A Missal for Toddlers and My Little Catechism (Ignatius Press)

Ignatius Press has recently released several new books for children, and today I would like to tell you about two of them, entitled A Missal for Toddlers and My Little Catechism.

A Missal for Toddlers is a 22 page board book, designed for children ages 3 to 5. The book is designed to walk your little one(s) through the important parts of the Mass. It starts with the Church bells ringing, the Sign of the Cross, the Gloria, the Liturgy of the Word, the Alleluia, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Concluding Rites. The illustration style is very inviting for young readers, and they do a nice job of illustrating what a child should be doing at all parts of the Mass. Since this book is a board book, it will last a bit longer and hold up to a little more abuse. I think is a great book to bring to Mass to help train your children and keep them focused on what's going on around them and not what the people in the pew next to them are doing. My son is recently three, so this came at the perfect time for me, and I don't plan on going to Mass without it in the foreseeable future.

My Little Catechism is a 100+ page paperback book designed for children ages 7+. It begins with an introduction which answers what a catechism is, how we can know Jesus, what the Bible is, and what the Creed is. The book is then divided into three major parts - The Father Creator, Jesus the Savior, and The Holy Spirit in the Church. Within each of these major parts are chapters which answer questions your child will most likely have. Some questions are as follows: Does God exist? What is sin? What was Jesus' childhood like? What is a sacrament? What is eternal life? With each chapter is an answer to the question and sections on what the Bible says, what we believe, a way to put it into practice, a prayer, and a little way to test yourself.

This book uses the Apostles Creed as a skeleton for its contents. I like the question and answer format, because it reminds me a bit of the Baltimore Catechism, only with more detail. I also like that this book is another title from the Magnificat Children's Books "series." Other books in this series and in the same style are The Catholic Bible for Children and Catholic Saints for Children. All books have the same style illustrations and cover art and make for a great set of books to put in your family library or as an aid in the classroom and parish. If you are looking for a way to better explain the faith to your children or let them read the answers on their own, I highly recommend this book!

These books were provided to me for free by Ignatius Press in exchange for honest reviews.

The Didache Bible (Ignatius Press)

Catholics get a bad reputation for not reading the Bible, and while it isn't entirely untrue, we Catholics could do a better job of reading, knowing, and studying the Bible. One of mine, and many other Catholics favorite Bibles has been the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. It is a great gift to the English speaking Church, but unfortunately, it is only the New Testament. Old Testament books are being churned out (slower than some of us would like), but until the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible's completion, people like myself have been using editions like the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) for their Old Testament readings and study. That was until the release of The Didache Bible! For the same price as the hardcover Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, you can get The Didache Bible, which contains both Old and New Testament. But what else makes this Bible special? I'm glad you asked!

The Didache Bible begins with an introduction of what Sacred Scripture is and how to read the Bible. It then provides a brief summary of each of the books of the Bible. For example, Genesis is summarized as such: Creation and origin of mankind (1-11); Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (12-36); and Joseph in Egypt (37-50). There is then a chronology of both the Old Testament and New Testament. Here, the beginning student of the Bible learns that the Old Testament books are not arranged chronologically. Lastly, before we get to the text of Scripture, there are several lists Scripture passages for personal meditation. The lists are "The Birth and Hidden Life of Christ," "The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ," "The Parables of Christ," "The Miracles of Christ," and "Passages About the Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

Each book of the Bible begins with an introductory page, which contains information on the author, date of composition, intended audience the book was written for, and main themes in the book of the Bible. Looking at the Gospel of Matthew in The Didache Bible and comparing it to the Gospel of Matthew in the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, one can see that the Scriptural cross-references are consistent. For example Matthew 1:1-17 cross-references to Luke 3:23-38. The footnotes however are different, in a good way. Footnotes from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible focus a lot on word-meaning and the original Greek and Aramaic that Matthew wrote in, as well as more Scriptural cross-references. The Didache Bible's footnotes, however, focus on what the text actually means, why it is important, and cross-references to the Catechism. This is the biggest difference between the two Bibles and is what makes The Didache Bible what it is. The commentaries at the bottom are all based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In fact, the Bible's cover even looks like the Catechism. On some pages, like at the bottom of pages 92-93 (Exodus 23-25), there are bits of the Catechism discussed, like "the obligation to speak the truth."

Other great features in The Didache Bible include full page apologetical explanations on topics such as Baptism, Mortal and Venial Sin, and Apostolic Succession, just to name a few. There is a brief glossary (if you consider 43 pages brief) and topical index at the end of the Bible, and there are also 27 full-color Biblical maps which include Old Testament maps (like The Journeys of Abraham) and New Testament maps (like Christ's Journey to Jerusalem). The size of the Bible is 6" x 9", with a font of 9.5 points. Both of these are smaller than the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, but the font was not a strain on my eyes to read. It is approximately 2000 pages, and the margins are very tiny, so don't expect to make many notes in this Bible. That's not a deal-breaker for me, as I do not make notes in my Bible. Lastly, there are not one, but two ribbon markers. I assume for both testaments, but if not that is how I plan to use mine.

Overall, I am greatly impressed with this edition of the Bible. Normally, if a book is that impressive, I would say that it deserves a place on your bookshelf. The Didache Bible, however, deserves a spot on your desk, dining room table, coffee table, or wherever you read your Bible. It will not be replacing my Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, but I will be using the two in conjunction. This is the complete Catholic Study Bible that Catholics have been awaiting for at least a decade. The only thing I found odd about it was that 1st and 2nd Maccabees were at the end of the Old Testament, instead of between the books of Esther and Job. So either pick up a copy of the hardcover now, or if you insist on leather, wait a little bit longer for that one to be released.

This Bible was provided to me for free by Ignatius Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes! To read some sample pages, click here.

The Faith (Servant Books)

I first discovered Fr. John Hardon last year when I had the opportunity to read and review his Catholic Dictionary. It was then that I realized that he had a gift for condensing the Catholic faith into manageable bites and making it easier to learn. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, but his books are still being published and republished, and his cause for beatification is currently in progress. Today, I am reviewing his book, The Faith, available from Servant Books.

When the Catechism of the Catholic Church was first published, a lot of people were confused as to what to do with this tome. It was well-organized by topic, but wasn't as reader friendly as the old Baltimore Catechism. To make matters worse, Catholics just started treating it as a reference guide. If you have a question that needs answered, simply turn to the index; find the topic; read that section; and put it back on the shelf until the next time you had a question. That is not how the Catechism is supposed to be read, so Fr. Hardon created this book, The Faith, so people would be able to understand the Catechism more fully.

The Faith can best be described as a compendium to the Catechism, though it should not be confused with the USCCB book, Compendium: Catechism of the Catholic Church. In The Faith, Fr. Hardon seeks to break open the Catechism and expose the heart and meat of it. The book is organized in the same order as the Catechism, but it is presented in a Q & A format. Each answer then contains the paragraph numbers from the Catechism which can be referenced for further clarity. Overall, there are 1306 questions and answers. These aren't basic questions with simple answers, but they are technical and deep, while still maintaining an ease of understanding. For example:

517. What is the history of Baptism in the Church?
From the day of Pentecost to the present, Baptism has been the door of the Church. It is through Baptism that a person is purified, justified, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (1226-1228)

With the recent Year of Faith, proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI, many people took up the challenge to read through the Catechism in a year. If you are like me and missed the opportunity, now is a good time to try again. It doesn't have to be in a year, but if you read a little bit each day of the Catechism and the corresponding Q&As in Fr. Hardon's book The Faith, then you will find a deeper knowledge of God and your Faith and hopefully a deeper love too. May we all strive for that deeper understanding and deeper love. May we also prayer for the beatification and canonization of Fr. Hardon. From the few books of his I have read, he was a great priest and a great teacher, and I can't recommend his books enough.

This book was provided to me for free by Servant Books in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Christ Our Compass (Franciscan Media)

I'm ashamed to admit that I have been sitting on this book for too long. It ended up in a pile that wasn't my normal review pile, and I just lost track of it. So without further ado, here is my review of Christ Our Compass.

Christ Our Compass is a twelve chapter book which hopes to provide the reader with a guide for making moral choices using Part Three of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as its reference. For those unfamiliar with the Catechism, Part Three focuses on "Life in Christ" and is further subdivided into two sections - "Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit" and "The Ten Commandments." With the Catechism as his backbone for this book, Fr. McBride devotes the first four chapters to Part Three Section One and the last eight chapters to Part Three Section Two.

In each chapter, he then highlights three things the Catechism asks us to do. For example, in Chapter Two, "Church as Mother and Teacher," Fr. McBride tells us to "1. Link morality and worship. 2. Appreciate the teaching authority (the Magisterium) of Church leaders. 3. Become a missionary of moral witness." While all eight chapters that focused on the Ten Commandments were enlightening, the chapter which I found the most interesting was Chapter Five, "Rediscover the Christian Sabbath." Fr. McBride begins by telling us the depressing statistics that only 23% of self-identified adult Catholics attend Mass every week. He further goes on to state that any given week, you'll find 31% of Catholics attending Mass, and that this a DRAMATIC drop from 62% in the 1950s. His three key teachings in this chapter are "1. Honor the day of rest. 2. Understand why Sunday Eucharist is essential. 3. Participate more fully in the Eucharist." Number Three really hit home with me. We can't look at Sunday as just an obligation/burden or something to check off. We are getting to see, hear, and receive Jesus. We should LOVE to go to Mass, not dread it.

Like all of Fr. McBride's books, this was to the point and full of wisdom. What is especially helpful in this book is that at the end of every chapter, he provides at least three ways to grow in knowledge and at least three ways to grow in faith. These six-plus ways are not only opportunities for reflection, but growth if you are brave enough to act on the question and make a change for the better. With the ever-growing threat of moral relativism, our youth and young adults are under attack. That is why I believe this book would make a great gift for those graduating high school or college and embarking on the next chapter of their lives. It is also is a useful guide for adults who are looking for simple answers to questions like, "What is a just war?" or "Why is euthanasia wrong?" I definitely recommend this book.

This book was provided to me for free by Franciscan Media in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click the link and hit Yes!

Pillar II: Sacraments (Ascension Press)

Welcome back to Stuart's Study and my first review of 2014. On January 1st, I issued a challenge to my readers to use this year to grow closer to God. There are many ways to accomplish this this, including reading the Bible, praying the Rosary, and reading Catholic books. I would also suggest joining a local Catholic study group or forming one if there isn't one close to where you live. Today, I will be reviewing a great study from THE source for Catholic studies, Ascension Press. It is called Pillar II: Sacraments from their Pillars series, which is a series of studies on the Catechism.

In Pillar II: Sacraments, Dr. Sean Innerst picks up where he left off from the previous study, Pillar I: The Creed. The focus of this second installation is on the liturgy and the sacraments. We learn that God created the world for worship. That's not to say that we are supposed to ignore the unfortunate or ignore evangelization; these two things have their place. However, our ultimate purpose as Creation is to love and worship God our Creator. After establishing the primacy of worship, Dr. Innerst then focuses on the significance of the number seven in the history of Israel and its status as a covenantal number. This leads us to an introduction of the Mass and Sacraments as covenant fulfilments, which memorialize Christ's saving work.

Sessions Two and Three focus on Liturgy, both the history and the actual celebration of it. Sessions Four through Eleven are where we dive into the Sacraments individually. Lastly, Session Twelve discusses sacramentals and funerals. It's hard to pick one section that was the most useful or interesting, as each section builds off the other and proves to be edifying. However, if forced to pick a session, I would cheat and pick the two sessions on the Eucharist. The outlines of the Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist were illuminating, and the comparison that shows the Jewish Temple fulfilled in the Mass was astounding!


Dr. Innerst is a superb teacher for this series. His mix of knowledge and presentation make it feel like you are receiving instruction from a trusted elder in the Church, like they did in the days of the New Testament. This is an A+ study on the Catechism, but like Pillar I in this series, it is not one you enter into lightly. There will be a lot of reading and a lot of praying with this study. You can choose to halfway participate and just show up for the DVD sessions, but you will not get even half the benefit you would get from doing the readings as well. Now, I have the hard part of waiting for Pillar III to be released! I can't wait to see what Ascension Press has in store for 2014, but I know it will be awesome!

I received this study for free from Ascension Press in exchange for an honest review.

Pillar I: The Creed (Ascension Press)

We are approaching the one year anniversary of Pope Benedict's Year of Faith. I can honestly say that I didn't expect we'd have a different Pope closing out the Year of Faith from when it was declared. While I welcome the spirit of love and humility that Pope Francis has brought into the Church since his election, I do miss Pope Emeritus Benedict as well. Sentimentality aside, though, let's get down to business. You have approximately twelve weeks left before the Year of Faith closes! What have you done to deepen your faith? If you made grand resolutions that you didn't see through, don't give up hope! You still have time to make this year count! I recommend a study series from Ascension Press called Pillars. Today, I will be reviewing Pillar I: The Creed.

If you've used an Ascension Press series before, then you might expect a series that requires a 3-4 day commitment each week. Don't expect so easy of a time with the Pillars series. After the Introduction in Week 1, you will be asked to read 100 paragraphs in the Catechism for Week 2. To many this will seem like a daunting task, and there is an option to read only a selection from the 100 paragraphs, but before you make this choice, I recommend that you try to read all 100 paragraphs. Anything worth having won't come easy, and if something is truly important to you, you will make time for it. So before you quit and go in with a defeatist attitude, I implore you to at least TRY.

The first thing we learn in this study is that the Catechism is NOT merely a reference book. I admit that I am guilty of using it as just that for many years. If I had a question, I knew I could turn to the index and find the appropriate paragraph to answer my question. While the Catechism is useful in this respect, it is "a road map to their journey of faith."  You then learn that the Catechism is broken into four parts or pillars - 1. The Creed, 2. The Sacraments, 3. Moral Life, and 4. Prayer. Ascension Press will have a DVD series for every pillar. The pillars can also be looked at as rungs on a ladder, which draw us ever closer to God and Heaven.

But what will you learn specifically in Pillar I: The Creed? You will learn primarily that the Creed is more than just some words we say at Mass every week. It is the entire story of salvation. Think about that next time you are saying it at Mass or while praying the Rosary. Perhaps the most fascinating part to me was Session 5, which discusses God and His Creation. This includes more than the physical world where you and I live; it also encompasses the spiritual world, where angels dwell. You'll also learn the role angels play in our salvation and the help they provide us.

With insightful lectures by Dr. Sean Innerst and in-depth questions to guide your study, you will benefit greatly from this study. I certainly did! In fact, I can't wait to dive into Pillar II: Sacraments! It was just released, and I bet it will be as great as Pillar I. Check back in December (or January if something comes up) for my review of it! If you're still not convinced that you have the time to pour into a series with this much depth, then I implore you to at least check out Dr. Innerst's book From Blessing to Blessing. It is only 71 pages, and will provide you a brief look at the Catechism.

If you found this review helpful, please click this link and hit Yes!

Children's Corner: Totally Catholic! A Catechism for Kids and Their Parents and Teachers

Another school year has ended, and that means our Parish catechesis is ending as well. Let me tell you that being a catechist is hard work! From a 4th Grade classroom with an average weekly attendance of one to a 7th Grade classroom where the children don't know 2nd Grade information, it's easy to get discouraged. To make matters worse, textbook chapters are hit or miss, and you wish that sometimes you had an outside source to pull from when your book isn't cutting it. Thankfully, Pauline Books and Media has released just such a book.

Totally Catholic! A Catechism for Kids and Their Parents and Teachers is a thorough resource for faith formation.The text is broken into 39 chapters and is based on the "Catechism of the Catholic Church." The first thought that popped in my head was wondering why they couldn't crank out one more chapter, since 40 is a well-known Biblical number." Apart from the typical textbook layout, each chapter contains the following sections:

• "Did you know?" - Fun facts related to the material in the chapter.
• "BTW" (short for "By The Way") - Extra information not covered in the chapter.
• "Brainstorm" - Questions of reflection on the topic covered in the chapter.
• "A Catholic VIP" - A short saint biography.
• "Scripture Link" - A passage in the Bible related to the covered topic.
• "From My Heart" - A short prayer.
• "Now Act!" - An activity to perform.

The parts I found the most helpful were the "Scripture Link" and "A Catholic VIP." It is so important for our children to know the Bible, but we don't always do a good job of emphasizing it like our Protestant brothers and sisters. I also liked that each chapter had a saint, because it introduces the children to saints they don't always hear about, like Sts. Perpetua and Felicity or St. Andrew Dung-Lac.

Although each chapter is only 4-6 pages, Totally Catholic! is a very well-laid out book with a TON of information! I couldn't find an established age range for the book, but I would say it is appropriate for children ages 8-10, but you could probably use it a little younger or older if you wanted. I believe this book is intended for use as a primary text for homeschooling or Parish education, but you would need to add some outside reading or extra activities with it. I do think it would make an excellent supplement though and I look forward to using it with my 4th Grade class next year. Five stars all the way. I just wish I had this book at the beginning of the school year and not the end.

As always, if you found this review helpful let me know by clicking this link and hitting Yes! Thank you!

Catholic Thursday: Clement of Rome and the Didache

As human beings, we like to think back to the good ole days. We think that life used to be simpler and more beautiful, and that everything modern is now bad or evil. Catholics have a tendency to fall into this trap as well, especially as it relates to our Church. We are always looking for that Golden Age of Christianity, before heresy crept in and everything was under attack by worldly and demonic forces. Well, the Church has never been perfect and never will be. Just read the New Testament, and you will see it in Paul's writings. However, if you would like to read writings after the New Testament, then I recommend starting with the Early Christian Fathers Series available at The Coming Home Network.

Today, I am reviewing Book 2 in the Early Christian Fathers Series, Clement of Rome and the Didache. Clement was considered the fourth pope, and the primary work attributed to him is his "Letter to the Corinthians." When reading through this letter, one can see that he had to write to this church community in Corinth for the same reasons that St. Paul did - sedition and rebellion. The "Didache" or "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" is considered a bridge between the writings of the New Testament and the Early Church Fathers like Clement or Polycarp. It contains early teachings used to guide the Church in her infancy.

In this book one finds both a new translation of the two works mentioned above, the "Didache" and Clement's "Letter to the Corinthians," and chapters explaining their context and content. I've tried reading these works before, particularly the translation of Philip Schaff, which were available for free online. While those texts were readable, they were a bit stilted. I guess that is to be expected since they were translated back in the 1800s. Kenneth Howell does a masterful job translating these two texts and provides plenty of footnotes at the bottom of every page to help the reader understand the texts better.

The most helpful part of the book is the chapters at the beginning, which set the stage for the subsequent texts. Like the Bible, one can pick up these works and read them and interpret them how they wish. To understand these texts, or the Bible for that matter, you need to understand the audience to whom they were written and their historical context. And while these works are not considered Scripture, they were widely read in the Early Church and thus hold an important message for us today. Therefore, I appreciated Dr. Howell spelling these things out in order to help us understand the meaning of these texts.

This book gets a 5 star rating from me as it helps make the Early Church Fathers accessible and readble to today's world. The only thing I would consider changing with regards to the book is the layout. Instead of putting all the chapters of introduction and explanation first and the texts second, I would break the book into two parts. The first part would have the explanatory chapters on Clement of Rome with the text to follow, and the second part would have the explanatory chapters on the "Didache" with the text to follow. I look forward to seeing how many books this series will ultimately comprise, and realize I now need to get Book 1, Ignatius Of Antioch & Polycarp Of Smyrna, in the series to read that as well.

 If you found this review helpful, please click this link and hit the Yes button. Thank you for your time.

Catholic Thursday: The Eucharist

Welcome back to Stuart's Study. For my faithful readers you'll notice that it says "Catholic Thursday," not "Orthodox Thursday." Don't worry. I'm not abandoning Orthodox books. The supply has just run dry for the time being, so I will be reviewing them once per month, as opposed to once per week like I had been doing. My apologies to my brothers and sisters in the East. Today, I am reviewing another Bible study book by Fr. Mitch Pacwa entitled, The Eucharist: A Bible Study Guide for Catholics.

Most people probably know Fr. Pacwa from one of his numerous shows on EWTN. However, he is also the author of several other Bible study books including one on The Year of Faith and another on St. Paul. In "The Eucharist," Fr. Pacwa helps us understand the true meaning of this Blessed Sacrament. We first start by seeing how it compares to the Old Testament sacrifice and then move on to the actual words of sacrifice used in both the New Testament and the Mass.

This book also discusses the parallels between the Eucharist and Passover while also explaining Christ's priesthood. The most fascinating part to me, though, was the section devoted to Jesus' words, "Eat my Body and Drink my Blood." This Biblical passage is definitely a stumbling block for many today and was in Jesus' day as well. I definitely believe that the Eucharist becomes the actual Body and Blood of Jesus, but this section helped me appreciate the Scriptural evidence of it even more.

I love Fr. Pacwa's Bible studies. They are straightforward and, unlike other studies, all you need is his book and a Bible. Divided into six sections, one could easily complete this study in a week. However, you could also choose to only do one section a week if you are crunched for time. If you want to understand the Jewish roots of the Eucharist, this book is for you. If you are friends with a bunch of Protestants who say the Eucharist is a symbol and not the actual Body and Blood of Jesus, then reading this book will provide you  Biblical examples for next time they say this. In reality, any Catholic with a pulse would benefit from this 5 star book. Pick it up from Our Sunday Visitor and deepen your appreciation of the Eucharist during The Year of Faith.

If you found this review helpful, click this link and hit the Yes button. Thanks!

Catholic Monday: Rebuilding Catholic Culture

Today on Catholic Monday I am reviewing, the book Rebuilding Catholic Culture: How the Catechism Can Shape our Common Life. This book is published by Sophia Institute Press, which is the publishing arm of Thomas More College and Holy Spirit College. "Rebuilding Catholic Culture" is like all their books I've read so far. They are dense and require you to focus and read slowly, which isn't a bad thing.

Using different sections of the Catechism, Dr. Topping divides his chapters into topics such as the Creed, Sacraments, and Prayer. He then explains how these topics shaped the world once, with the hope and possibility that they will again. Each chapter also eloquently and seamlessly serves as a stepping stone to lead you to the next chapter. At first glance in the Table of Contents, one might thinks this book is just a series of essays under a common theme. Instead, it is a carefully woven tapestry that provides a fuller picture the further you read.

The book also references Vatican II heavily, which isn't shocking as the Catechism was a direct result of Vatican II.  As pointed out by the author, one can see the previous influence of Catholic culture in our artwork and architecture, and even in our literature with works such as "The Lord of the Rings." However, the most interesting chapter to me concerned the family. It was both fascinating and depressing to see how far society has fallen. The traditional family is now anything but, as we have modern families with step-parents, two moms or two dads, or families where the parents aren't even married at all. Blessed John Paul II wrote and spoke openly about love and the functions of family life including service to society and, more importantly, service to the Church.

When I received this book, I thought I was getting a book which would go through the Catechism section by section and provide me with step-by step instructions on how to change the culture. Instead, I got a book that shows what the culture was like and how the Catechism and Church could shape it, if we only allow it to do so. I'm therefore having a hard time rating this book and waffled on giving it a 4 or a 5. The book is magnificently written and claims to be accessible. Yet it is a challenging read, which has the possibility to frustrate the average reader. However, I do like that the message is presented in a hopeful light, and not doom and gloom. For that reason, I am deciding upon a 5 with a caveat that the reader pace themselves while reading this book and don't try and chew it up and digest it all at once.