A link and a special offter...

There is an interesting article over at Godspy.com about Dorothy Day, her spirituality and lay apostolate, (here).

Requiem Press is running a 10-day special: Buy Russell Shaw's "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" at regular price and get John Meehan's "Two Towers-the de-Christianizaton of America and a Plan for Renewal" at half price. These two book are really complimentary.

John Meehan considers first the crisis in the Church in America from a historical point of view- in his own words, "this book uncovers the deep-seated historical and cultural roots of the crisis in the Catholic Church in America". He then proposes, especially to the bishops, a three-step proposal which considers a reform and renewal of Catechesis, the Liturgy, and the vocation of the laity.

Of course Russell Shaw, in his book, considers in detail this last-that is the vocation of the laity. Mr. Shaw also takes a historical approach, tracing the role of the laity in the Church from apostolic times to the present, with a look and suggestion for the future.

An Interview...

Many Catholics who have been frustrated at the state of the Church, especially the Liturgy, for the last few decades have honed in (with great hope) on Pope Benedict XVI's address to the Roman Curia on December 22nd. (We posted an excerpt here).

John Meehan in "Two Towers-the de-Chritianization of America and a Plan for Renewal" (Requiem Press, 2005) makes a very similar case, that is that the true interpretation of the Council is not one of a break with tradition, but reform in light and in continuity with tradition-and that for the most part in America, the true implementation of the Counceil had not yet taken place.

This morning we link to an article by Brian Mershon in which two American bishops also make the same type of case. The article is here. Here is a brief excerpt:

Q. Your Excellencies, Pope Benedict XVI's pre-Christmas Roman Curia address had a theme of the competing claims, and subsequent struggle, for the true Second Vatican Council. Do you have any comments?

Bishop Corrada: The Holy Father has been following this theme, and he picked it up from Pope John Paul II, but has emphasized it more. I think that Pope Benedict XVI has a very deep insight because of his philosophical and theological formation that the authentic teachings of the Church have to be followed, and that the Church has to come back to certain disciplines that some bishops and many of the faithful and priests have gotten away from.

And that discipline is the discipline of the sacraments, the discipline of the liturgy, and even the discipline of the Latin language. I think that is what he is making reference to, and I think it is wonderful that he is making that emphasis.

I think, of course, that John Paul II [intended that as well]. But this is something that will take a long time. I think this is the battle for the legitimate and genuine Second Vatican Council teachings to be known by bishops and priests and to put it into action. ..

Another Review of "Catholic Laity" ...

... Actually not quite a review, but a recommendation? This time at the National Center for the Laity-online here. Check it out.

Coming up...

We have been silent for a week-but much has been going on at Requiem Press. We have started to set our schedule for book releases for 2006-07. Here is a partial preview, I expect to have a couple more surprises in the next week or so:

Spring Release: "Giving Up Stealing For Lent" by Brother Charles Madden OFM Conv. (You may recognize him from his popular book on Freemasonery published by TAN books.

January 2007 Release: "America's Drug Deal-Abortion, Vaccines, & Corruption" by Jameson Taylor. Check out his website here.

Next week I will talk a little more about both these books. More to come...

Online now...

Just noticed the excerpt from Russell Shaw's "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" is now available online - here. Pass it around...

Lay Mission Families ...

Don't know much about the Neocatechumenal Way. I have vaguely heard of them in the past; recently they have been in the news because they have been told apparently to get their liturgical practices in line with the rest of the Roman rite. ZENIT had a article about their audience with Pope Benedict XVI yesterday. I found this interesting:

In his first audience granted to communities of the Neocatechumenal Way, Benedict XVI sent more than 200 families on mission to dioceses around the world.

Addressing the families -- parents and children -- who leave their countries to evangelize abroad, the Holy Father said: "They are families that leave without many human supports, but who count above all on the support of Divine Providence."

The idea of "mission families" was born in 1986, in response to Pope John Paul II's appeal to undertake a new evangelization. Their members, who belong to Neocatechumenal communities, offer themselves as volunteers to go to nations where the Church needs help.

The fate of each one of them is designated by the leaders of the Way, taking into account the specific needs of each area and in response to the requests of bishops who ask for families to be sent to their dioceses.

Guest Blogger...The Vocation of Motherhood

One of the things we would like to do on this blog is to have guest bloggers write about their vocations-what it means to them, how they discerned it, or how they live it out. We haven't done much of this so far, but today we start. Wife, mother, and author, Agnes Penny (disclaimer-also my sister) talks below about her vocation....

It’s hard to think of our life’s work as a vocation from God when our days are as hectic and busy as most mothers’ are. Consumed with changing diapers, scrubbing dishes and getting the children to pick up all the tiny scraps of paper that clutter the floor after a morning of making paper snowflakes, our spiritual lives can all too easily be neglected.

And yet, as mothers, we have a unique opportunity to grow in holiness and to lead others to sanctity as well. We learn patience and perseverance by gently, consistently and firmly teaching and disciplining our children. We learn humility by experiencing our every fault being observed, commented on, and even imitated by our ever-attentive children who absorb, indiscriminately, everything we do. We learn unselfishness by giving ourselves – even our very bodies during times of pregnancy and breastfeeding – and all our time and energy in nurturing and providing for the all the needs of the innocent darlings with whom God has blessed us. We are on-call 24 hours a day, losing sleep, eating interrupted meals, and serving others even when we ourselves feel sick. Truly, we mothers, among all people, have a unique chance to learn to suffer and to love as Christ Himself loves us.

But that is not all. In nurturing the spiritual lives of our children, we mothers can find an even greater opportunity to grow in holiness ourselves. After all, we want our children to be saints – but how can we teach them to be saints unless we become saints first? We cannot give them what we do not have. Therefore, as we try to explain the wonder of Christmas, the solemnity of Lent, and the miracle of Easter, we must first develop a true appreciation for these liturgical seasons ourselves. We must foster a devotion to Our Lady, the angels and the saints in ourselves if we desire to pass this devotion on to our children. Lastly, we must cultivate a real yearning for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist if we hope to prepare our children to long to receive Him as well.

Being a mother in today’s world is not easy. But then, becoming a saint has never been easy. Yet we, as mothers, whose very vocation is so wrapped up in loving and serving others, have an unparalleled chance to become holy and to help others to become holy as well. Let us pray to Our Lady, the Mother of mothers, that we may take full advantage of this glorious opportunity to become, and to form, saints!

Agnes M. Penny is the author of Your Labor of Love-A Spiritual Companion for Expectant Mothers, published by Tan Books, and of Your Vocation of Love: A Spiritual Companion for Catholic Mothers, which will be coming out soon. She and her husband, Daniel, are currently expecting their fifth child.

Speaking of Catholic Culture....

"Catholic culture comes from an active Catholic faith. Unless we truly believe and practice that faith, “Catholic culture” very quickly becomes a dead skin of nostalgia and comfortable habits." - Archbishop Chaput (in the January crisis Magazine - not online; via Southern Appeal. )

Nice comments here about Russell Shaw's "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church". Here is an excerpt:

He also recommends promoting a vigorous Catholic subculture without the triumphalism (we-got-it-you-don’t), intellectual vapidity or at least minimalism, and defensiveness of 30s-through-50s American Catholicism. Instead, he wants "dynamically orthodox" infrastructure "motivating Catholics" to evangelize the world.

This is good stuff: confident and unapologetic defining and embracing a position and purpose. (Did I just do that? Give three pairs in sequence? Amazing.) It’s from Shaw’s new book, Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church (Requiem Press). Also amazing: the book is titled without catchy catchword as grabber.

Catholic subculture re-visited

We have discussed Catholic subculture here before (see this post). It is a very important idea-and crucial to evangelizing the culture. Requiem Press was started to revive good, accurate, and inspiring history to counter the secularized and Protestantized revisionist versions of history which are so prevalent and false. And we will continue this mission...

But we are also creating a new branch: that is, books which celebrate Catholic culture (then and now). If you have ever read Maria VonTrapp's memoirs - the reader is invited into a very Catholic world in a very natural way. Requiem Press hopes to find and publish books which do the same with stories and poetry and song.

As noted elsewhere, this isn't such a big step off the path. If you look at our last three new releases, each touches on Catholic culture. Mr. Meehan's "Two Towers-the de-Christianization of America and a Plan for Renewal" talks about how the "American/Protestant culture" infiltrated and influenced the Church (and Catholic culture) in America. "The Chapel Veil" makes the case for the revival of one particular expression of Catholic culture. "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" has a long section on the need for a new Catholic subculture and its position at the service of evangelization. Each of these books has a historical aspect also (we are connected to the past). Thus it is fitting that Requiem Press move out in this direction.

The first book in this series celebrating Catholic culture is not due out until March 2006. It is the recollections of the youngest of 11 children growing up in an Irish Catholic family in Baltimore during the middle part of the 20th century. The author, who has written before- (Freemasonry- Mankind's Hidden Enemy by TAN books), is Brother Charles Madden O.F.M. Conv.

And there are several others in the works-stay tuned.

It has been a long time since the last post. I hope everyone is enjoying a peaceful and joyous Christmas!

Today's post will be short. Within the next two weeks we (that is RequiemPress) should have some exciting announcements about upcoming projects.

Today and tomorrow only, we have a special deal when you purchase "Witnesses to the Holy Mass and other sermons" with "The Maccabees-Forgotten Heroes of Israel" ($12.95 for both).

Happy New Year!