Book Review: Little Star by Anthony DeStefano

We've had a gold bow at the top of our tree for, oh...how long have I been married? 11 years? So that's how long I've had that tree topper. It's pretty - the bow at the top and then long ribbons that trail down the tree. Last year I started thinking we needed something new but that's about as far as I got. This year I will be getting something new for our tree - a star. And it's all because of a sweet book I read - Little Star by Anthony DeStefano.

Everyone feels insignificant, unimportant, and incapable of achieving greatness at some point in their lives. Well, at least I know that I have...many times. Many must have thought the same thing about the Baby Jesus when he was born. Everyone was expecting a king, victor and deliverer. Instead, they got a delivery...of a tiny baby...in a stable. For all we know, Jesus may have felt all of those things growing up. Even if He knew He was meant for greatness, He may have wondered how he, a regular boy just like his friends in most ways, would ever achieve anything.

Little Star felt the same way. No one thought he was capable of accomplishing anything. He was tinier than any of the other stars. When they heard that a King was coming all of the stars began competing to shine the brightest to celebrate his birth. But when they saw the king, where he was born and who his family was, they felt they had been duped.

But Little Star does see the greatness in this baby King. And Little Star searches to find how he can serve this great person who has just come into the world. We learn that even the smallest and most insignificant of us can achieve amazing things as long as we are serving God...just like Baby Jesus did!

So this Advent, I am going to get a star for the top of my tree and as I gaze upon it, I will ask God what His plan is for me. This way, despite my inadequacy, I can achieve greatness for His kingdom.

Pick up Little Star by Anthony DeStefano today. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is adorable. My own children loved it and then I read it to my Pre-K class at school during Sun, Moon and Stars week and they loved it as well. In fact, the minute I finished reading it, they begged me to read it again! It will be a great addition to your Advent/Christmas collection!

Take Five: Meditations With Pope Benedict XVI

Take Five: Meditations with Pope Benedcit XVI by Mike Aquilina & Fr. Kris D. Stubna is a wonderful book to help with daily prayer time. I am addicted to books like this. Some people I know can just sit down and open up the Bible and start reading or praying and have very meaningful quiet times with Jesus. I need a little more help with mine! I like to have more insight, more to think about and a little direction. Take Five does this. Each day starts with an excerpt from one of the pope's writings about a particular topic. They are short and easy to read and understand. The next section gives you points to think about from the reading and about the topic. The section called Just Imagine is a passage from the Bible. And the last section is called Remember which gives you a short phrase or quote to remember, or think about for the rest of the day.

This meditation book is very practical, easy to use on a daily basis, and extremely meaningful because it is all based in scripture and writings from our Holy Father.

One day I was struggling with a decision. I had actually made the decision already but was very nervous about going forward with it. I picked up Take Five to read and pray before bed and read this:

If you stay united with Christ, each one of you will be able to do great things. This is why, dear friends, you must not be afraid to dream with your eyes open of important projects of good and you must not let yourselves be discouraged by difficulties. Christ has confidence in you and wants you to be able to realize all your most noble and lofty dreams of genuine happiness. Nothing is impossible for those who trust in God and entrust themselves to him.

This was from a Prayer Vigil with Young People in Loreto, Italy (September 1, 2007). It spoke so profoundly to me and to the situation I was in. It was truly God speaking directly to me and telling me that everything would be okay regarding the step I was about to take and that He would be with me in it.

That is what I really love about this book. I would love to say that I keep up with reading all of the pope's writings and speeches. I wish I was the kind of person who could print out each encyclical and read it the moment it comes out...or even years later. I'm just not. I'm not a big reader and I'm really not smart enough to understand most things. But with this book, I can read the pope's beautiful and inspired words. It's like he's saying them directly to me!

I encourage you to go out and get this book to add to your daily prayer and study time. It will enrich your time with Jesus and bring you closer to Him!

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Take Five - Meditations with Pope Benedict XVI.

Take Five - Meditations with Pope Benedict XVI, Daily Prayer/Meditations, Prayer and Spirituality

Be on the lookout! I get to review this!! I'm going to be checking the mail every day so impatiently waiting for it to come!!

Take Five - Meditations with Pope Benedict XVI, Daily Prayer/Meditations, Prayer and Spirituality, Catholic Books at The Catholic Company


If you are interested in reviewing books for the Catholic Company Reviewer program, visit here!

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Book Review: The Angels and Their Mission

My most recent Catholic Company Book Review is The Angels and Their Mission by Jean Danielou. Truth be told, I've had a hard time with this book. I picked it because I wanted a departure from the family/NFP/mom books that I've been reading. I felt like having a change and broadening my horizons...well, I did that with this book for sure! The cover of the book should have been my first clue that this is not a book about cute little angels flitting about heaven. I was really wanting a book that explained more about angels - the different hierarchies of them etc. In this book, Jean Danielou went a quite a bit beyond that and was definitely writing to an audience more well versed in the subject of angels, and even in the subject of church fathers, than I am. At the first mention of Pseudo-Dionysius I was like, what is a fake Dionysius verses a real Dionysius. And then he mentions Origen and I couldn't figure out why Origen was capitalized or what he was trying to find the origination of. Now that you all know how uneducated I am in our Church Fathers...I'll continue with the review.

I quickly figured out that this wasn't exactly what I was looking for when I chose this book and I admit that I had a tough time getting through it. And I've had a tough time figuring out how to review this book. I did something that I never do when starting out...I looked at another blogger's review. It was my friend Julie D's at Happy Catholic. I know that she loves angels and the curiosity of what she wrote versus what I was thinking just got the better of me! What I read was both shocking and exactly what I expected. Huh?? I know, right? The part I expected was that this was a pretty easy read for her. She's way smart and very knowledgeable already about angels so this for her while, as she puts it "not light, bedtime reading", was pretty easy for her to get through. What shocked me was that the part of the book that absolutely blew my mind because it was such a new concept for me was front and center in her review and apparently a new concept for her too.

Just as, at the Nativity, we see the Word descend, surrounded by the angels of heaven, and meet the guardian angels of earth, so now we see Him rise, accompanied by the angels of earth, and meet the angels who guard the gates of heaven. but these do not recognize Him, because He appears united to the human nature that He assumed and bearing the marks of His Passion. Thus, they question the angels who are accompanying Him to find out who He is.

[...]

Thus, the mystery of the Ascension completely amazes the angels of heaven. for what it reveals to them is really a mystery, hidden up to then, an entirely new reality, disconcerting at first glance

I love the image of the angels just being blown away by Jesus coming back to Heaven and they don't even recognize him because of his human nature! Wonderful! Love it!

This book is a tough read, but it is well worth the time and effort it takes to get through it. It has opened new thoughts and concepts to me. It has made me more interested in exploring and studying the Church Fathers which I admit to knowing nothing about. The chapter on The Angels and the Spiritual Life states that the angels try to help our spiritual life progress. I think they did just that in guiding me to read this book.

This book was reviewed as part of The Catholic Company's reviewer program. Read more reviews here. Order the book from The Catholic Company here.

Book Review - The Domestic Church: Room by Room

I was driving home one day and listening to Catholic radio. The host of the show was interviewing Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle about her new book - The Domestic Church:Room by Room. She was explaining how the book helps mothers create their domestic church in their homes despite the business of our lives as mothers. I thought it sounded really interesting and was so excited just a few days later when I saw it was available for review through the Catholic book Reviewer program that I participate in through the Catholic Company. I quickly chose it!

This book is a study guide and can be used independently or as part of a group. The author goes room by room through the house and gives practical ways to bring our faith to the family. Mary DeTurris Poust explained it beautifully in her forward.

Donna takes us through each "room" of our lives, guiding us deeper into the mystery of our faith that exists in every corner of our domestic church and then sharing with us the tools and insights needed to coax that mystery out into the light of day where it can blossom into the kind of transforming love that we are called to be to one another

One of the more meaningful rooms to me is the Basement - The Foot of the Cross. She states:

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta has told us, "A living love hurts. Jesus, to prove his love for us, died on the Cross. The mother, to give birth to her child, has to suffer. If you really love one another properly, there must be sacrifice."

The list of sacrifices and suffering is endless, as is a mother's love. If we really love our children properly, there must be sacrifice; otherwise, there is no real love.

I really connected with this. The Lord keeps putting this lesson in front of me over and over. I am to die to self. The world tells us that we deserve to have all of the pleasures we can get our hands on. People do anything they can to avoid suffering...at all costs. This is not the way that God calls us to live though. Not that he wants us to suffer constantly or be unhappy. No, we are to find our joy in and through the sacrifice that we are called to because we know that by giving of our whole selves for love, we are truly united with His cross.

I was thrilled to get to read this book and would recommend it for all mothers. It would be such a great book to use for a women's book club. It's also good to use just as a quiet daily or weekly reflection for a mom on her own as I did it. There are questions at the end of each section to help reinforce the material as well as to get you to think more about it. It is well worth the time and I know I will refer to it often!

A Review: Graced and Gifted by Kimberly Hahn

The latest book I am reviewing for the The Catholic Company product reviewer program is Graced and Gifted - Biblical Wisdom for the Homemaker's Heart by Kimberly Hahn. It is a book that can be read on its own or used as a Bible study with a group or alone. I honestly have to say that I did not want to choose this book when I was given the list of available books to review. There were a few others that really peaked my interest. And then when I saw that this book was based on the Proverbs 31 woman and actually read about the magnificent woman in Proverbs 31, I had an even harder time deciding on this book! I knew I could never live up to this woman - no matter how great a writer Kimberly Hahn is...and she's good - Life Giving Love is one of the most amazing books I've ever read! But I decided to go with this book mostly because it fits in so well with my blog, the topics I write about and my calling to reach out to other married women with children. As usual though, the Lord knows what I need before I do - and I'm so glad or I would have missed out on a great book! He knew that this book would not only fit well into my blog, but that it would fit well into my life and into the way He's been working in my life lately.

You see, lately, every where I turn, I'm reminded of the fact that being a wife and a mother is my calling...my vocation...my path to holiness and the sweet reward of Heaven. It is what God is calling me to do right now. I used to always really struggle with what God's will for me was until I read a book of Mother Angelica's sayings and teachings. She says that God's will for you is whatever you are doing at the time (wrote about it here). She says,

"What is God's Will for me?" Somebody asked me that not too long ago. Honey, if it's happening, it's God's Will; and you have to correspond to it in the Present Moment.

I am lucky as a wife and mother. I cannot question what God's will for me is...it's to be a wife to my husband and a mother to my children. It is to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, wipe tears, deal with tantrums, and throw dinosaur birthday parties. It is to be a helpmate, friend and lover to my husband. I am a cleaner of the house, a cook, a nurse, and a taxi driver. All of these things are what I am called to do and Kimberly Hahn's book has really helped to drive home this idea that the Lord has been drilling into my head and adds depth to many of the tasks that I do each day.

Hahn covers many different topics such as clothing the family, cooking for the family, organizing and decluttering the home, and growing a garden. She gives such wonderful ideas, information, and resources about so many different things. Each chapter contains references to helpful books and websites. And then, every couple of chapters, the topic is related to a sacrament making it real to the reader just how important what we do is not only for our families but for our vocation as homemakers. For example, the chapters on feeding the family are related to the Eucharist. Just as we provide food for our families,

"God provides food that is needful. In the Old Tesatment there are three examples of God's provision of food for his people"

.

"The sacrifice of the Mass is our covenant meal, renewing our covenant with God in thanksgiving for all he has done for us".

I keep thinking about what our pastor said in his homily last week. He said that when we do not do what God is asking of us, it leaves the Kingdom of God lacking in some way. That was just huge to me. It's not just me that is affected, or my children or family, but the entire Kingdom of God! As he was saying this, I started thinking about this book and how this is what it has been telling me as I've been reading this. The way I parent my children, run my household, and minister to my husband affects the entire Kingdom of God. What a huge responsibility. I'm so glad to have the help of the wonderful women in my life - mother, mother in law, friends - as well as the guidance of my church and my faith and the Bible. I'm so glad to have read this wonderful book and plan to keep it close by to refer to the resources that have been provided. I'm even thinking that one of these days I'd like to do a book study with a group of women using this book. I would recommend any young wife/mother pick up Graced and Gifted and tap into the wisdom it provides. It will give you a great perspective on the life that God is calling you to live!

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Graced and Gifted - Biblical Wisdom for the Homemaker's Heart.

Specific to the BlogHer guidelines, I received this product free to review. It's value is less than $40.