Perfect for Summer! Stations of the Cross: An Adult Coloring Book

This summer, surrender to the feelings of love and gratitude found in contemplating and coloring these beautiful Stations of the Cross renderings by Father Victor KyNam.

 

Accompanied by Scripture and prayers written by Kathryn Mulderink, OCDS, The Stations of the Cross: an adult coloring book is truly a transformative experience.

Slow, Gentle, Loving Healing

Dr. Helen Scieszka's desire to heal the emotional wounds of people is a calling; it is definitely her mission. To accomplish this, she has turned her talents to Catholic fiction and uses the mighty pen as part of the healing process.

 

She writes from her experience as a therapist and her love of the Catholic faith in the Catholic fiction series Little Girl Lost, Little Girl Found.

 

With each entry in the trilogy, Dr. Scieszka takes the reader on a slow, gentle, loving healing journey. She use her fiction series to address the pain of long-held emotional or physical trauma in a way that allows and encourages the reader to experience healing as well.

 

As anyone who has made the determination to heal from one sort of trauma or another, the journey towards wholeness is neither quick nor painless; but with Dr. Scieszka, the journey is covered in love and faith making it more lasting, more attainable.

 

To read more about Dr. Scieszka's Little Girl Lost, Little Girl Found series, read the current article on her work in The Compass.

 

 

 

 

Man Up! on EWTN this week

Jared Zimmerer, author of Ten Commandments of Lifting Weights and Man Up! Becoming The New Catholic Renaissance Man is currently on EWTN's Women of Grace television series with Johnnette Benkovic in a 5-part series about Catholic men.

 

Man Up! Becoming The New Catholic Renaissance Man received honorable mention in the 2015 Catholic Press Awards for Gender Issues and speaks well to the dilemma facing men in general today. The ideas of heroism, virtuous living, and recognizing and honoring what masculinity truly is are central to Jared's work.

 

Jared himself has wide appeal as both a man of intellect and a man of physical strength. He builds his body as well as his spirit and in that way walks the talk quite well. Contributors to Man Up! include Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, Kevin Lowry, Kevin Vost and other great voices for our times. The foreword is offered by Fr. Dwight Longenecker.

 

The Women of Grace episodes are available to watch online if you aren't able to catch them on EWTN.

 

 

 

God's Recklessness

There are a lot of words we use to describe God and his mercy.

God is generous and kind. His mercy is endless, boundless and limitless.

We use words like faithful, agape and constant when we think of his love.

One word that has never, ever come to my mind (and maybe not yours either) when I think of God is "reckless."

So Fr. B. had my attention this past Sunday--Divine Mercy Sunday--when he spoke of God as being reckless. I mean he really had my attention. I tend to love homilies as they sort of wash over me and refresh my spirit, but this one had me on the edge of my seat.

God is reckless in his mercy?

Yep, that's what Fr. B. said: God is reckless in his mercy.

I absolutely loved where Fr. went with this idea of God's recklessness. It made sense to me. It captured my imagination as I thought of my great God being so reckless in his mercy that he gives it to me unabashedly, recklessly. After all, I can do anything with it. I can accept it. I can reject it. I can toy with it, even.

Reckless.

God's reckless mercy.

I like it. He's not thinking about the consequences of his actions when he showers me with mercy. He hasn't wait until I'm well-prepared to receive his mercy. There are no strings attached. Just willy-nilly, God offers me mercy. Undeserved, unearned.

Wow.

Reckless.

It occurs to me rather quickly that God asks me to be reckless too. Reckless in offering love and kindness and mercy and forgiveness.

Today maybe God is asking us all to be a little reckless!

Catholic World Library

 

We received a wonderful email from Catholic World Library last week!

 

Here's what they said:

 

The December 2015 edition of Catholic Library World will highlight noteworthy works of Catholic fiction. 

 

Bezalel Books is one of seven (7) publishers that will be recognized.

• Two of your titles, ELIZABETH and MIRIAM, come highly recommended as well as a compliment to your writing style.
• Laura Pearl’s latest book, ERIN’S RING is recommended for young and old adults, along with complimentary comments on her writing style.
• The new Father Capranica series of short stories is reviewed as well-written and compelling.

To this we can add that Laura Pearl won 2 awards for Erin's Ring this year from Catholic Press Awards! 2nd place for books for Catholic teens and tweens and 3rd place for overall Catholic novels.

 

Then there's Fr. Driscoll, author of The Father Capranica Mysteries. Fr. Driscoll will be on Vocation Boom! radio this weekend to talk with Jerry Usher about The Capranica Mysteries.

 

Congratulations to two of our Bezalel Books authors!

 

 

To Kindle or Not To Kindle, That is the Question

When Laura Pearl finished writing what would become a Catholic Press Award winning book, Erin's Ring, one of her first questions to me was, "Do we have to make it available for Kindle?"

 

That's an interesting question for an author to ask since, for the most part, authors desire to get their books into as many hands as possible. But for Laura Pearl, part of what she wanted to give her reader, along with a heart-warming, engaging story, was something to "hold." Laura wanted her young readers (and those who will read Erin's Ring who may just be young at heart), something more. That something more, for Laura, translates into the "feeling" that comes from holding a good-old fashioned book.

 

So the decision was made, "No, we don't have to make Erin's Ring available for Kindle."

 

As so we haven't. Honoring Laura's wishes to keep Erin's Ring as a paperback may not be the best business decision, but sometimes there are things that matter that are more than just business. And I trust that if you read Erin's Ring, and hold the beautiful book in your hands, you will agree!

 

Author Pearl is currently giving a copy away of Erin's Ring. Visit her blog to see how to enter.

 

Daughters of the American Revolution

 

  

Laura Pearl speaks at Daughters of the American Revolution gathering

 

...and receives recognition.