This Lent, Fill Yourself with Holy Thoughts Drawn from Good Books

This world is a battleground, and we, the Church Militant, are called to fight evil – whether on a societal level or in the deepest recesses of our own souls – that we might grow in union with God and join Him for all eternity in heaven.

What do you say? The reading of these good books does not concern you? But I find this duty more incumbent on you than on those living in the security of the cloister. For you who sail on the open sea, whether you will it or not, are beset by a thousand occasions of sin. Thus the aid of spiritual books is for you a necessity. A religious cannot be wounded, because she is far from the combat. But you who are in the midst of battle, must protect yourself with the buckler of holy thoughts drawn from good books. – St. John Chrysostom, Discourse 3

This world is a battleground, and we, the Church Militant, are called to fight evil – whether on a societal level or in the deepest recesses of our own souls – that we might grow in union with God and join Him for all eternity in heaven. But the battle is difficult. And weak as we are, it is easy to get get wounded, to grow soft in discipline or get distracted from our mission. Sometimes we succumb to the world and all its demands and then look up to find that we are not where we hoped we’d be. Somehow we need to ground ourselves before we head out into battle each day. To retreat from battle that we might arm ourselves with the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), cling to the Pillar of Truth (1 Timothy 3:15), and fill ourselves with the buckler of holy thoughts, in order to face the enemy each day.

Prepare for Battle

What would you say if I offered you the opportunity to go on retreat for 15-30 minutes five days per week, directed by some of the greatest minds in the Church? This retreat will offer rewards like you’ve never dreamed. After 15-30 minutes of quiet, prayerful meditation, you will be ready to face your day like never before. If you embark on this retreat, I guarantee you will be equipped with everything you need to make progress in your spiritual life – progress that will be witnessed by your family, friends, colleagues and fellow pilgrims you meet each day.

You’ll find this retreat in How to Read Your Way to Heaven: A Spiritual Reading Program for the Worst of Sinners, the Greatest of Saints and Everyone in Between.

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Sound like a far-fetched sales pitch?

Absolutely not! In just 15-30 minutes per day, you will

  • Meditate on Sacred Scripture
  • Read 1-2 paragraphs from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
  • Read a few pages from some of the greatest minds in the history of the Church

Spiritual reading is organized around the Four Pillars of the Catechism:

  1. The Profession of Faith – What we Believe as Catholics
  2. The Celebration of the Christian Mystery – Liturgy and the Sacraments
  3. Life in Christ – Man’s Vocation as a Christian
  4. Christian Prayer 

For the person who hasn’t done much spiritual reading…

this program offers a no-fail plan, sans dates or pressure, so you can get started right away, and pace yourself – while reaping great rewards found through Sacred Scripture, the direction of the Saints and  wisdom of the Early Church Fathers.

For the avid reader…

this program provides rhyme and reason to your spiritual reading. It puts order into what is often a random process, allowing for accelerated progress in the spiritual life. Spending concentrated time in each pillar allows you to learn from various perspectives and to practice what you’ve learned in your daily life for an extended time, before moving on to the next topic.

The Time is Now

Lent will soon be upon us – do not delay. Make spiritual reading your Lenten resolution. How to Read Your Way to Heaven is a tool that will help you with all facets of the process. Make this your best Lent ever by uniting yourself to Our Lord like never before!

What’s Inside:

  • Why Spiritual Reading is critical to our lives as Christians
  • Important considerations when embarking on a Spiritual Reading Program
  • What is Syntopical Reading and how it can help you make great strides in your spiritual life
  • What kinds of works to read
  • How to read sacred scripture
  • How to structure your reading time
  • Specific assignments for a 1-Year, 3-Year or 5-Year Reading Program
  • Blank spaces each day so you can add or substitute books of your choice
  • Two Fabulous Book Lists: 99 of the favorite reads of notable Catholics; Fr. C. John McCloskey’s Lifetime Catholic Reading List
  • A lay-flat binding to ensure years of use

 

There isn’t enough space to extoll the benefits of spiritual reading – Rather than belabor the point, I’ll leave you with a final quote from Venerable Louis of Granada, favorite spiritual writer of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Rose of Lima:

So great is the light and fruit of spiritual reading that we know from experience many person who have changed their entire lives by this means. When asked the root and cause of such a change, they responded that after reading such and such a book they resolved to amend their lives…

So sublime are the mysteries that the Christian religion proposes to man and so powerful for moving hearts that I would not be surprised if they effected a great change in anyone who attentively considers them. – Summa of the Christian Life, p. 7-8

 

What People are Saying about How to Read Your Way to Heaven:

 

Personal Message:

Just finished reading Rome Sweet Home and loved it. I’m also enjoying the Book of Matthew. I think it’s a great book to start with. I’m looking forward to my reading time early every morning. I thank God for giving me you…to show me the way to reading His Word. I love to read and this has been something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.

Check out Amazon for Reader Reviews!

 

Editorial Reviews
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“If you want to develop a deep knowledge of our Faith, here is a reliable book that shows you how.” Fr. C. John McCloskey III

 

Aquilina profile photo

“We can read all day and read forever, and still feel as if we’re not making progress. Vicki Burbach gets us out of the rut and onto a track toward real spiritual — and cultural and intellectual — progress. This is the kind of book that can make life so much richer — by leading to many more books, and all in good order.” Mike Aquilina

 

Hendey profile photo

“Whether you’re a lifelong Catholic or a skeptical inquirer, you’ll find How to Read Your Way to Heaven by Vicki Burbach to be an indispensable gift for your intellectual and spiritual life. With this timeless treasure, Vicki has helped solve my so many books and so little time problem by providing a masterplan that’s both exciting and accomplishable.”
Lisa M. Hendey Founder of CatholicMom.com and author of The Grace of Yes

 

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“Getting to heaven often requires that we rely on the wisdom of those who have gone before us. Vicki Burbach has done us a great service by providing an insightful reading plan and approach that, if absorbed and followed, will no doubt produce saints!”
Dan Burke, President of the Avila Institute

 

 

 

My Exciting Pre-Announcement and Why You Haven’t Heard From Me Lately!!!

Not merely another book to read, How to Read Your Way to Heaven is designed to be an invaluable tool for guiding and organizing your reading to help you on your journey to become a saint.

Lately I have been off-line. I have had insights and inquiries I wanted to discuss with you; but instead I have used any time on my computer to put the final touches on my latest project. In that regard, and in the interest of the delicate balancing act that is the life of a mother, I have neglected the youngest of my children. Yes, I consider this blog to be my infant child – barely a year old, it has been left to flounder for most of the past two months. Between preparing for holidays and finishing other projects, our conversation about sacrifice has been left on the back burner. Sacrificed, so to speak.

So what’s been taking so much time that I couldn’t spare a minute to check in here and there?

Well, I’m pleased to announce that my first book just went to the printer!!! How to Read Your Way to Heaven is available for pre-order and will be formally released by Sophia Institute Press on January 26th!

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That’s right! I’ve spent the last month or two plugging away at small details here and there, hoping to make this a spiritual reading program well worth your time and energy. And, while I am humbled by the opportunity to pull this together, I must say, I do think it has turned out to be quite a valuable resource.

From the back of the book:

Wouldn’t it be great if we really could read our way to heaven?

Many of us commit to some form of spiritual reading, but we find that our book choices are sporadic and often based on a whim rather than following a purposeful plan. Designed for individual or group settings, How to Read Your Way to Heaven will guide your quest to delve deeper into a relationship with Christ by meditating on the written word while organizing your reading around the four pillars of the Catholic Faith – the Creed, the sacraments, morality and prayer.

Not merely another book to read, How to Read Your Way to Heaven is designed to be an invaluable tool for guiding and organizing your reading to help you on your journey to become a saint.

Following this plan, you’ll meditate daily on Sacred Scripture and read the entirety of the Catechism over the course of the program. You’ll be introduced to a treasure trove of the greatest Catholic books ever written, and you’ll learn prayerful reading methods such as lectio divina and find time-tested advice on where and when to read.

A couple of additional notes:

  • This book is an integrated 1-,3- or 5-year spiritual reading program, complete with a checklist, specific assignments and a magnificent book list that is fully in line with the Magisterium of the Church.
  • A sample page from the reading program:

 

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  • Daily assignments include brief readings from Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and some of the greatest Catholic books ever written. Readings generally take 15-30 minutes per day, or can be split between two days, if time is limited. The program is completely adaptable to the schedule of each individual reader.
  • The four pillars of the Catholic Faith as described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church are the foundation on which this reading program is built: What we believe (Profession of Faith); liturgy and the sacraments (Celebration of the Christian Mystery); life of Christ; prayer.
  • SO excited about this one  – We asked Catholics to whom many of us look for wisdom, guidance or support on our spiritual journeys to share their favorite books from each of the four pillars of Faith. Many responded. We have recommendations from Dr. Peter Kreeft, Jennifer Fulwiler, Mike Aquilina, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Fr. Timothy Gallagher, Tim Staples, Trent Horn, Jason Evert and many others. Additionally, we included Fr. C. John McCloskey’s Catholic Lifetime Reading List, which includes over 100 books for your spiritual reading pleasure and enlightenment.
  • Hundreds of quotes by saints and other great and holy minds are sprinkled throughout the text for your meditation and contemplation on each of the four pillars.
  • The main text includes the story of my spiritual reading journey as a Catholic convert, including five things I’ve learned about spiritual reading, and why it should play a critical role in our lives as Catholics.

I’m so excited to share this resource with you! I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think!!!

Joy – That Elusive but Necessary Virtue

Clearly those who knew Chiara witnessed something very special. People are starving to experience the joy of Christ. Imagine what the world would be like if all Christians were brimming with it.

For Easter, I received the long-awaited biography, Chiara Corbella Petrillo: Witness to Joy. I say long-awaited, and yet Chiara died just less than four years ago. But her story has spread like wildfire. In fact, I first heard about her two years ago at a retreat withchiara corbella the Apostles of the Interior Life in Kansas City. The talk was an unbelievably inspirational meditation on Joy. 

Only two years after her death, her story had traveled over 5,000 miles. Amazing. Since then it has no doubt traveled the world.

At first glance, Chiara’s story is quite tragic. By the young age of 28, she had given birth twice to two beautiful children, only to lose each of them within 24 hours. Shortly thereafter, she and her husband were blessed with another baby, only to learn early in her pregnancy that she had cancer. Immediately after they gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Chiara had to undergo major surgery to remove the tumor. But their story didn’t stop there. Shortly after her surgery, Chiara and her husband, Enrico learned that her condition was terminal, and at the time of this photograph, her body was completely ravaged with cancer, even taking the sight from her right eye. She passed from this world shortly thereafter.

Now do you see what’s so compelling about this woman? With all that she had lost, and with all that she stood to lose, her joy was – is –  captivating.

Chiara was a living image of the Word of God:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy (1 Peter 1:6-8).

This is the kind of joy we are called to live as Christians!

So if we are supposed to have this kind of joy, why is Chiara so inspirational?

Could it be because many of us can’t seem to bring ourselves to be joyful in the face of the menial inconveniences of daily life – late alarm, cold coffee, cold weather, hot weather, busy children, too little sleep – let alone summon a smile when tragedy strikes?

What is it about those for whom it seems second nature to look at the glass half full? How do they do it? How do they live out their Faith with such grace?! Do they just FEEL so full of joy that they can’t seem to contain the smiles, the laughter, the overall good nature?

For some of us, this is hard to imagine.

Were they born that way?!

Most of us think there may be a bit of truth to that one. Case in point – My 15-year-old son. Rarely is he seen without a smile on his face (He’s also rarely seen sitting still, but that’s another subject altogether.). There is nothing he enjoys more than making someone smile – he actually told me once that it makes his day. Last Saturday, he laughed when he shared that another employee where he works walked over to where he was busy running the cash register and told him, “I’m just going to stand here and see if some of your positivity will rub off on me.”

I have to admit, I’m a little jealous. I spend a decent amount of time examining traits I admire in others, and thinking, “It is not fair that ‘So and So’ is naturally  ________, while I have to work so hard at it!” Forget about the unfair distribution of wealth – what about the unfair distribution of virtue?!

While such natural traits seem ridiculously unfair, don’t think the rest of us are off the hook. It may be a common excuse on earth, but I don’t think “I was born that way” is going to play well when we stand before Justice Himself, trying to explain our brooding natures.

So what about us? What about the great majority of people who were not born with joy shooting through our veins? Maybe we tend to be caught up in our problems and can’t seem to get out of ourselves long enough to make any real attempts at sustained joy. Is there no hope for us?

Well, I’m sure those of us who have to work a little harder can learn from those who seem to have an easy time of things.

My son, for example, has been blessed with a few characteristics that I am willing to bet are common to all joyful people. First, he is grateful. He doesn’t seem to take things for granted, but rather makes a point to enjoy every conversation, every song, every joke, every job – every moment. Second, he tends to let things run off his back and is quick to forgive. Third, he cares about others. Fourth, he gives his all. He spends very little if any time wondering whether he “fits in.” Rather, he dives in head first and goes for broke. He’s not about getting noticed – whether in school, sports, church, or anything else. Sure – he appreciates accolades. But really, he’s about living. And when he is busy living, he gets noticed because people are naturally drawn to his personality.

These are things we can all work on – gratitude, forgiveness, caring, perseverance. By growing in these areas, perhaps we will find some of that joy that seems so elusive to many of us.

And that’s something else to think about. When we notice those people who are brimming with joy, how do we know that they were born with it? It’s easy for me to think they were – makes for a good excuse on my part. But could it be that they wake up every day with a desire and determination to exhibit the virtue of joy, whether they feel it or not?

Maybe joy is like love – not so much an emotion that we exhibit only when we feel like it, but a verb – something we do because we will it, even when we don’t feel it on the inside.

Take the example given by Servant of God, Elisabeth Leseur in her Secret Diary. In memoriam, her husband says of her,

She was thoroughly gay and took care to be so always; she even considered gaiety a virtue. In her final years, she remembered gladly that St. Teresa of Avila…recommended her sisters to be always gay. Her lovely laughter rang out at every opportunity, with its fresh, frank sound.

More than anything, we must remember that God is the source of all virtue, joy included, whether it is imbued upon birth, or developed over time. For Elisabeth, joy was clearly a discipline that she sought to develop through God’s grace in her daily life. Perhaps we should borrow both her resolution and prayer to emulate in our own lives:

One resolution that I have taken and begun to put into practice, notwithstanding physical and moral weakness, is to be “joyful” in the Christian sense of the word, as joyful as I can be toward life, toward others, and even toward myself. My God, help me, and “Thy Kingdom Come!”

But why all this talk about joy? Is it really necessary that we are a joy-filled people? Well, just look again at Chiara. Isn’t it our goal as Christians to spread the light of Christ? Through Chiara’s life and beautiful death have come such amazing grace. In her biography, the priest who spoke at her funeral writes,

The desire to know Chiara was immediately very strong, and at her funeral, when I said at the end of my homily, “If you wish to know more about Chiara, come ask us,” people responded by the thousands.

Clearly those who knew Chiara witnessed something very special. People are starving to experience the joy of Christ. Imagine what the world would be like if all Christians were brimming with it. If only we could harness that elusive virtue, we could truly serve as His witnesses, for we would

…show triumphantly that all the human lights collectively cannot obscure the pure light of God, but gain, on the contrary, additional radiance from it. – Elisabeth Leseur, “Work to Bring Christ to Others”

Lent – Where the Body Meets the Soul

Have you given anything up this Lent?

It seems everywhere I turn this year, I have found recommendations about “doing” things for Lent. I’ve seen flyers taped to church doors, I’ve received videos from Catholic chocolateapostolates, and I’ve heard discussions via Catholic radio. They don’t suggest that we not attempt a physical discipline; but while they encourage us to engage in spiritual reading, help the poor, perform the corporal and spiritual works for mercy or spend more time in prayer, they say virtually nothing about restraining our appetites in any way.

This “do something positive” trend seems to have increased in recent years. But while  the above suggestions are all laudable activities, we should remind ourselves that the saints would not have separated living out their faith in a positive way from disciplining themselves via abstinence, fasting and mortification. In fact, they considered the spiritual life to be deeply connected with the physical. They recognized that when we lack discipline in our physical lives, our spiritual lives suffer.

Here are just a few comments from the saints on physical discipline (or a lack thereof) and its relationship with the soul:

Do you not know that fasting can master concupiscence, lift up the soul, confirm it in the paths of virtue, and prepare a fine reward for the Christian? -Saint Hedwig of Silesia

Irrational feeding darkens the soul and makes it unfit for spiritual experiences. – St. Thomas Aquinas

As long as a single passion reigns in our hearts, though all the others should have been overcome, the soul will never enjoy peace. – St. Joseph Calasanctius

It is almost certain that excess in eating is the cause of almost all the diseases of the body, but its effects on the soul are even more disastrous. – St. Alphonsus Liguori

The more we indulge ourselves in soft living and pampered bodies, the more rebellious they will become against the spirit. – St. Rita of Cascia

Yes, of course we should engage in activities that help others or increase our spiritual knowledge and time with Christ. But we shouldn’t allow those things to excuse us from taming our passions and appetites.

Unfortunately, many times we allow our sacrifices to become ends in themselves. Perhaps this explains the “upswing” in recommendations for other Lenten activities. After all, things like prayer, spiritual reading, or even practicing works of mercy  directly impact our relationship with The Lord, whereas giving up cake could seem like a random and inconsequential activity. But the fact is that our faith is not either…or; it should be both…and.

We will not have a fruitful Lent just because we declare that we are “giving up _____.” Rather we should remember that those physical sacrifices are not ends in themselves. The end of all discipline must be love. We give up chocolate, – or whatever else – to remind ourselves that this world is fleeting. It is an expression of love that we lavish on Our Lord, passionately declaring that this television set, this candy bar, this ice cream, this cake, these cookies – any and all things which we enjoy in this life – are but nothing compared to Him.

This is the time of year when, as individuals united with the entire Church, we encourage ourselves to walk through the fires of discipline and denial for Our Beloved! This is our time in the desert. This is when, by God’s grace, we face the temptation of X, and we declare,

Man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the Father’s mouth. – Matthew 4:4.

It is when we look over all creation and remind ourselves,

You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. – Matthew 4:10

There is great power in knowing that by Gods’ grace we can be in control. That our appetites do not rule us. Provided we always keep in mind the ultimate end of self-control:

The purpose of asceticism, self-denial and mortification is the growth in charity or love of God. Christian self-denial is not based on the idea that the world, or the flesh are intrinsically wicked, but on the conviction that God is intrinsically good. – Archbishop Fulton Sheen

We release the chains of this world so we can bind ourselves more closely to Christ. Doing so will help us to live our faith more fully. God’s grace helps us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked or visit the imprisoned. And that grace flows abundantly when one of His children demonstrates a commitment to God, the Father, in heaven over the material gods of the earth.

So – What have you given up this Lent? There’s still time…

 

Note: If you like what you just read, please click the “follow” button to receive thought-provoking and action-oriented bi-weekly posts promoting the virtue of sacrifice. 

A New Blog about Sacrifice

Let’s start a conversation about sacrifice. If each of us takes even a step in the right direction, imagine what a change we could effect on the world.

mother teresaSacrifice, to be real, must cost, must hurt, must empty us of ourselves.” – Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Over the past four years, along with thousands of fellow Christians, I have combed through the pages of some of the most profound books ever written on Catholic spirituality (check out our book club at spiritualdirection.com). During that time, my soul has been awash with gallons of words, some more palatable than others. Much to my chagrin, the most common word in all those great works has by far been the most difficult to ingest – its sticking power gnawing at my insides in the most inopportune moments – whenever I want to splurge on a new book, or when I’m dying to eat that last piece of cake, or when my son asks me to iron his forgotten school shirt at 11:30pm, or when I just sit down to read and the dog starts barking at the door.

That word is…Sacrifice.

An all-American, consumption-loving girl at heart, I’ve been doing my best to ignore this little word as it nibbles ceaselessly at my core; but try as I might, it’s not working.

It’s one of those words that inspires from afar; but most of us don’t want to get too close.  There is a love-hate relationship with the notion of sacrifice that is unlike that of any other subject.  We admire those who make great sacrifices, but most of us have become virtually unwilling to get into the mire and muck of pain and self-denial necessary to get the job done.

You see, in our culture, SACRIFICE is a dirty word.

The thing is, throughout my reading I have discovered that sacrifice is a theme that gets to the heart of all blossoming relationships.  It is a theme that would have been obvious to any of the saints to whom we look for inspiration.  It is a theme that was perhaps taken for granted even a hundred years ago.  But it has long since been left in the dust, smited by the philosophy of individualism that has taken us from a freedom to do good, to a belief in license to do whatever we want, despite foreseeable consequences to those around us.  We have become a society grounded in “ME.”  And any society grounded in ME is bound to have members who recklessly trample each other to destruction.  Even our definition of LOVE has come to represent ME.  It is all about my FEELINGS.  And when my FEELINGS no longer exist, then LOVE is gone and I am obligated to find MY fulfillment elsewhere.

Interestingly enough, in the history of the Church, love has never been bound up with feelings.  And it has never been about ME.  Rather, since Our Lord came into this world over 2,000 years ago as Love incarnate, ultimately laying down His life for each and every one of us, love has always been a verb – a verb inextricably intertwined with SACRIFICE.

Hence this blog. Let’s start a conversation about sacrifice. Not a complaining, frustrated conversation. A positive, life-changing conversation. About sacrifice in our country; sacrifice in our homes; but mostly, about sacrifice in our thoughts and in our words, in what we do (not what we fail to do). Let’s have a conversation about offering all to a God who has given all to us. If each of us takes even a step in the right direction, imagine what a change we could effect on the world.

Will you join me?

 

Note: If you like what you just read, please click the “follow” button to receive thought-provoking and action-oriented bi-weekly posts promoting the virtue of sacrifice. 

 

 

 

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