

4. Jane E. Friendless Orphan by Erin McCole Cupp

5. Frozen Footprints by Therese Heckenkamp

6. The Soul Reader by Gerard Webster

7. Georgios by A.K. Frailey