Three Good Catholic Books: Our Lady of Fatima, St. Francis of Assisi, & St. Thomas of Aquinas

The feast of Our Lady of Fatima is on May 13. This blog post will feature a book on Our Lady of Fatima together with two other books of two popular saints, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas of Aquinas. Although devotion to Mary and the saints are not based in Scriptures, these liturgical practices are authentic. They are based and deeply rooted in a tradition of prayers and authentic cults exercised by Chrisitian communities since the time of the apostles after Pentecost. They kept the flame of love of God alive in this cult of prayers - meditating on the holiness of Mary and the heroic virtues of the saints. These early Christian communities believe that seeking the intercession of Mary and the saints will have their petitions brought before God easily and answered swiftly.

Three good Catholic books

Many people have found solace, encouragement, and meaning from life's ups and downs reading many kinds of books. But the best books to read are Catholic books: like simple biographies and stories that inspire and encourage all to do the greater good. These are written often in simple terminologies. The stories of saints, who are as human as anyone of us but have become victorious over their sinful nature in life and in work can surely uplift any heart and soul who reads their biographies. Anyone can easily relate with their stories of brokenness, pain, and their struggles in life. Their preserved stories encourages the faithful to continue to seek Christ and to be inspired to ease the pain and brokenness of others as well.

Three Catholic books suggested in this post are:

• Our Lady of Fatima by William Thomas Walsh
• Saint Thomas Aquinas: "The Dumb Ox" by G. K. Chesterton
• St. Francis of Assisi by Johannes Jörgensen

The Miracle of the Sun at Fatima

The Catholic faith is popularly known for the many accounts of miracles connected with the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in different parts of the world. Not all apparitions are authentic. However, those apparitions which call the people to repent and to permanently convert from sinful ways and habits, are usually the ones which the Church studies, and makes officially known as authentic. An example of an authentic apparition is the one at Fatima, Portugal. It is here that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three children with a message for the world to repent and be converted back to God. So that the world may believe that the message truly comes from God, a miracle occured in October 13, 1917. When 70,000 people were gathered at Fatima on that day, it rained first and then "the sun whirled like a gigantic "fire-wheel", causing the rain-soaked clothes of the people to become miraculously dry. Many people's lives were affected by that miracle. It began their road to conversion to a life with genuine faith in God. The miracle performed was a sign to the world that God indeed cares for all; He is a Father who holds the world and His children's lives in His hands. It also prepared the world to an incoming evil: a prediction of the Second World War. The messages of the apparition and the story of this miracle is well presented in the book "Our Lady of Fatima" by William Thomas Walsh.

Thomas the Dominican

Saint Thomas belonged to the Order of Preachers, known popularly as the Dominicans. In his student days, he was known by his fellow classmates to be slow, modest and retiring, thus gaining the title, "The Dumb Ox". Little did his classmates know that he would soon be the reference point for the philosophy of the Catholic faith. Up to now, his writings continue to be a classic reference point in the teaching magisterium of the Church. A biography written on him by G. K. Chesterton will inspire anyone who seeks the truth on the existence of God. It can create a great desire for a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith and its philosophy. The experience of knowing God as Truth can transform any person to become more than what he was before - to live as God's instrument for greater good of all in the responsibilities of his or her state of life.

The "Poverello"

Of all the saints recognized in the Catholic faith, the most popular and loved by all is St. Francis of Assisi. Up to modern times, especially when there is an important concern for the preservation of wildlife, the pursuit of balance in the world's ecological environments, and for the cause of world peace, the person of St. Francis looms before all in the world as a solution. His spirituality springs forth from his love of God as Creator: a God who loves the "Poverello" and who loves all that He created. St. Francis' influence is so strong that it encourages and inspires all people to have a positive outlook in life. This positive mindset springs most of all from the perspective of God's goodness and mercy. It is this mindset that is produced when one reads the biography written by Johannes Jörgensen. All those who read the book will certainly be inspired to seek peace and to be an instrument of peace: witnessing to all creation a life that seeks the good of all.

Catholic books are spiritual treasures

There is a lot of wisdom in life to be gained by reading Catholic books like the ones reviewed above. These three books, originally published by Image Books from 1954-1956 A.D., preserves those spiritual treasures. For Catholics who wish a deeper love for God and a better understanding of the Catholic faith, you can search for these books online.

Ascension Sunday (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) Ascension Sunday (B), May 2009

First reading: Acts 1:1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 47
Second reading: Ephesians 4:17-24
Gospel reading: Mark 16:15-20

"Jesus was taken up into heaven and took His seat at God's right hand."

The account of the Lord's ascension in the gospel of Mark is very brief. It begins with Jesus appearing to His Eleven apostles and commanding them to undertake a global mission of evangelization and baptism. Jesus adds, that belief in the Good News will save all those who accept the Gospel, but refusal to believe in the Gospel will condemn the unbelievers. The signs by which those who believe, will know that they are faithful to the Gospel, are these: they will have the power to expel demons; to speak new languages; to handle serpents without them being harmed; to be unharmed also from poison; to heal the sick and bring them to recovery. After saying all these to His Eleven apostles, Jesus ascended into heaven and seated at the right of His Father. The work that the Lord did in His earthly ministry is commissioned to the Eleven, and the message they are to proclaim to all people will be accomplished through the spiritual power Jesus grants them to perform in His name.

The Kingdom of God is not a political power or state. It is a spiritual Kingdom with a force to compel humanity to journey with all creation to God. Therefore the power Jesus gives to His apostles is a strong spiritual power more than a temporal one. Thus, the mission entrusted to the Eleven is a mission empowered by this spiritual power. This mission is being accomplished: first, throughout the centuries through the early Christian communities; second, as the Church is doing so through her sacraments and apostolic works to all cultures; and third, as the Church will continue to do so with all the lay faithful in her global mission to all. It was during His Ascension that Christ expressed His mission more definitely to the apostles. These Eleven apostles will soon receive the full spiritual power of the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit descends upon them at Pentecost. Pentecost will lead them to all truth - a truth they must bring to all humanity. This truth is about Jesus, & the Kingdom Christ has established during His earthly mission. As Jesus now ascends into heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit, to be with all His followers not only for their time, but up to our present time and until the end of the world.

In this mystery of Christ's Ascension, we catch a glimpse of the glory of God. The Eleven witnessed this, and all the faithful now believe in this mystery by faith in the gospel and the traditions of the Church. When Jesus left His earthly ministry into the responsible hands of the Eleven apostles, these apostles in turn, share their mission and ministry to both the clergy in the hierarchical structure of the Church and to religious communities and lay people in the charismatic movements. The glory that the apostles witnessed in the ascension of Jesus, will be the glory that all the faithful will also share with Christ, if all the baptized accept each one's share of the responsibility and work on it towards completion. This responsibility is in the apostolic works and ministry of the Church - to build the Kingdom of God in the same manner that Jesus did in His earthly mission and ministry. Let us therefore thank the Father, give Him praise and honor forever, for gifting us with His Son Jesus, that we may share too in His life of glory - a life of grace that humanity had lost because of the sin of our first parents. With Jesus, there is always hope again for all of humanity. Hope in God and His Kingdom is the way.

6th Sunday of Easter (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) 6th Sunday of Easter (B), May 11, 2009

First reading: Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 98
Second reading: 1 John 4:7-10
Gospel reading: John 15:9-17

"Live on in My love."

This passage from the gospel of John teaches about God's word, action and His expression of love in the life and action of Jesus. God's word of love is not only in Christ's discourse in this passage from John, but also in the many signs He had performed all throughout the gospel. In His discourse, Christ makes all aware that we are in union with God's love if we live in His love - a love He lives in His love of the Father. This love of Christ makes everyone's joy complete. The measure by which everyone is to increase the quality of this love, is in the measure Christ exemplified by His whole life and mission: a great love of the Father and the Kingdom which all His followers are to continue until the end of the age. This quality of love bore much fruit in the Resurrection of Christ and will continue to bear fruit, and will endure, if all the baptized and the faithful continue to obey the command of Jesus: to love one another under the standard of His love.

Returning to the discourse in John 5:9-17.
The gospel of John has a distinctive difference with the other gospels. Whereas the other three gospels can be seen and viewed through common themes (Matthew and Luke borrow passages from Mark), John's gospel is structured and themed differently, and the text comes from a different scriptural tradition. The discourses in the gospel of John are more lofty, while the synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke), ground their writing in the humanity and person of Jesus. What however, brings all these gospel traditions together, and unites them into a common theme, is Christ's commandment of love. Mark, Matthew and Luke has Jesus saying: "Love the Lord God with all your mind, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as your self". Each gospel's tradition may distinguish each one from the other, but the message of love in their passages all say the same refrain: we are to love God with our whole being, and to love our neighbor as our self.

The reality of love that every human being grows up with is still found in traditional institutions that continue today in modern living: in the family, in school, in work and professional life, with religious communities or lay organizations, with people in one's neighborhood or in the parish, and with other cultures encountered in travels around the world. The love expressed in these situations, and in the specific relationships it is immersed in, is not perfect. It can cause dissensions, conflicts, misunderstanding, envy or jealousy, abandonment or separation. But Jesus teaches now in the discourse that for love to bear fruit it must live on in God; it must be of God. It is a love, as St. Paul says in the letter to the Corinthians, that is pure, patient, not jealous or proud, not ill-mannered or selfish, not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. And the truth God teaches us about love is this: to have Christ as the source and example by which everyone is to act in love and and in the holiness required of each one's state of life.