Great New Titles

I just love our new titles thus far this year!


We've released a wonderful new children's book by author and illustrator Sandy Mattucci: Levi the Lightning Bug's Amazing Discovery.


The Great Hospice Mystery by Dr. William Serdahely is sure to please those who love a light mystery wrapped in inspiration and hope. 


Esmeralda Kiczek's The Adoption Movement: Saving Souls is bound to be the sort of book you read and give as a gift. This book also has an imprimatur as it deals with the very serious business of salvation.


A Body in Prayer by Neil Combs was a treasure just waiting to be discovered. We're sure you'll never pray the same once you've read Neil's work.


We've just finished editing (at least I think we have) a great teen and young adult inspirational called Finding Grace. Author Laura Pearl has done a spectacular job of character development and enmeshing those great characters in real life situations. We're looking at an August/September release.


And we have put the finishing touches on the cover for the real life story of Margaret Hofmann's The Wedding Gift. This has been called the next Brian's Song and for good reason. Expect The Wedding Gift by late August or early September.


We hope you'll share what we offer here at Bezalel Books and encourage you to keep on reading....

Can You Guess Who Said It? (Answers follow the quotes)

Just read these and see if you can figure out who said or wrote them. You may have to recall some of your history lessons or call to mind some of your Bible study sessions or some current news; but give it a go! Challenge yourself and don’t be shy about being incorrect. Mostly my hope is that while you read them and reflect upon them, you let them resonate with you. I believe you will find them valuable words to contemplate.

1.     And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. And what is it to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house. It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit…Work is love made visible.

2.     That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling.

3.     Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray—to really pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight—all through the day. Let us pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for the churches.

4.     To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through disbelief or the corruption of its doctrines, or the neglect of its institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom and approximate the miseries of complete despotism.

5.     Have mercy on me, God, for I am treated harshly; attackers press me all the day. My foes treat me harshly all the day; yes, many are my attackers. O Most High, when I am afraid in you I place my trust.

6.     The important thing today is to see that God exists, that God matters to us, and that he answers us. And, conversely, that if he is omitted, everything else might be as cleaver as can be—yet man then loses his dignity and this authentic humanity and, thus, the essential thing breaks down.

7.     No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than United America. Wondrously strange then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means, and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us, so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass…By folly and improper conduct, proceeding from a variety of causes, we may now and then get bewildered, but I hope and trust that there is good sense and virtue enough left to recover the right path before we shall be entirely lost.

8.     The bearers of Jesus’ word receive a final word of promise for their work. They are now Christ’s fellow-workers, and will be like him in all things. Thus they are to meet those to whom they are sent as if they were Christ himself. When they are welcomed into a house, Christ enters with them. They are bearers of his presence.

 answers:

1. Kahlil Gibran The Prophet
2. John Paul II Mulieris Dignitatem
3. General Robert E. Lee, 1863
4. Jedediah Morse, 1799
5. David, Psalm 56
6. Benedict XVI Light of the World
7. George Washington, 1788
8. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

So, how'd you do?

Gluten-Free Goodies

I love the site www.WholeNewMom.com for the ways in which it has allowed me to satisfy my sweet tooth since I've gone gluten-free (and more recently anti-candida). What a great site! If you are, like me, dealing with health issues that have forced you to navigate a whole new way of looking at food, you will love what Adrienne offers on her site. 


I've found it to be a wonderful resource with great print-ready recipes that really do taste great (don't get me stated on how many e-books I've downloaded only to find the recipes taste like cardboard). Adrienne has a nice team of bloggers and contributors that are tackling the same sorts of things I am--and maybe you are too. If you are gluten-free and still crave some sweets, you will love what you find at www.WholeNewMom.com! 


Today I am going to try making the grain-free lemon squares:-)


Thank you, Adrienne!

My Favorite Christmas Movie

Every Christmas I line up my "oldies" alongside a few new movies and then dig in for a month's worth of fun and frolic by way of Christmas movies. My oldies list includes The Family Man with Nicholas Cage; a movie I absolutely love even though there is a scene in the beginning that keeps this from being a family movie. The new ones that are joining my old favorites are some of the Hallmark produced movies. In particular my husband and I love The Christmas Card and The Christmas Choir. There is something about cuddling up, year after year, and enjoying these movies together. This is my slice of heaven on earth! What movies do you enjoy?

Health and Wellness...Catholic-Style

The path to Hell is paved with good intentions.

I don’t get that.

It seems to me that good intentions ought to be worth more than a ticket to Hell.

Having said that, I definitely get that the good intentions I have for any number of things can always be a hellish path.

Exercise comes immediately to mind. As does dieting and just keeping fit and well at 53 years old. I am filled with good intentions, but turning those passive good intentions into successful achievements is another story.

I suppose this also falls under the Scriptural category of the-spirit-is-willing-but-the-flesh-is-weak.

So maybe the whole path-to-Hell-is-paved-with-good-intentions does make more sense than I am willing to admit.

Either way, I have come to realize that while the initial good intention is a necessary first step to health and wellness, a viable course of action must accompany it—preferably something not too painful, boring, or time-consuming.

My goal this year has been to find the right-for-me, realistic balance of health and wellness while accommodating the real demands on my life as a wife, mother, author and speaker—all the while making my spiritual life a top priority.

I know, I know, I don’t want much, right?!

My efforts towards this goal actually began at Lent when I gave up Facebook in an effort to give more time to God and to my own journey towards Heaven. I never went back to Facebook—or any of the other online social outlets that had begun to take up too much of my time. I pretty much stopped writing articles and even put a book I was writing on hold.

I needed to get a handle on things. Big time.

Since then, I have continued to use the time I once gave to online activities to the things that now contribute to my newfound wholeness.

The time away from it all allowed me to sort through what I needed and wanted in terms of my spiritual and physical well-being. I was able to set priorities and developed a spiritual life that has really blessed me. I found a spiritual director and attended a retreat where I learned about Ignatius discernment. Ultimately, and not coincidentally, this all slowly turned my good intentions into a reality.

Maybe that is the key to success: taking the time necessary to pray and discern and truly understand who you are as a person created in the image and likeness of God—and how to tend to that unique person in the physical and spiritual sense.

With the New Year fast approaching, many people will begin making resolutions with good intentions. To help turn those good intentions into reality—and not become a path to Hell—I wanted to share some valuable resources that truly address the wholeness and holiness we all seek…

Kate Wicker is a delightful young mom whose writing I have always enjoyed. She has a nice balance of wit and reality—of reverence and candor. Kate has a new book out titled Weightless. Weightless is the sort of book that should be on every woman’s nightstand. And I don’t say that lightly (pun intended); I promise there are passages in it that will be highlighted and will be returned to frequently! Although Weightless begins with the oft-trotted-out warning about media messages—and maybe rightfully so—Kate really hits her stride in the chapters that follow.

(I know many women whose bad body images have nothing to do with media messages but was very much affected by things said to them while they were young; so while I can understand the influence of media messages, I really would like to see someone explore more in-depth how susceptible young girls are to ALL messages. I believe in Wicker’s capable hands, this could be an issue more fully explored and understood. My own interest in helping girls “vaccinate” themselves against bad body image at a young age is behind my work on the tween book Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…What is Beauty, After All?)


I absolutely loved when Wicker wrote about why we exercise; her insight and wisdom here is worth the price of the book. I also found her encouragement to see ourselves through the eyes of our family as truly words we ought to take to heart. They jumped off the page at me. Wicker’s Weightless combines just enough real-world statistics with Scripture to make it the ideal sort of book to be a background to whatever health and wellness you seek as a Catholic. This is why Weightless is first on my list of resources: Weightless is a book that women should give themselves and give their friends. Now, since I know that most women would worry about why their friend has given them such a book—but because I also think this book should be a gift given to every Sister-in-the-Lord—I ask that if you receive the book, you receive it with the spirit in which it was given—love! I highly recommend Weightless as the foundational piece for the health and exercise program you seek as a Christian woman.

The next two books I recommend are actually listed in Wicker’s Weightless book: The Rosary Workout by Peggy Bowes and Fit for Eternal Life by Kevin Vost. Working with Peggy on her book a few years ago, I truly began to see how my Catholic faith and my interest in physical health could be combined. Peggy is one of the most interesting women I have ever met and her understanding of wholeness and holiness is something I truly admire. Her book, The Rosary Workout, isn’t just about walking and saying the Rosary. Bowes’ book is about understanding the ways in which our bodies work—and when they are working well how we can more fully live out our vocations. Bowes flew planes for the Air Force and is a certified health and fitness instructor. Her knowledge of health and passion for her Catholic faith are beautifully shared in The Rosary Workout.

When I first read Fit for Eternal Life a couple of years ago, I was taken by Vost’s ability to draw from Scripture while explaining how to get the most out of my strength training. I found his book to be the perfect complement to the aerobic training I was being introduced to in The Rosary Workout. Since then I’ve been able to combine the two into what has become my routine. More importantly, each day, because of the works of Vost and Bowes, I am able to view my body in a more wholesome and holy way.


Since their work (Vost and Bowes) became so important to me, I invited them to write a devotional—which they did. Along with Shane Kapler (who followed Vost’s advice in Fit for Eternal Life and lost 40 pounds!) who is also an author (The God Who Is Love), the three recently released Tending the Temple: 365 Days of Physical and Spiritual Devotions which I have had the good fortune to publish. I’ve got to admit, for a daily dose of encouragement, nothing beats what these three authors offer in Tending the Temple!


The other resource I want to mention for the Catholic health and fitness enthusiast—or the enthusiast in the making—is the book and DVD by Michael Carrera, Catholic Workout. Like Wicker, Vost, Bowes, and Kapler, Carrera’s great passion helps us see the whole self as a temple to be cared for and whose purpose of serving God is best accomplished through its loving care. Although simply made, the DVD does offer something new for anyone seeking a Catholic bent on their exercise routine.


(I’d actually like to see some entity or production company or person with great vision to use the talents of all these excellent, knowledgeable and creative authors and explore what can be brought to bear in the way of a Catholic Health and Fitness television or radio program—or a DVD series or something!)


In the meantime, wherever the Holy Spirit is taking you in terms of your physical and spiritual journey, I am sure that you will be greatly blessed by any—or all—of these resources so that your good intentions become actions. You will be more fully equipped, with knowledge obtained through their passions and expertise, to better serve God who created you.

Finding a Spiritual Director

Many, many years ago, people who wanted to live more fully for God—to know Him more intimately in their daily lives and see themselves in His more truthful light—would often seek guidance from an Ascetic who was, more than likely, living in the desert.


I find Asceticism fascinating. It was almost as if their restlessness to know God was so overwhelming that it was painful to live a secular existence.

I am sure that some people may judge that the Ascetics were wrong to abandon the everyday world which God created; but I would suggest that the seeking that drew them to the desert was actually placed upon their heart by God. I would even go so far as to say that God knew that people such and you and I would always be in need of the direction that could come from someone who was able to separate him or herself from the material world. After all, it makes sense that in the absence of all else, an Ascetic’s clarity of seeing things would certainly be different than that of a person living a more secular existence.

In many ways, those Ascetics were the first spiritual directors.

Thousands of years later, those of us who seek spiritual direction have it much easier: no desert experience required (at least not physically).

Indeed, times have changed and the ways in which we seek, find, and experience spiritual direction has changed as well; but the need for it has remained the same.

So what is spiritual direction?

I’ve asked Mary Schulte, a certified spiritual director here in the beautiful state of Michigan, to help answer some basic questions about spiritual direction. My hope is that Mary’s answers will help anyone interested in pursuing spiritual direction get started.

First let me share a bit of Mary’s biography. Mary is commissioned by Manresa and Creighton University. She is certified in Spiritual Direction and Retreat Direction from Creighton University. Mary also holds a Masters Degree in Spirituality. At the heart of Mary’s own ministry is music. She is a gifted singer whose latest CD is titled Into the Heart of Jesus is truly transforming—I bought 20 copies for friends and family. Mary’s website is http://schultesong.blogspot.com/ and she can be contacted at mlstrinity3@gmail.com or by calling 248-625-8366



Cheryl: In general, what is spiritual direction?

Mary: (Here paraphrasing what Mary has shared as well as using a pamphlet she has given me.) Spiritual direction has as its purpose the goal of becoming more aware of God’s presence and how He works in our lives. It is making decisions based upon that awareness—this is called discernment. It is the sharing of your journey with someone of your choice with whom you are comfortable with and whose own premise is that God is the only director. The spiritual director helps you—the directee—to see and obey the real director of your life: God.



Cheryl: Is spiritual direction for anyone? Everyone?

Mary: It is for anyone seeking a deeper relationship with God.



Cheryl: What should a potential directee look for in a spiritual director?

Mary: A director who is formally trained and commissioned and who can listen for the movements of God. You want someone who is grounded in Scripture and is sustained by a deep prayer life. It would be important to feel a connection with your director. Also it is important to know if your director continues with his or her own formation and spiritual direction.



Cheryl: Is there a “main directory” of spiritual directors? How does one go about finding a spiritual director?

Mary: (Here Mary speaks of Michigan organizations but this information can still be useful to anyone in any state.) Any institution or organization that trains and certifies and commissions Spiritual Directors maintains a list of directors who have gone through their program. To find a Spiritual Director one should first begin by praying about it, then call one of the institutions to obtain a list of Spiritual Directors. Locally we have:



1. Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in West Bloomfield

2. Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit

3. Maryknoll Dominican Retreat Center in Grand Rapids



Cheryl: Once you begin spiritual direction, what can you expect in terms of length of time for sessions and session frequency and also secrecy of sessions?

Mary: Sessions tend to be between 30-60 minutes and are approximately once a month—although a number of factors play into this: certain life circumstances and movement of the Spirit to name just a couple. It is also important to be committed and not stop seeing your Spiritual Director because “life is going well” and you don’t feel the need! This is all part of learning about consolations and desolations in your journey.



Spiritual Direction is always confidential in regards to what is shared in the sessions.



Cheryl: Are there particular things that spiritual direction is not?

Mary: Spiritual Direction is not counseling or therapy. Although the two do share some similar techniques like active listening and self-disclosure, the main goal of spiritual direction is the directee’s relationship with God and the process of spiritual growth.



Cheryl: Do you have any final thoughts or suggestions?

Mary: (Here Mary shares her favorite quote on spiritual direction. It is taken from “Spiritual Direction and the Encounter with God” by William Barry S.J. and seems especially fitting to use as a conclusion to this article on spiritual direction.)



“Teach me to seek You, and reveal Yourself to me as I seek; for unless You instruct me I cannot seek You, and unless You reveal Yourself I cannot find You. Let me seek You in desiring You; let me desire You in seeking You. Let me find You in loving You, let me love You in finding You.”

Can You Afford NOT To Take a Pilgrimage?

The reality is that we definitely could not afford to go to Italy.

Oddly, the other reality was that we definitely could not afford NOT to go to Italy.

Of course we could only see the first reality; the second, the truer “truth,” loomed in the background tugging at our heart and soul, but we continued to push it aside.

Our 25th wedding anniversary, a year or so away, forced our hand. We needed to decide if we were really going to do something to mark the occasion or simply let it slip by. Italy had been a dream of ours for many years but had never materialized. Indeed, “Plan A” of going to Italy with the family when our oldest graduated didn’t pan out—as most Plan A’s don’t.

As the years progressed, “Plan B” began to form: we would go to Italy with the family when the youngest graduated. Again, not so much panning out was happening for “Plan B.”

Having lost track of what plan we were on, and with our 25th anniversary drawing close, we began seriously toying with the idea of being terrible parents and simply going to Italy ourselves to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary. After coming to grips with the realization that our children would not be scarred for life if we didn’t provide them with some overseas travel while they were under our roof, we started to selfishly look at the option for ourselves.

For a few months, we did the whole sit-in-front-of-the-computer-with-a-cup-of-coffee thing where we perused the different excursions we could take in Italy. “Plan D”—or was it E?—being that we would enjoy the planning as much as the ultimate trip. However, before long, both my husband and I began imagining the worst: that we would spend all our money and be standing in the middle of Rome wondering “now what?”

In the middle of this Italy-planning panic attack, we discovered that our good friends, Dom Pastore and Teresa Tomeo Pastore, were heading a pilgrimage to Italy in September of the year that we were to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary (May 18, 2011). That, we realized, might really be the way to go! And quickly our plans for an Italy vacation evolved, by the grace of God, into an Italy pilgrimage.

The difference between a vacation and a pilgrimage is significant and real. When I was a recent guest on the Brian Patrick Sonrise Morning Show to talk about pilgrimages, Brian specifically asked me that great question: What is the different between a vacation and a pilgrimage?

That was easy to explain. When my husband and I feebly attempted to piece together a trip to Italy, I can honestly say we considered it a “vacation.” Vacations follow a particular thread: see some sites, relax a bit, and unwind. Vacations, while providing a reprieve from the everyday life of the vacationer, still require some “work.” The agenda of a vacation is different from a pilgrimage. While each may have sites to see and involve obligations throughout the day, at the very core of a pilgrimage is the desire to be with God—to know Him more intimately, to grow in your relationship to Him. At the heart of a vacation is something like “to unwind” or “to relax and catch up on sleep” or an number of other, even noble and often necessary remedies for the busy lives we lead; but still all very different from what is at the heart of a pilgrimage where we are seeking God in a whole new way. Literally, even in our animation that stems from our excitement and experiences, we become more introverted instead of extroverted—we aren’t blogging or tweeting or catching up on the news.

One of my favorite books is Matt Swaim’s Prayer in the Digital Age where Matt begins his book by telling of a silent retreat he was taking and being dismayed to discover that his iphone was not working. He shares, with great humility and hilarity, how the irony of wanting his iphone on a silent retreat really gave him an insight into where he was at—and where he needed to be—in terms of his upcoming retreat. Was Matt going to call God with his iphone during his retreat? Probably not! What Matt poignantly admits is something we all need to admit: that we need to disconnect from our everyday lives in order to connect with God.

That is what a true pilgrimage is all about.

Dom and Teresa were heading a pilgrimage to Italy. It was intended for couples and would incorporate all the sites that we would have hoped to see in Italy; but it was very different from a vacation. There would be daily Mass and daily Scripture verses with accompanying meditations for each couple. We visited vineyards and saw them as the beauty of God’s green earth; we tasted wine and recognized it as given by God.

This was about placing ourselves in God’s hands and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and in our marriages and through our experiences.

I have never, ever felt the sense of freedom from my everyday life as I did on this trip; and my husband will attest to the same feeling. The pilgrimage fed our souls in ways we never would have imagined.

And it was fun!

The main guide for the trip was carefully selected. He was a delightfully funny, faith-filled Catholic man who, at one point, shared his reversion story with us, the pilgrims. And he kept us laughing. This pilgrimage wasn’t about sour faces and forlorn souls—it was about the joy and pleasure of our faith.

Together, there were just over a dozen couples—the pilgrims. The personality mix was perfect. Clearly God’s hand was upon us as we began to form friendships that I am convinced were gifts from God. Two pilgrims were cantors and our Masses were blessed by their singing. Coincidence? I think not.

Some of our pilgrims were quiet while others were more outgoing; but not one pilgrim was outside of our group. I couldn’t help but think about 1 Corinthians 12:12.

Our pilgrimage had two components: Tuscany and Rome. In each, we had a spiritual director: Father Thomas in Tuscany and Father Mark in Rome. These remarkable priests freely gave of their time to minister to us, collectively and individually—if we so requested.

Did I mention that we all renewed our vows during a Mass said by Father Mark? With marriages ranging from two years to over 40, we all had a deeper appreciation of the Sacrament and there wasn’t a dry eye in the building.

In Rome, while on a tour of the different sites, our guide for the day—Elaina—said that a “good pilgrim” sees the 4 basilicas while in Rome. I thought of God’s command in the Torah: that the Jewish people are required to pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year. It wasn’t easy for them. In fact I’m sure a case could be made that it was difficult or even a downright hardship.

What a thing for God to command! However, like so many of God’s instructions, the dictate to pilgrimage wasn’t for God’s sake, but was for man’s sake. A pilgrimage is a time where we truly put ourselves at the mercy of God. We hand to Him our body, our mind, our soul and our spirit. We seek Him in ways never imagined. We are so separated from our secular reality that is seems to stop existing. At the very least, it [our secular reality] is put in such a perspective that what mattered just days before no longer does.

We live, in the days of our pilgrimage, completely for God: to know Him, to Love Him, to serve Him. We can’t get close enough to Him!

Here’s where I lose my ability to explain—where I become uncharacteristically speechless…a pilgrimage completely transforms the pilgrim. It is such an interior experience that no words can describe it. It must be experienced.

And that is why God called His people to pilgrimage. It wasn’t that He was being demanding or difficult or even unreasonable. He wanted His people to be transformed. He wanted to be able to reach deep within the heart and soul of the pilgrim and take hold. These are the reasons that God required what appeared to be a hardship of his people—to pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Transformation happens on pilgrimage.

So this takes me back to where I started and I have to ask you: Can you really afford NOT to take a pilgrimage?