Jesus: A Pilgrimage (Harper Collins)

Within the Roman Catholic world, there exist a few "celebrity priests." I generally have mixed feelings on the "celebrity priest," as it is something that can lead to scandal if the priest is not properly grounded in the Lord. You might be asking, "Who exactly qualifies as a celebrity priest?" Fr. Pavone and Fr. Pacwa are the first that come to my mind due to their extensive work on EWTN. Three more recent additions to the ranks include Cardinal Dolan, Fr. Barron, and Fr. Martin have been added to this list though. I first learned about Fr. Martin watching "The Colbert Report," and I wasn't sure how I felt about him at first. I have since warmed up to him after reading several of his Harper Collins' works, A Big Heart Open to God and Jesus: A Pilgrimage, the latter of which I will be reviewing today.

Jesus: A Pilgrimage begins with an introduction that clearly lays out what the book is and more importantly, what the book is not. I point this out because, I generally go in with preconceived notions of what I expect or want from a book. Fr. Martin is quick to point out that this book is not a theological discussion on who Jesus is, nor is it a Bible commentary. This book, however, is a look at Jesus, as we see Him in the Gospels, through the viewpoint of Fr. Martin's education, experience, and a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land. If we keep this in mind when reading the book, we can give it a proper review.

Each chapter is laid out in the same format. Fr. Martin first mentions the place he is going to visit. He then describes the journey there. Details from this include the actual process of travelling to the location, scenery along the way, and bits of the culture and environment he encountered. Then, comes the heart of each chapter - his reflections. Mixed with theology, history, tradition, and Fr. Martin's wisdom and wit, we put ourselves in the exact moment and location of Jesus and try and picture what it must have been like for both Jesus and those around Him. We then end with the Scripture passage which served as the basis for the site Fr. Martin visited.

The most interesting chapter in this book to me was entitled, "Nazareth." In this chapter Fr. Martin talks about the "Hidden Life" of Jesus. This term refers to the period of Jesus' life, age 12-30, that is absent in the Bible. Fr. Martin, like many, are drawn to this period of Jesus' life because they imagine it is a lot like our lives. "None of us is going to be preaching and performing miracles – at least not as Jesus did – but all of us live everyday lives, as Jesus did in Nazareth, being taught and cared for by our parents, loving and squabbling with our families, playing with our friends, learning what it means to be an adult, and in time earning a living." I never thought of Jesus in this light, but it does make sense. In this chapter, I also learned about just how small and poor Nazareth was. Knowing this, it really puts into perspective the disparaging remarks people make regarding Nazareth. It also shows you the environment Jesus grew up in, and influenced his parables.

Fr. Martin is an excellent storyteller. He does a fine job painting pictures of the places he visited, and he draws out details in the Gospels that one could easily miss. There were, however, parts of this book that I didn't enjoy. The beginning annoyed me a little when he waffled about wanting to go to the Holy Land. (Really what Christian, wouldn't want to see the place of Jesus?!) I also got bored in the beginning reading about the trek to get to each of their destinations, and would think to myself, "Hurry up and get there." However, I eventually accepted that that was the nature of this book as a personal pilgrimage. It would be incomplete to ignore the journey and focus solely on the destination. Those complaints aside, I still enjoyed the book. It was quite interesting to see Jesus, the Gospel passages, and the modern day Holy Land through the eyes of Fr. Martin.

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

Encountering Jesus in Word, Sacraments, and Works of Charity and A Concise Guide to Catholic Social Teaching (Ave Maria Press)

It's another two review day here at Stuart's Study. I'm not a fan of this format, but sometimes the books are just too plentiful that if you don't review two at a time, you'll never get to them all. Tough problem to have, right? Poor me. I have too many books. In all seriousness though, these two books are available from Ave Maria Press and are both quick but profound read that will help us grow in our understanding of the Catholic Faith.

Encountering Jesus is a brief 100 page book by the same author, Fr. Peter J. Vaghi, as the Pillars of Faith (4 Volume Set). Broken into three parts, Fr. Vaghi tells us how we can encounter Jesus in Word (the Bible), Sacraments (specifically Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist), and Charity. Weaving these three elements together, we get a clear message of what the New Evangelization is, and we also get a blueprint on how to draw closer to Jesus.

As a former Protestant, I am well-versed in how to encounter Jesus in Scripture, and as a convert, I have had experience drawing closer to Jesus through the Sacraments. However, I never considered charity as a way to accomplish this. That is why I chose that section as my favorite section. Using the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Last Judgment, Fr. Vaghi paints a picture of what true charity is and what it reveals. He says, "True charity, after all, is that which opens persons to knowledge of the Great Mystery: that of the Father's love for man in Jesus Christ, found concretely in and through someone else." If we see Jesus in the faces of those who need our help, the world would be a better place. It's easier said than done, I know. If you are looking for a short but powerful book on how to improve your relationship with Jesus, this is the book for you!

A Concise Guide to Catholic Social Teaching lives up to its name and then some! In this revised edition, Fr. Kevin McKenna touches on topics of social justice such as human dignity, rights of workers, and care for the poor, just to name a few. Under these umbrella labels, we can dive deeper and see specific issues. For example, Life and Dignity of the Human Person includes issues such as racism, capital punishment, and abortion. Fr. McKenna carefully and succinctly addresses all of these issues, using Church documents released by popes and bishops.

With recent talks in the news about increasing minimum wage, it was interesting to read what the great minds in our Church had to say about the rights of workers. However, these sections discuss more than unions and a just or living wage. They also discuss relationships between employer and employee, relationships between wealthy and poor nations, and the dangers of consumerism. Though the media chooses to ignore each of these sub-points and focus solely on sensational journalism, they are important as well and should be brought to the table.

Fr. McKenna has a masterful way of dissecting complex papal documents, like Evangelium Vitae or Caritas in Veritate, and explaining them in readable chunks. As great as the chapters are, the appendices are equally wonderful! I especially like the "Homily and Catechetical Message Guide." In this first appendix, the reader gets a list of Mass readings for all three years and which ones correspond to which issues. For example, the readings for the Feast of the Ascension fall under the category of "Dignity of the Human Person." In summation, I would recommend this book to all priests and any laity with an interest in the social teachings of the Church in a clear and concise manner.

These books were provided to me for free by Ave Maria Press. If you found the reviews helpful, click here or here and hit Yes!

Lent at Ephesus (DeMontfort Music)

We're living in a Golden Age of Catholic media right now. Hundreds of Catholic books are being published every year. Companies like Ignatius Press are releasing high quality movies on Mary, Augustine, Peter, etc. Word on Fire. Fr. Barron. Catholicism! Ascension Press is producing quality Bible and faith studies for people young and old. Brother Francis is catechizing our young ones via cartoon. And LAST and certainly NOT LEAST, we have singing nuns belting out BEAUTIFUL music that keeps hitting #1 on the charts AND staying there for weeks, if not months. Today, I am privileged to be a part of the blog tour for the latest CD from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, entitled Lent at Ephesus.

I first learned of this album from Carmel Communications, and ever since I received the news of its upcoming release, I knew I had to own it! Lent at Ephesus is another masterful album from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles. Who are the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles? They are a group of nuns living a religious life in a Benedictine Order. They take their lead from Mary and her hidden life at Ephesus. Church Tradition holds that she went to live with John the Beloved Apostle in Ephesus after Jesus died. Since this group of nuns have a devotion to Mary at this time in her life, all of their albums are labelled "at Ephesus."

When comparing it to the Advent at Ephesus album, one sees that there is substantially more music in this album - 7 songs more to be precise. The songs are sung in an a-capella style, with a nice blend of English and Latin songs. The quality of the voices and audio are heavenly, and the choice of songs is divine. I also really love the sleeve note, as it contains the words to all the songs they sing. This is helpful for following along, learning them yourself, or teaching them to your children. This CD will be replacing Mater Eucharistiae in my car to help me on my Lenten Journey and keep my mind in a holy place even while I'm surrounded by the hustle and bustle of others. With an Advent, Christmas, and now a Lent CD, the only items missing from the sisters' collection are an Easter album and an Ordinary Time one.

If you'd like to see more about the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, you can check out the video below. Clicking here, will allow you to hear samples of the CD and purchase it. EWTN will also run a 30-minute HD special entitled “Lent at Ephesus” featuring some never-before-seen sights and sounds of The Benedictines of Mary for the Lenten season at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday, March 14 and 6 p.m. ET Tuesday, March 18. Be sure to check it out, buy their albums, and transport yourself to heaven!