|
|
|
Introduction |
Primary Readings |
Additional Readings: Saints |
Additional Readings: General |
Resources
Introduction
After the decline and fall of
the Roman Empire, when illiteracy became the norm of the general population,
the average Christian depended on icons and preaching for guidance in the
faith. And for centuries thereafter, even with the Renaissance in the West,
lay Catholics depended on educated clerics for religious instruction.
Now that’s all well and
good, except for the fact that when the clerics get it wrong, everybody suffers.
And that is precisely the case in the modern world. Most priests today feed
their flocks little of any holy substance but offer them, day after day,
the spiritual equivalent of potato chips and soda pop. And religious education
has, more often than not, fallen into the hands of those who dissent from
the true faith. Religious educators, seduced by the
social world around them, like the ancient Hebrews
embracing the idols and abominations of the heathen lands around them, now
place their “faith” in the diversity of secular values derived
from humanistic psychology. And all the while
the bishops, like shepherds terrified of the wolves, stand by helplessly
and turn the other way.
|
Do you know how
people often snicker when they hear the words “military intelligence,”
thinking it to be an oxymoron? Well, true Catholics feel the same way when
they hear a reference to “Catholic education.” And, even more sadly,
especially in the US, the same is true of the words, “holy
bishop.” |
|
So I will say it plainly, and
yet with tears and sadness: If you think that being a good Christian means
going to church on Sunday and enjoying yourself the rest of the time, and
if you’re not willing to spend more time in
prayer and reading spiritual texts than watching
TV and chatting on your cell phone, you’re in serious
trouble.
|
But you, remain
faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom
you learned it, and that from infancy you have known (the) sacred scriptures,
which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. . . . For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine
but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate
teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.
But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform
the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.
|
|
|
— 2 Timothy 3:14–15;
4:3–5 |
|
Primary
Readings
|
 |
Catechism
of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance With the Official Latin
Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II, 2nd edition (Liberia Editrice
Vaticana, 2000).
Paperback ISBN: 0-87973-976-2 |
|
|
 |
Christian Prayer [the
one-volume edition of the Liturgy of the Hours] (Totowa, NJ:
Catholic Book Publishing
Corp.).
ISBN: 0-89942-406-6
Use the four-volume edition if you are familiar with
it. |
|
|
 |
St. John of the Cross. “The
Ascent of Mount Carmel” and “The Dark Night.” In
The Collected Works
of St. John of the Cross, trans. K. Kavanaugh and O. Rodriguez
(Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1991).
Hardcover ISBN: 0-935216-15-4 |
|
|
 |
St. Teresa of Avila. “The
Way of Perfection” and “The Interior Castle.” In The Collected
Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Volume Two, trans. K. Kavanaugh and O.
Rodriguez (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1980).
Paperback ISBN: 0-9600876-6-4 |
|
|
 |
Thomas à Kempis. The
Imitation of Christ, trans. William Creasy (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria
Press, 1989).
Paperback ISBN: 0-87793-411-8
There are many versions of this timeless classic, and,
in my opinion, this is the best. |
|
|
 |
The New American Bible.
I prefer the Saint Joseph edition. (Totowa, NJ:
Catholic Book Publishing
Corp.)
Paperback ISBN: 0-89942-962-9
You can read the Bible online at
The
New American Bible by United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
|
|
|
 |
Bishop Frederick Justus Knecht,
D.D. A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture (Rockford, IL:
TAN Books and
Publishers, 2003).
Paperback ISBN: 0-89555-757-6
If you need help interpreting the Bible, in simple,
understandable language, this is it. |
Additional Readings:
Saints
 |
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The
Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary (Rockford, IL:
TAN Books and
Publishers, 1986).
Paperback ISBN: 0-89555-295-7
Intimate insights from the saint to whom Our Lord gave
the Sacred Heart revelations. |
|
|
 |
St. Catherine & Don Cattaneo
Marabotto. The Spiritual Doctrine of Saint Catherine of Genoa (Rockford,
IL: TAN Books and
Publishers, 1989).
Paperback ISBN: 0-89555-355-X
This great lay mystic wrote the book about
Purgatory. |
|
|
 |
St. Maria Faustina Kowalska.
Diary (Stockbridge, MA:
Association of Marian
Helpers, 2003).
Paperback ISBN: 0-944203-04-3
The “Apostle of The Divine
Mercy” records Jesus’ message of mercy in a
diary. |
|
|
 |
St. Louis Marie de Montfort.
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin (Bay Shore, NY: Montfort Publications,
1980).
Hardcover ISBN: 0-910984-49-2
The true meaning of Marian devotion. Contains the
Consecration To Jesus through Mary. |
Additional Readings:
General
 |
C. Alan Ames. Through the
Eyes of Jesus.
(Touch
of Heaven, 1996.)
Paperback ISBN: 0-9748225-3-1
Episodes from the daily life of Jesus, seen through
His eyes—as revealed to a modern visionary.
|
|
|
 |
Johnson, Kevin Orlin. Rosary:
Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads (Dallas: Pangæus
Press, 1996).
Paperback ISBN: 0-9653660-1-4
A comprehensive reference for the history and meaning
of the Rosary. |
|
|
 |
Johnson, Kevin Orlin.
Apparitions: Mystic Phenomena and What They Mean (Dallas: Pangæus
Press, 1998).
Paperback ISBN: 0-9653660-0-6
The only comprehensive reference book that puts
supernatural events clearly in their Biblical context. |
TRUE
DISCIPLES . . . will point out the narrow way to God in pure truth according
to the holy Gospel, and not according to the maxims of the world. Their hearts
will not be troubled, nor will they show favour to anyone; they will not
spare or heed or fear any man, however powerful he may be. They will have
the two-edged sword of the Word of God in their mouths and the blood-stained
standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in
their right hand and the rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus
and Mary on their heart. . . . By the will of God, Mary is to prepare them
to extend his rule over the impious and unbelievers. |
—Saint Louis Marie de Montfort
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 59 |
|
A common-sense guide to
