After reading the whole “Bible in a Year”. what’s the next book to read?
Two kinds of books:
- Reference Books
- Saint’s Stories
REFERENCES
At home, you need the “CCC” – which is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Now there are 4 versions in the centuries -that you can still get today:
A. The shorter Compedium of the CCC. Easier to read. Your home should have this. Read this first. This is what CATHOLICS believe.
B. The long version. A Textbook. We just refer to this during Bible Study. JP2 made this.
C. Baltimore “St Joseph” Catechism, super easy with drawings. Meant for children. They memorize this pre-1950. It’s short.
D. Spirago Catechism, full of stories! Hard to forget this as they’re 99% stories.
Habol: The Philippines has YouCat, a youth version of the CCC. Get it from the local bookstores.
If you have children, and you’re Catholic – you must go through at least one of these books. It’s basic.
SAINT STORIES
Read how the gospel is applied in a “recent” human’s life. Why bother reading? The more examples of a good Catholic life you see – the better.
Q: Isn’t it better to just talk to living Catholics you admire? Well, this is a book recommendation list so, no humans.
Q: How about living persons’ catholics books?
A: Because of 20th-21st century modernism, many of the books you will find authored by living Catholics:
A) are about defense of the faith to counter modern ideas
B) about shallow “my story, my insight” books w/c worship modern ideas.
C) too dense, school type works.
What does this mean?
You will learn mainly Catholic FACTS in A and learn suspicious “facts” in B.
So be careful in picking living authors.
Q: So why are saint’s books better?
A: A canonized saint’s life has been analyed by the church —sometimes for centuries. The ideas in these books are better checked by the church. It’s hard to be led astray from reading these books.
Q: Can you give an example?
A: A Catholic parent guidebook written in recent years – said “Go on 1 on 1 dates with you kid(s) to create good memories with them to help them through the hard times.”
Sounds good?
Here’s what I think:
- To help kids through hard times, first of all teach them penance, penance, penance. That’s a 3x echo of every Bible teaching and emphasized in the Fatima’s apparition.
- What is penancex3? “Carry your cross, even as you’re young, be friends with suffering, like Christ embraced his cross…”
- Pay attention to the suffering you are experiencing, offer it to God instead of just complaining. Choose small sacrifices you can do in love.
- Good memories beyond spending it on dates, (w/c hint at modern entertainment choices) – are spending time together at the adoration chapel (free). REGULARLY. Not only does it impart grace to both of you – it’s like taking a bath using God’s graces. Add this to your sked.
- During hard times, people can’t just rely on good memories. What if you forget? I always forget – I’m like Israel that way.
We must rely on God’s faithfulness, prayers like the rosary, the mass, Christ’s body and blood, deliverance prayers…etc so many things beyond memories can help you.
The person who believes in making good memories with kids-enough to put that idea in a Catholic book-will agree with me.
But -that’s mostly what the Catholic book contained.
So even if they do the Rosary together -it’s not mentioned.
Hence, add this: read canonized saints books.
The ideas are much more aligned to ancient Christian thought vs modern ideas.
The concepts are more edifying (helpful) for a Catholic perspective.
Q: So are modern ideas bad then?
A: Many modern ideas (starting with 1901…) are anti-family, anti-religion, pro-money etc. So be careful because of the ideas in our modern heads are like this. We just don’t notice it because everybody thinks the same way.
Q:Can you give me an example?
A: “Life must be fair for everyone. Everyone must have equal access to _____.”
Where in the OT, NT and church tradition is that idea?
Note that through 2000 years, the Catholic church has lead the largest and most widely distributed pro-poor activities, even today.
Now square that with “The Poor you will always have…” by Jesus, said to Judas, no less – when Judas said “the woman’s perfume could have been sold (“by Judas”) and the money given to the poor (“by Judas”) instead of spilling it on Jesus’s feet.”
Jesus disagreed – he welcomed the “wasting” of expensive perfume on Himself.
(Why? He’s God, that’s why we have ornate churches and not blank rooms)
However, that doesn’t stop the church from moving to help the poor-even in non-Catholic countries like India.
But is “fair access to ____” the reason why the Church does it?
Nope. It’s Charity. or Love for Neighbor.
Do you see the difference?
Fairness/Justice vs Charity?
That’s what matters. Not just the action, the reason too. That’s what you’re getting from this book list.
Saint Book List:
Story of a Soul – St Therese of Lisiuex, approx lived during Philippine American War and while Jose Rizal was still alive.
Any Padre Pio book – Lived around Both World Wars and 1968. So very recent.
Any Don Bosco book – Died 1 year before Padre Pio was born.
Letters of Catherine of Sienna – Lived during the time there was 2 conflicting popes. 14th century. Her classic “Dialogues” need to be read later.
St Faustina’s book – too long for beginners. Read slowly. Lived before WW2.
St Francis of Assisi – Lived 12th century, Time of Knights of Crusades. There’s a local story book, made in the PH. Get it and read it.
Homilies of St Augustine – Around year 300 homilies, to make you feel how consistent Catholicism is. Online of get a book.
Any Mary book by St Louis De Momfort (17th century, 100 years before the other saints)- I think eight popes read and applied this book. Not for beginners. But if you want to understand Jesus’s love for Mary – read this.
Note: This is easy to understand -but the ideas are about an intimate relationship, so you’re warned.
Note that good Catholic popes read and applied this book, so do not take it lightly.
This literally applies what Jesus said on the cross “Behold, your mother!” and “Behold, your son!”
Now, free up your bookshelves. Create a new collection.
It’s your turn to INCREASE!
Jomar Hilario