The Catholic Book Club discussion
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Introduce Yourself
Mattia wrote: "Welcome JivkoIgnominious!And have a nice Sunday, Cynthia!"
Thanks, Mattia! Same to you.
Mod
One of our favorite priests (from Poland, actually) once started a homily along the lines of an AA meeting: "Hi, my name is Andy. I'm a sinner." So welcome, Jivko. My name is John. I'm a sinner too.
John wrote: "Hi, Jivko. Welcome to the group. One of our favorite priests (from Poland, actually) once started a homily along the lines of an AA meeting: "Hi, my name is Andy. I'm a sinner." So welcome, Jivko..."
I like very muchPoland like i confessed in a previous message. I think that nobody can throw the first stone, and in my case i have theperson with less right to throw it :-). Oscar Wilde in a play said All lived in the mud, but someone glaze to the Stars.
In fact, that's how our current Pope introduced himself right after being chosen to serve! So you're in great company.
Hello, my name Laurel and I am doing a project for school on religions. If anyone is interested I would greatly appreciate it if you would be willing to be interviewed about your religion, it would only be used for my school and can be completely anonymous. The interview can be in any format you would like (ie email, messaging etc..). Please message me or comment if yo are interested.
Hi. My name is Kathleen Hart. I just joined. I grew up Catholic, left the church for some time, and returned about 3 years ago. I really wasn't aware of the whole "Catholic world " out there until I won a Catholic poetry prize, and subsequently have been trying to reach out. For any Catholic poets out there, or any Catholic reader, some good websites are First Things and Christian Century. I'm looking forward to reading the September book. I hope I can obtain it before 9/30. I reside in East Texas.
The September book is 445 pages long, so you may want to start with our October selection, Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales.
Mod
Welcome aboard, Kathleen.
What Jill said. Also, if you don't finish a book within the specified month, you can always come back and share your thoughts when you are able to read it.
John wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "Hi. My name is Kathleen Hart. I just joined. I grew up Catholic, left the church for some time, and returned about 3 years ago. I really wasn't aware of the whole "Catholic world "..."Thanks. I'll get started on the October selection, and go back to the September when I can.
Laurel wrote: "Hello, my name Laurel and I am doing a project for school on religions. If anyone is interested I would greatly appreciate it if you would be willing to be interviewed about your religion, it would..."Sarah wrote: "Nice to meet you, Jivko! I am a sinner, too, though I don't like admitting it.
I do recommend going to church each Sunday, I think it will help you in your journey. Sorry if I'm being too pushy; ..."
Hey, Laurel, tell us more about your project.
Hi! I´m Ann-Marie. I´m a convert waiting to soon becoming a full member of the Catholic Church. I live in the middle Sweden. So glad I found this group!
Mod
Welcome Ann-Marie, both to this group and to the Church. Please feel free to share your thoughts with us, as I think your perspective will be interesting. And of source, make sure to vote on next month's BOTM. :-)
Ann-Marie wrote: "Hi! I´m Ann-Marie. I´m a convert waiting to soon becoming a full member of the Catholic Church. I live in the middle Sweden. So glad I found this group!"Although there are few catholic writers in Sweden there are some catholic writers Sven Stolpe, Gunnar Vallquist, and i heard rumors about Torgny Lindgren. I say welcome Ann-Marie Saint Brigid bless you.
Fonch wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Hi! I´m Ann-Marie. I´m a convert waiting to soon becoming a full member of the Catholic Church. I live in the middle Sweden. So glad I found this group!"Although there are few ca..."
Yes, Torgny Lindgren converted to the Catholic Church in the 80´s. I have read a few of his books and they are really good. Sven Stolpe was an intellectual and a grumpy old man who loved to debate but is rather boring to read... I only tried a few books and gave up on them... Gunnel Vallqvist has written a diary from the Second Vatican-counsel wich is really good and so is her book on her way to conversion. There are also Birgitta Stenberg, Barbro Alving, Birgitta Trotzig and Lars Forsell and a few more.
Sarah wrote: "Oh wow! That's so cool you're from Sweden! Can you tell me more about what the Catholic Church is like over there and all the other churches over there?"Well, in Sweden the Catholic Church is quite small. I think about 110 000 members but it is growing, mostly because all catholic refugees and immigrants coming to Sweden. The Catholic Church was banned in Sweden during the reformation in the 1550´s and it was prohibited for an in sweden born citizen to be a member in the Catholic Church. And until 1951 a member of the Catholic Churh was not allowed to work as a teacher, doctor or nurse. All of Sweden is one Diocese with one Bishop, Anders Arborelius. There are 44 parishes in Sweden.
Ann-Marie wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "Hi! I´m Ann-Marie. I´m a convert waiting to soon becoming a full member of the Catholic Church. I live in the middle Sweden. So glad I found this group!"Although th..."
Dearest Ann Marie i say thank you for having increased my collection of Catholic writers giving more names. I cheerup that in Sweden the Catholic Church is growing. Have you never thought to read the finish writer Mika Waltari?. I like reading his historical novels. I cheer up there was another european in this group. I expect that you have in your own house, although this thing have to be confirmed by John, but i am sure he agreed with my words. I wish i could read these briliant writers some day in spanish, or in english in his default :-(.
Hi Yall. My name is Mary and i am currently studying a double degree in phil and theo. I immensely enjoy medieval and prior that spirituality. I practise particularly Tridentine and Greogorian Mass. Glad to see a Catholic Group WITHOUT Francis' face on it.
Hello, My name is Beth and I converted to Catholicism about 15 years ago. Since then I have become a liturgical and eucharistic minister at my church. I still have much to learn about my faith and look forward to reading books with this group. Brideshead Revisited has been on my list for some time so I am glad to see it is the November read.
Mod
Rhonda wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Rhonda, living in Michigan. Great to be here!"Rhonda wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Rhonda, living in Michigan. Great to be here!"
Welcome mistress Ortiz it will be a big pleasure to meet you in this group :-).
Mod
Hi Rhonda, welcome to the group. You are just in time to join us for February's BOTM - Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul. I hope you are able to lay your hands on a copy and join us.
Hi, all, I'm Karina Fabian, cradle Catholic and author.
Mod
Welcome, Karina. Feel free to dive right in. There is still time to join us in reading our February book, Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul, by Cathleen Medwick. If you don't have access to that, we will start voting for our March BOTM on or about February 15.
Sarah wrote: "Welcome new members!"I totlly agree welcome to the new members.
I'm Gunner, I was raised (nominally) Catholic but left the tradition because I wanted to be a Christian. Later, I realized that was plain stupidity (baptist youth pastors
Mod
Hi Gunner, welcome to the group.
I'm an old, old man who thought I'd take a gander at this group. I'm currently reading Newman's "An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine" which I strongly recommend to reverts. Have also begun reading "The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross" (ICS version) to put my mind in the right frame of thought. Just finished reading (three times) Ratzinger's "An Introduction to Christianity" for those who think they know the basic thoughts of the Church behind the teaching in the catechism. Usually, while I read I copy down the main points I don't want to forget and when I've finished I reread them and may or may not include those points in one of my Catholic historical fiction novels. (Someday, one of my grandchildren or great-grandchildren may actually read them.) Available at Amazon, ahem.
I've also written two non-fiction books: "How to Become a Saint in Ten Easy Lessons" and for CCD classes "Rock of the Apostles: A Brief History of Catholic Tradition." The latter has an imprimatur from Archbishop Lori. These works are still seeking a publisher.
Also, and finally, I recommend reading any of Raniero Cantalamessa's works. He must be doing something right, for he has served as chaplain to the popes.
Mod
My name is Clemens Cavallin and I am an associate professor of religious studies in Sweden, Gothenburg more precisely. My specialization is in Asian religions, but being Christian I have also developed some research tracks with Christian themes. One of them is Christian fiction and I have specialized in the works of the Catholic Canadian novelist and painter Michael D. O’Brien. In the beginning, I wrote articles about his fiction, but when doing interviews with him in Canada, I became more and more interested in his life story and I spent five years on writing his biography which is just finished and published at Justin Press (justinpress.ca)It was my daughter who introduced me to goodreads as she is a true devourer of fiction. I have to read a lot of nonfiction, and then of course fiction as part of my work, so pleasure reading is something that I try to develop — free up time for. While I worked on the biography, I actually used goodreads as a source for material, that is reader responses and used some quotes. Then I was not part of any group, but now I will try to get into this as well.
So, I am here in several roles, as a reader interested in new books to read, as a scholar writing about Christian fiction and reader responses, and as an author. And, by the way, I am also an artist mostly painting Christian themes and portraits.
Looking forward to be part of this group.
Clemens Cavallin
http://clemenscavallin.se/
Mod
Welcome to the group, Clemens. Please feel free to join right in. There is still time to read and discuss our April BOTM, if you are interested. Jacob's ladder can be downloaded free at:
mobi for kindle:
http://arantxa.ii.uam.es/~alfonsec/li...
epub format:
http://arantxa.ii.uam.es/~alfonsec/li...
Welcome.
Clemens wrote: "My name is Clemens Cavallin and I am an associate professor of religious studies in Sweden, Gothenburg more precisely. My specialization is in Asian religions, but being Christian I have also devel..."Hello, Clemens welcome to these group. I read two novels to Michael D. O`Brien "Father Elijah an Apocalypse", and "Elijah in Jerusalem". I would like to read him "Teophilos", and "Voyage to Alpha Centauri", but their novels are not translated to spanish :-(.
We have other thing in common, i am a lover of Asia, especially Japan. I am very interested in China, and in South Korea, where the number of christian are increasing a lot.
John wrote: "Clemens wrote: "My name is Clemens Cavallin and I am an associate professor of religious studies in Sweden, Gothenburg more precisely. My specialization is in Asian religions, but being Christian I..."
If you like the science fiction i recomend enthusiasically the novel of my friend Manuel Alfonseca. It is a good novel, and very original. You can read our comments.
Hi, I'm late to the party, but I'll introduce myself now. Although I'm working on some novels of my own (a science fiction trilogy and a contemporary, realistic tale of a woman going through a midlife crisis), I spend most of my time these days editing the work of other Catholic writers. When I have time, I write about books I love on my blog, A Catholic Reader. I read all sorts of things and love mysteries, speculative fiction of most kinds (no paranormal stuff for me), suspense, adventure, history, philosophy, spiritual works, etc. Many of my favorite authors are Catholic, but I enjoy any story that is what I call "morally serious" (i.e., not mindless fluff -- although I read some of that, too). Right now I'm trying to whittle down the pile of books I've been given to review but, seeing this month's discussion of C. D. Verhoff's Comet Dust, I think I might take a pause to re-read that.
Lisa wrote: "Hi, I'm late to the party, but I'll introduce myself now. Although I'm working on some novels of my own (a science fiction trilogy and a contemporary, realistic tale of a woman going through a midl..."Well i join to the group of greetings. Welcome Lisa is a big pleasure to write about catholic fiction with you.
Hi, I am a convert of a little over 5 years. If you look at my reading history you will see that I began asa pagan. I left many of those books on the list, because that wasn't history, however my inappropriate worship of Mary eventually led me to go to mass. At my first Mass, I KNEW I was supposed to be Catholic. I felt it during the consecration! So, now I am Catholic! I'm typically very active in my parish through the RCIA, CCE, and frequently different bible studies. I have completed the True Devotion to Mary by St. De Montfort and I'm currently looking into information on the brown scapular and he prayers therein.
I love Scott Hahn, Jimmy Akin, Tim Staples, Patrick Madrid, and Peter Kreft. (Obviously, I loved listening to Catholic Answers Podcast.)
Hi, I'm T.M. Gaouette, author of Catholic teen fiction novels, "The Destiny of Sunshine Ranch," "Freeing Tanner Rose," and "Saving Faith." I'm a member of the Catholic Writers Guild and Teen Catholic Books. I've always got a to-read list of Catholic fiction. Love it! Blessings!You can find me here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
T.M. wrote: "Hi, I'm T.M. Gaouette, author of Catholic teen fiction novels, "The Destiny of Sunshine Ranch," "Freeing Tanner Rose," and "Saving Faith." I'm a member of the Catholic Writers Guild and Teen Cathol..."It is a honor to have in this fellowship misstress Gaoutte. I hope that you enjoy in Catholic Book Club. PD. I also take the chance to say welcome to Espresso.
Mod
My name is Doreen and I live in Boston, MA. Not an author but I am a Catholic love discussing Catholic books and issues with fellow Catholics.
Mod
Welcome, Doreen. If you haven't already, please feel free to vote on our next book.
Mod
Greetings! I'm a cradle Catholic who rediscovered the faith after reading the first few pages of St. Augustine's Confessions in my early 20s. I became a big fan of the Catholic classics like Augustine, Therese, Teresa, John of the Cross, etc.. After many years of enjoying these books about saints, I finally wrote and published my own. My recent book is titled "Lessons in Leadership from the Saints." There's so much wisdom we can learn from the saints that are especially applicable to our modern everyday lives. Looking forward to discussing the many great Catholic books with this group!
Hi everyone! I'm not technically officially a Catholic but for a while now I have been considering actually taking a step forward and converting, but of course I have a lot to look into and consider. I really love theology and philosophy on the whole, and have started to slowly work my way through reading the Catechism. I'd appreciate all sorts of recommendations for Catholic literature/debate etc. :)
Eve wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm not technically officially a Catholic but for a while now I have been considering actually taking a step forward and converting, but of course I have a lot to look into and conside..."Great post, Eve.
I have really been enjoying reading the works of Edith Stein, particularly when it comes to philosophy. I find her conversion story incredible and remarkable--a conversion journey that can be traced back to that one evening she read St. Teresa of Avila.
Hope that helps. Kindest regards...
B.J. wrote: "Eve wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm not technically officially a Catholic but for a while now I have been considering actually taking a step forward and converting, but of course I have a lot to look into..."Thank you so much, B.J! That already sounds interesting, I'll definitely look into her and her works. Thanks again! :)
Eve wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm not technically officially a Catholic but for a while now I have been considering actually taking a step forward and converting, but of course I have a lot to look into and conside..."There are a lot of writers, but G.K. Chesterton is ever a good option https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... an another interesting option Eve is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief
by Joseph Pearce, because this book put in contact with a lot of English Catholic writers. I forgive in case that the reading that i recomend to you. You have read previously :-). Yours sincerely Fonch.
Eve, I highly recommend getting into an RCIA program at a parish where you feel comfortable, as well as attending Mass there every Sunday; there is so much to learn just from the liturgy through the seasons of the Church year. Starting RCIA does not commit you to joining the Church or to any particular timetable, it just signals your interest in exploring.
Mod
Eve, what Jill said.
The Catholic Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Mystical Gospel of Thomas: Revelation of the Inner Christ (other topics)The Second Greatest Story Ever Told (other topics)
Prison Journal, Volume 1 The Cardinal Makes His Appeal (other topics)
Voyage to Alpha Centauri (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Georges Bernanos (other topics)Louis de Wohl (other topics)
E.A. Bucchianeri (other topics)
G.K. Chesterton (other topics)
Cathleen Medwick (other topics)
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Welcome to the group! We all fall short of the glory of God.