Best Mariology
Michael E. Gaitley, MIC, comes an extraordinary 33-day journey to Marian consecration with four giants of Marian spirituality: St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Fr.Michael E. Gaitley, MIC, is director of Evangelization for the Marian Fathersof the Immaculate Conception and director of Formation for the MarianMissionaries of Divine Mercy.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is a popular way to consecrate yourself to Jesus through Mary."
"This is a wonderful book."
"I have bought this book to give away and everyone I have given them states of the blessings they obtain by doing this consecration to Our Lady."
"Loved the book."
"Just as the Holy Trinity consecrated the Son to be Mary's child as Emmanuel, "God is with us", so to are we blessed when we consecrate ourselves to Christ through Mary."
"Well worth the read."
"I loved this retreat, I am consecrated to May."
"Good product."
In Behold Your Mother, Tim Staples takes you through the Church’s teachings about the Blessed Virgin Mary, showing their firm Scriptural and historical roots and dismantling the objections of those who mistakenly believe that Mary competes for the attention due Christ alone. Tim Staples respectfully but clearly answers every conceivable Protestant objection to Mary, the Mother of God. Tim Staples presents a remarkable defense of the six major Marian doctrines, including a veritable compendium of source material from the Bible, Fathers, and Church documents. Immediately after his tour of duty, Tim enrolled in Jimmy Swaggart Bible College and became a youth minister in an Assembly of God community. He converted to Catholicism in 1988 and spent the following six years in formation for the priesthood, earning a degree in philosophy from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania. Realizing that his calling was not to the priesthood, Tim left the seminary in 1994 and has been working in Catholic apologetics and evangelization ever since.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have seen other reviews who suggested that this book may be intended for those who are ready for take a deep plunge into Mariology and learn more profoundly the Marian doctrines and dogmas. The book is divided up into five parts: Part I: Mother of God. Part II: Full of Grace. Part III: Ever-Virgin. Part IV: Assumed into Heaven. Part V: Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix. Each part has sub chapters and categories that deal at length Mary and her role in each doctrine that are chalk-full of biblical and historical/traditional reference. However, I'd almost expect this sort of heavy biblical reference as Protestants tend to gravitate to Sola-Scriptura."
"Excellent read."
"Behold your mother is an excellent book on Marian doctrines, the Church's teachings about Mary are together with the mysteries of Christ."
"That man was of course Tim Staples, and I can think of no one more appropriate to write a Catholic apologetics book on Mary. It could have been titled "Mary and Fundamentalism" as, like Keating's book, it is written to defend Catholic doctrine (on Mary) by appealing in large part to the bible while also interacting with some of the strongest non-Catholic Christian objections. For example, Staples critiques Eric Svensen's claim that "Mary is the mother of some of Jesus." Part 1 defends the Mary's title Theotokos or "Mother of God." Hence we know that when Staples is critiquing their arguments, he is critiquing some of the best arguments against the claims of the Catholic Church available (and of course in my mind, doing it quite successfully). Staples argues convincingly that "full of grace" is a name given to Mary that signifies a reality within her. I foresee a Protestant being able to neutralize many of the arguments given by Staples simply by shedding doubt upon how exactly this phrase is translated. It seems reasonable for a Protestant to say "Look, I agree that many things about Mary you are claiming follow IF Kecharitomene is translated as "full of grace." Clearly I would be extremely happy to be proven wrong about this, but in order to be fair and not hold a Protestant to a standard I would not hold myself to, I currently see this as being a slight weakness of this argument (as, unless I missed it, Staples never argued exactly why it is clear that Kecharitomene must be translated as "full of grace"). Now that being said, this second Part also gives the best defense of Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant I have ever read. Staples also gives an argument for the Immaculate Conception based on Mary being "blessed." Staples also gives some excellent insights into the "Mary as new Eve" argument. In addition to the many parallels, he points out that while Eve received her human nature from only one person (Adam), so Jesus received his human nature form only one person (Mary) and that these are the only pairs of people in the history of the world for this to happen to. Part II ends with Staples answering many common Protestant objections from scripture. Finally, Staples points out that just as Jesus fulfilled and was totally obedient to all the Jewish laws perfectly (e.g. circumcision) as well as being baptized because it was "fitting" (and NOT because he needed it), so too Mary was obedient to the law. As is one of the themes of the book, Staples goes on to say why belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary matters. Staples shows that these supposed brothers cannot be uterine brothers by noting through other biblical evidence that some have a different mother and others a different father than Mary and Joseph, respectively. Once again, Staples addresses an argument by Protestant Eric Svensen who claims that the Greek word for "until" necessarily implies the action the existence of the action it is modifying. This is the one doctrine where all of a sudden, many Protestants become quite interested in whether or not such a teaching can be found in ancient antiquity and sure enough, since this one has a reputation as being "the latest Catholic doctrine found in history," Protestants are quick to note that it wasn't until at least 499 or so that we see any mention of it. What is interesting about this part is that it isn't focused so much on Mary per se, but rather on the Catholic doctrine of justification."
"Excellent book!"
"Staples gives sound reasoning, Tradition, and biblical support in response to many Protestant objections to Marian dogmas."
"Tim Staples explains every Marian dogma in clear historical and scriptural terms."
"This is a good read for Catholics and would-be Catholics."
Bestselling author, Scott Hahn illuminates a fresh and enlightening perspective on Mary, Mother of God, and her central importance in the Christian faith . Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God is theologian Scott Hahn's follow-up to his bestselling The Lamb's Supper . Readers outside Catholicism who are mystified by the centrality of Mary in Catholic devotion, and Catholics who wish to become more knowledgeable and reflective about a central aspect of their faith, will be especially drawn to Hail, Holy Queen . Hahn also deals carefully with the Catholic Church's teaching on Mary's immaculate conception and assumption into heaven, and answers the objections of those who, as he once did, regard devotion to Mary as akin to goddess worship. Although he writes mainly to enlighten fellow Catholics about the basis for the Church's great reverence for Mary, Hahn's well-researched work will be instructive to anyone interested in the history of the Church's teaching on this subject.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A very well written book that has increased my relationship with my Blessed Mother it has been a beautiful way to increase my faith I do recommend."
"This time he took me through a topic I love: why we should love and honor our Blessed Mother, the Mother of God."
"Much prefer Life of Union with Mary and True Devotion to Mary!"
"Interesting and informative."
"Deepening love for our blessed mother."
Best Roman Catholicism
Filled with user-friendly examples, humorous stories, and anecdotes from the heroic and inspiring lives of Jesuit saints and average priests and brothers, The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything is sure to appeal to fans of Kathleen Norris, Richard Rohr, Anne Lamott, and other Christian Spiritual writers. This includes not only believers in God, but those who eschew religion, reject God, explore the spiritual terrain, or are just plain confused. Translating the essence of the Jesuit philosophy into layman’s terms, he uses both traditional stories and personal anecdotes to vividly illustrate the Jesuit approach to God, friendship, social justice, decision-making, prayer, simplicity, obedience, and self-actualization.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"James) for seeing God in your life and putting into practice this wisdom. James's flashes of incisive humor as well as various accounts from his personal journey, and you have a fine book."
"On the one hand there are plenty of great theological texts to read (Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Rahner, Barth, etc), but suffice it to say they are not the type of book you curl up with at the end of the day. Martin honestly and respectfully engages readers who may be atheists or agnostics, as well as any Christian still examining their faith. But give Martin credit for not being embarrassed of his faith and making a strong case for Christianity. The essence of the book is that every aspect of your life is spiritual -- faith is not just concerned with your thoughts on God, but what you say in those emails to a coworker. This theme plays a major role throughout the book as Martin explores how those of us who are not Jesuits can still actively incorporate spirituality into our lives. Finally, many readers may be surprised to hear that people who pledge obedience see their spiritual life as one of freedom and detachment from distracting influences as opposed to a set of rules to follow. He came to his own faith decisions after a, ahem, active collegiate experience and after having a successful business career. He knows what many people deal with daily, and although not the head of a family, he understands the stresses the life of a parent has to contend with in addition to finding prayer time. In Martin's version (and we learn throughout that Jesuits are a pretty flexible lot on faith issues) we start with gratitude for what went well, and then review all actions of the day. Regardless of one's faith inclination, a thorough review of the day and an accounting for one's actions is bound to create opportunities to move forward."
"This book has been transformational for me."
"Recommend it for anyone wanting to deepen their spiritual journey - Catholic or not."
"It would also be an excellent source of information for anyone searching to explore which path of belief they are drawn toward but at the same time offers opportunity for deeper exploration for those committed to a specific religious path."
"Should have bought this as a 'real' book instead of a Kindle book, will probably have to do that."
"I really enjoyed this book."
"Martin is his usual charming, sharing, caring self and yet the sheer joy which he feels in sharing this beautiful path with the reader just makes this book something special."
Best Catholicism Self Help
It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. In 1994, Rwandan native Ilibagiza was 22 years old and home from college to spend Easter with her devout Catholic family, when the death of Rwanda's Hutu president sparked a three-month slaughter of nearly one million ethnic Tutsis in the country. This searing firsthand account of Ilibagiza's experience cuts two ways: her description of the evil that was perpetrated, including the brutal murders of her family members, is soul-numbingly devastating, yet the story of her unquenchable faith and connection to God throughout the ordeal uplifts and inspires. This book is a precious addition to the literature that tries to make sense of humankind's seemingly bottomless depravity and counterbalancing hope in an all-powerful, loving God.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza is an insightful and heartfelt look at the trials and tribulations of being a hunted Tutsi in a Hutu ruled Rwanda."
"Insightful and scary what our world is like and should never be."
"Prayer, as she practices and teaches it, is a combination of meditation, trust in God, positive thinking, envisioning the desired outcome, and acknowledging every "small" (and large!)."
"This is the most incredible story I have ever read."
"She is enormously persuasive because she has all elements of great and influential rhetoric: being a victim, she has ethos and pathos embedded in her story, along with the logos of the reasonable coming of faith and forgiveness. Ilibagiza is never manipulative in recounting her story, she is honest and open about her internal struggles and we see the outcome of such earnest prayer and optimism, and it is pure goodness. I used to say that I hated reading, but with Left to Tell, I realized that it was the only way I could hear what she had survived to tell--I couldn't experience it in a movie the way I could with a book, and the chances of me meeting her and getting such a detailed story was unlikely."
"The story is terrifying and gruesome in depicting the things that human beings are capable of carrying out (or ignoring); but at the same time shows humanity's better side - its' capacity for love and forgiveness in the face of some of the worst atrocities ever perpetrated."
"The reader will be in awe as he or she progresses through the details of the story, but will emerge with a sense of hope from Ilibagiza’s ability to forgive and love."