The Finley Book of the Month

The perfect daily meditations book for Advent!

2011-11-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

From Season of Promises by Mitch Finley (Wipf & Stock):

We alerted you to this book last year, but just in case you didn't get your copy in time for Advent 2010, we thought we'd do so again:

Advent is a lonely step-child of a season; it does not get the respect it deserves. Too often Advent gets lost in our wild dash toward Christmas. But look. Advent is the season of promises, filled with spiritual riches for those ready to accept its blessings. Advent is a season of promises.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

In his song, "The Boxer," singer-song writer Paul Simon croons about "a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises." But not in this case. Advent is loaded with promises for a future we already have. It's a mystical season, full of promises already kept, promises from God to be Emmanuel, "God with us," always. Always. No pocket full of mumbles here. Only promises fulfilled, promises kept.

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Season of Promises

Delightful, challenging reflections on virtue

2011-10-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

From The Catholic Virtues: Seven Pillars of a Good Life by Mitch Finley (Liguori Publications):

Mae West was one of the most popular movie stars of the 1930s and a flamboyant sex symbol. She was famous for her come-hither
remark to various men, “Come on up and see me sometime.” There are many amusing anecdotes about Mae West, for example:
“Goodness, Mae,” said a friend, on greeting her, “where did you get
those beautiful pearls?”
“Never mind,” said Mae, “but you can take it from me goodness had nothing to do with it.”
The character Mae West played, even in her private life, wanted nothing to do with virtue because when she talked about virtue it was always virtue in the worst sense of the word. A virtuous person was, for the melodramatic Mae, automatically a puritanical person, a party pooper and a spoil sport. On the contrary, by a virtuous person I mean one who is capable of embracing life and living it to the full. Indeed, we will insist that only the genuinely good person is capable of enjoying life because the virtuous person finds the mystery of joy and love in all created things.

To learn more about this book and/or to order a copy, click here: Virtues

To visit our website where you can browse all of our books, learn more about us, and even hear a sound clip of Mitch playing the banjo, click here: Finleys

The ideal book for Catholic seekers!

2011-08-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

From The Seeker's Guide to Being Catholic by Mitch Finley (Wipf & Stock):

If you are uncomfortable with the popular perspective which requires you to have no faith or think of religion as a mere hobby that has nothing to do with the real world; if you are dissatisfied with fashioning a private, "mixed bag" spirituality designed to satisfy personal needs but make few demands; if you cannot agree with the sectarian Christian perspective which requires you to turn off your intellect and embrace "blind faith" in exchange for absolute certainty; if you believe that Catholicism, the oldest institution in the western world, is not perfect, but it may have something to offer all the same--this book is for you.
The purpose of this small book is to offer some tips, some guidelines, on being a Catholic seeker. Perhaps you are curious about Catholicism, or you are thinking of becoming a Catholic. Maybe you were raised in Catholicism and want to know if it fits into your future or not. Or maybe you are Catholic and simply want to know more about what that means in today's complex, sometimes confusing world. This book will not answer all your questions, but it will join you in asking those questions and thinking about some possible responses. Think of this book as a literary companion on your quest.

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Seeker's Guide

How to build a Christian family...

2011-06-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

From Building Christian Families by Mitch & Kathy Finley (ASJA Press):

Virtually every major theologian whose subject is the theology of the church has neglected an important insight in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. There is little evidence in their writings that according to Vatican II the family is the "domestic church." Theologians either ignore this insight or mention it only in passing and show a limited understanding of its implications for both families and the church as a whole....
Those who belong to families intuitively realize that their faith makes little sense apart from what goes on in the daily experience of family relationships. Together with those who work closely with families, they know that the family--in its various forms--is "the foundational church."

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Building Christian Families

Celebrate Mary's Month of May with "Surprising Mary"!

2011-05-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

From Surprising Mary by Mitch Finley (Resurrection Press/Catholic Book Publishing):

We turn to you for protection, holy Mother of God. Listen to our prayers and help us in our needs. Save us from every danger, glorious and blessed Virgin. - The Oldest Known Prayer to Mary

Notice, this ancient prayer is not a private prayer, it does not begin with "I," it begins with "We." This is a prayer prayed together by a faith community, probably in a liturgical context. The feast of Mary we observe on January 1 brings her before the whole church, the whole people of God, and we recall that she is what the early church called her, in Greek Theotokos, which literally means something like "Birth-Giver of God," or "God-bearer," or "Bringer-forth-of-God."

It you would like to learn more about this book and/or order a copy, click here: Surprising Mary

Two books now available for Kindle readers!

2011-04-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

Recently, Mitch Finley's two most recently published books became available in Kindle editions, on amazon.com. Here are brief excerpts from The Rosary Handbook and The Patron Saints Handbook (The Word Among Us Press):

From The Rosary Handbook:

The Rosary is simple, and the Rosary is deep. It is so simple that the humblest believers love the Rosary. It is so deep that many of the greatest thinkers and mystics down through the centuries have loved the Rosary. Indeed, the simplicity and depth of the Rosary are the simplicity and depth of the gospel itself, the good news of God's love and forgiveness for all in Christ.

From The Patron Saints Handbook:

The Catholic affection for saints was what led to the tradition of adopting saints as patrons of particular causes, groups, or regions. In The Patron Saints Handbook, you’ll learn about one hundred such saints. You’ll find out, for example, who St. Genesius was and why he is the patron saint of actors. You’ll discover why St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who spent her life in a cloistered French convent, is the patron saint of missionaries. You’ll meet the patron saint of firefighters, songwriters—and even astronauts.

To learn more about The Rosary Handbook, or to purchase a Kindle or regular copy, click here: Rosary

To learn more about The Patron Saints Handbook, or to purchase a Kindle or regular copy, click here: Saints

One great book on marriage!

2011-03-05T16:34:00.001-08:00

Here's an excerpt from Building a Christian Marriage: Eleven Essential Skills, by Kathleen Finley (Wipf & Stock):

Let’s begin with some assumptions that underlie the way
I think about marriage. I have many convictions about marriage, most of which I will share with you in the course
of this book, but these four assumptions flow through everything else I will say.
1. Marriage is much more a process than a state of being. It makes more sense to think about marrying your spouse than being married. In many ways a marriage license
is a learner’s permit to keep learning about one another. And the many elements of your married life are interconnected. Change in one area affects all the others. Sensitivity to these interconnections, as well as patience and continual attention to your marriage, yields great rewards.
2. Marriages need support. It’s not your spouse and you against the world. Married couples need support from others in order to be strong. This support can come from other couples, from your extended family, from your church and community, from mentors and counselors. You will need to look for that support; it won’t just happen.
3. Married people need skills — today more than ever. Married couples today face challenges that previous generations seldom had to cope with. These include the flux in gender roles, intense economic pressures, the need for extended periods of education, rapid social change, and expectations for marriage and relationships heavily influenced by a ubiquitous, secular mass media. We need a tool kit of skills to cope with all this, tools our parents and grandparents didn’t need as urgently.
4. A Christian approach to marriage can make all the difference. In my view, the Catholic Christian way of thinking about and living out marriage embodies powerful wisdom about married life. It also makes available the best source of strength — the grace of God.

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Marriage

An ideal book for Lent this year!

2011-02-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

From The Corporal & Spiritual Works of Mercy by Mitch Finley (Liguori Publications):

. . .it is important to notice that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are deeply rooted in Scripture and Sacred Tradition. As we get into our discussion of each of the works of mercy, these connections will become clear. To turn our attention to these two traditional lists of ways to be merciful is to zero in on the heart and soul of a practical Christian spirituality and way of life. This is a spirituality for regular folks who live in the real, everyday world. It's a spirituality and a practical program of faith for the home and the workplace and all the ordinary places in-between that we all inhabit on a daily basis. It's a nitty-gritty spirituality, and there is nothing ethereal about it. So, spiritually speaking, pull on your bib overalls, strap on your boots, and don your construction site helmet, because we're about to explore Catholic spirituality as it take shape in its most knockabout ways.

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Works of Mercy

If you don't yet have a copy of Mitch's little Lenten classic, Season of New Beginnings, click here to learn more or order a copy: Season

Revitalize your prayer life in 2011!

2011-01-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

This month’s Book of the Month excerpt is a little different; you get some fragments from a meditation on ribbons and bows–like the ones you may have received on Christmas gifts. This meditation invites you to use all your senses. Although this meditation isn’t in Kathy’s book, Savoring God: Praying With All Our Senses, the book does include about 30 other meditations based on daily objects such as a hand, a mirror, or an address book. Each meditation uses each of our senses to explore an everyday object, several Scripture passages which apply to the object, and information we take for granted about the object. Each meditation then invites you to respond to the rest of your life in light of this meditation. Here’s a short sample of this approach to prayer:

“What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” - 1 Cor 4:7

. . . . . .

In most situations, giving a gift is an attempt to say the unsayable, to express oneself through an object, the thought that went into its choosing or making, and what the one receiving the gift means to the gift giver.
For a person of faith, all of life is a gift, filled with many signs of God’s goodness and love.

. . . . . .

God of all gifts in my life, thank you for the gift of life and for the many gifts I don’t recognize, including my health. Bless those who make and sell gifts, those celebrating birthdays or other holidays today, and all those talented with many gifts from You.
Please help me to take another look at all the gifts You give me; help me to even envision them with invisible bows and tags that say, “To you with great love,God.” Your love is truly the greatest gift I could ever imagine. Amen.

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Savoring God

What good is the Holy Spirit, why?

2010-12-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

From The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit by Mitch Finley (Liguori Publications):

. . .we might want to give some thought to this "Holy Spirit" business.

If you have ever witnessed the birth of a child or the death of someone you love--if you have ever known the deep goodness of shared physical pleasure in a loving, lasting marriage--if you have ever been touched by the words of Scripture--or if a liturgy ever nourished you in places you had forgotten you had--if the words of a friend were ever just the words you needed most to hear--if you have ever felt deeply at peace for no apparent reason--if you have ever vented your anger directly to God and been relieved and a little surprised at how right it felt--if you have ever been able to pray when prayer seemed impossible--then you might want to learn more about the Holy Spirit.

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Brand New for You: A Book on Patron Saints

2010-11-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

From The Patron Saints Handbook by Mitch Finley (The Word Among Us Press):

The book you hold in your hands is jam-packed with the stories of patron saints. The material is organized alphabetically according to subject, so you can look up a particular patron saint easily. If you want to know the patron saint of animals, locate "Animals" and there you will find the saint's name followed by a summary story of his or her life. Some patron saints may surprise you. Did you know that there is a patron saint for divorce. "Divorce " appears in alphabetical order, too. There are far more patron saints than this book could include, of course, so at the end of the book you'll find a list of other resources you may consult to find a patron saint that didn't make the cut for this volume.
As you read or browse through this book, keep in mind that the saints you read about were flesh-and-blood people just like us. Unlike us, however, they now enjoy what we experience only partially and imperfectly, that is, loving intimacy with the God whom Dante, in his Divine Comedy, called "the Love that moves the sun and the other stars." At the same time, the very idea of patron saints takes for granted that the saints know what goes on in this world, and in our lives, and they care for us and pray for us when we ask them to do so. How delightful is that!

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Patron Saints Handbook

The perfect daily meditations book for Advent!

2010-10-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

From Season of Promises by Mitch FInley (Wipf & Stock):

Advent is a lonely step-child of a season; it does not get the respect it deserves. Too often Advent gets lost in our wild dash toward Christmas. But look. Advent is the season of promises, filled with spiritual riches for those ready to accept its blessings. Advent is a season of promises.

In his song, "The Boxer," singer-song writer Paul Simon croons about "a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises." But not in this case. Advent is loaded with promises for a future we already have. It's a mystical season, full of promises already kept, promises from God to be Emmanuel, "God with us," always. Always. No pocket full of mumbles here. Only promises fulfilled, promises kept.

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Season of Promises

A Book on Being Catholic for Men Only

2010-09-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

From For Men Only: Strategies for Living Catholic, by Mitch Finley:

The approach of this book is christological. Jesus of Nazareth was a man and Christian men should look to him as their model. Catholic women may–indeed, must–do the same, but how they do this is not this book's concern. Is it significant that Jesus of Nazareth was a man and not a woman? Let scholars of both sexes wrestle with this question, and good luck to them all. Jesus of Nazareth was a man, the Gospels take his maleness for granted, and this book looks to the Jesus of the Gospels for insights into a man's approach to being a Catholic and a Catholic approach to being a man.
Mind you, the maleness of Jesus is no reason for men to boast or women to be offended. It is simply an objective historical fact, and there is no reason to pretend otherwise. Jesus' maleness is not irrelevant. We acknowledge the fact of Jesus' maleness and pay close attention to see if there is something men can learn from this fact. Both men and women need to develop psychologically healthy and theologically sound ways to relate to the historical fact that Jesus was male. This book should be taken as a male contribution to that project.

To learn more about this book, or to purchase a copy, click here: For Men Only.

God Loves Us Passionately

2010-06-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

From Prayers for the Newly Married by Kathleen Finley (ACTA Publications):

Following a brief reflection, this prayer titled "On Waking Up Next to My Spouse":

God the source of all love,
the energy and the passion in our marriage
gives us a little glimpse of how passionately you love us.

Thank you for the joy you have given us in each other's bodies
and for the many ways we can show our love
and respect for each other.

Thank you, too, for the times just to enjoy and savor
the goodness of each other, especially first thing in the morning.

Amen.

To learn more about this book, or to purchase a copy, click here: Prayers

An Embarrassing Wealth of Metaphors

2010-05-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

From The Joy of Being Catholic: A Resounding Affirmation of Our Faith by Mitch Finley (Crossroad Publishing Co.):

Catholic joy comes, in part, from being able to relate to the Divine Mystery through an almost embarrassing wealth of metaphors, all of which are true, yet none of which say it all. God is Creator. God is Father or Loving Papa. God is Aroused Lover, and God is Compassionate Friend. Catholic poet Francis Thompson called God “the hound of Heaven,” who pursues us “down the nights and down the days.” And he was right.
Catholic joy comes from knowing that in the long run and the short run there is no need to be afraid or anxious because no matter what happens, good or bad, God’s love for us is absolutely reliable, more trustworthy than the best things that can happen to us, more powerful than the worst things than can happen to us. Even death.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: The Joy of Being Catholic

The Freedom of the Catholic Conscience

2010-04-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

From Catholic is Wonderful! by Mitch Finley (Resurrection Press/Catholic Book Publishing):

A Catholic is one who can say, in all honesty, "I'm not perfect and neither is the church." A Catholic is one who is baptized, wants to belong to the Catholic Church, finds God in the Catholic community of faith, and finds there forgiveness, spiritual nourishment, courage, healing, and light to live by.
A Catholic is likely to find much wisdom and goodness in many,perhaps most, of the church's laws, but a good Catholic may also find some church rules that, before God, he or she simply cannot accept. To do so would be to violate his or her own conscience. St. Augustine, in the 5th century, said that even if an angel of God should order you to disobey your conscience you should not do so. This does not make you a bad Catholic, and anyone who says it does is a Pharisee in the classic mold.
I recall a wry remark of G. K Chesterton, a convert to Catholicism and probably the most quotable English-speaking Catholic of the 20th century: "Catholics know the two or three transcendental truths on which they do agree; and take rather a pleasure in disagreeing on everything else."
And how.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: Catholic is Wonderful!

"The most wonderful daily meditations book for Lent I've ever found!"

2010-02-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

Each year we hear these words from people who have been re-reading this little collection of daily meditations each Lent for years, now. We hope you'll enjoy it just as much. . .

From Season of New Beginnings: Praying Through Lent with Saint Augustine of Hippo, Dorothy Day, Vincent van Gogh, Saint Teresa of Avila, John Henry Newman, Flannery O'Connor, by Mitch Finley (Resurrection Press):

Lent hits us right between the eyes with ashes on Ash Wednesday. Then day after day, for forty days, it whispers in our heart. Lent whispers: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." It whispers, "Repent and believe in the gospel." It whispers, "Do grow up, oh small of heart, small of spirit." It whispers, "God loves you with an infinite, unconditional love, a love so high you can't get over it, so wide you can't get around it, so low you can't get under it . . ."
Lent whispers and whispers, and so. . .we need some quiet times if we want to hear what it says. We need five or ten minutes in each of Lent's forty days when we do nothing but attend to what Lent may whisper in our heart. That's the purpose of [Season of New Beginnings]. Think of it as a spiritual compass, something to give you some direction for a few minutes in each of Lent's forty days. Or, if you prefer, think of this small book as a literary sparkplug, something to keep the spirit of Lent alive for you one day at a time.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: Season of New Beginnings

Finley Book of the Month for January 2010

2010-01-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

This prayer is from Welcome! Prayers for New and Pregnant Parents, which follows the process from wanting a child through pregnancy or adoption and on to the child's first birthday.

On the New Baby’s Baptism

Loving God,
thank you for the opportunity to celebrate baptism
with our child and our friends and families....

Thank you for the faith community of our parish,
that welcomes our child on behalf of the whole Church.
Help them and us to teach our child what it means to believe in you,
more by who we are than by what we say.

Give us the gifts to teach this child about faith.
Help us remember that our family is the first experience
of the community of believers that we call “church”
that our child will know.
Be present in our “domestic church”
and in our hospitality to those who come into our home.

As our child was baptized
into your death and resurrection,
help us to be willing to “die and rise” with you—
day in and day out—as we care for this child
and through our love for him
about yourself and your amazing, patient love for us.
Amen.

"[Simeon] came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." [Luke 2:27-32]

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Welcome!

Finley Book of the Month for November 2009

2009-11-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

From the Introduction to Whispers of God's Love: Touching the Lives of Loved Ones After Death (Liguori Publications) by Mitch Finley:

Experiences of the personal presence of deceased relatives and/or friends, are more common than one might think. In 1984, 1988, and 1989, in its General Social Survey, the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center (NORC) asked a representative sampling of the U. S. population: "How often have you felt as though you were really in touch with someone who died?" Affirmative responses came from 42% of those asked who were not widowed and 53% of those widowed. Among teenagers, 38% reported being in touch with someone who died. (See Religion as Poetry, by Andrew M. Greeley [Transaction Publishers, 1995], especially Chapter 12, "Religious Stories and Contact With the Dead.")

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Whispers of God's Love.

Finley Book of the Month for October 2009

2009-10-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

From the chapter on Story of a Soul by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, in Catholic Spiritual Classics by Mitch Finley (Sheed & Ward):

Thérèse's decision to think of herself as "a little flower" has been romanticized over the years to the point that her actual reason for choosing such an image is easily overlooked. Thérèse used the image of a "little flower" to convey the idea of strength in weakness, much as did St. Paul when he wrote, "I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:10). Thérèse had nothing sentimental, romantic, or foolish in mind when she called herself "a little flower."

The final words of Story of a Soul sum up Thérèse's life and message. Writing with great effort only days before her death, in a last incomplete sentence, Thérèse says that, "I go to Him with confidence and love. . ."

This is the spirituality of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in a nutshell: to live one's ordinary life to the fullest "with confidence and love," and to face death not with fear, but "with confidence and love."

To learn more about this book, or to order a copy, click here: Catholic Spiritual Classics

Finley Book of the Month for September 2009

2009-09-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

From Savoring God: Praying With All Our Senses, by Kathleen Finley (Ave Maria Press):

Usually when we pray we try to shut out the outside world and focus on the interior, the spiritual, the realm that we often think of as beyond or above us— the transcendent— in order to be able to be with God. Instead, this book invites you to be with God through the very tangible, specific objects of your everyday life, to take another look— as well as another listen, taste, touch and smell— at what is right before you and to see God there. God has given us our five senses as important ways to understand and appreciate the world around us; this is an opportunity to use them specifically for prayer.
The Hebrew and Christian scriptures remind us that in Jesus our God is a God-with-us, Emmanuel. Christians believe that Jesus was, and is, God incarnate or, as a wonderful young theologian-to-be put it, “God’s show-and-tell.” In Jesus all of human life and creation has become a sign of God’s presence, filled with sacraments with a small “S,” with ways to grow closer to God if we just look again — re-spect — what is right before us.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: Savoring God

Finley Book of the Month for August 2009

2009-08-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

From 101 Ways to Happiness (Liguori Publications), this is Number 89:

JOIN AN INSTITUTIONAL RELIGION

As far as the dominant popular culture is concerned, "institutional religion" is in bad taste. Only those unable to cope with reality take refuge in "institutional religion," people who need a spiritual crutch. "Spirituality" may be popular, but who would want to have anything to do with "institutional religion?" We would rather put together our own spiritual outlook on life and the world, something unique to fit our unique self.

There is something charmingly naive about this popular perspective. It's also charmingly American, an echo of that good old American individualism we all know so well. We will do it on our own, by damn, and everybody else better leave us alone.

In a book called Through a Glass Darkly: A Spiritual Psychology of Faith, author Mary Jo Meadow writes: "Religious institutions seem to be a ‘necessary evil' when it comes to faith. They help transmit spiritual truths, but often limit seekers' perspectives in ways that block spiritual growth and obscure spiritual truths . . . .
"Let the question become: of all the worthy paths that have brought people to God, which is or are the best for me at this time?"

How utterly broad-minded, wouldn't you say? For this perspective the subjective individual is an absolute. You should measure all of life and all the universe according to your own personal, subjective, private measure at this moment in time. Indeed, you are the measure of all truth, beauty and goodness. There are no objective truths, only what's meaningful for you.

This is a summary of the most popular perspective on spirituality and religions today. But it overlooks something. Granted that religious institutions have their faults and weaknesses; granted that religious institutions or those who represent them sometimes hurt people; granted that sometimes religious leaders are arrogant and self-serving. But the same is true of all human institutions. . .because they are all human and so, flawed. Does this mean that I--me, myself, and I--constitute an infallible authority? Is it not remotely possible that "institutional religions" exist because historically people found them necessary and, in the long run, more worthwhile than not, more expanding than limiting? Is it not possible that an institutional religion can help me to nourish my spirituality in ways I might never discover on my own, thrashing about to put together my own little eclectic spiritual mix?

To refuse allegiance to any single institutional religion is to hold oneself aloof from full membership in and commitment to any human religious community at all. It is to make a career of standing on the sidelines.
Nourish your happiness. Join an institutional religion. There you will find fulfillment, meaning, and spiritual truth. You will also find frustration, narrow-mindedness, and conflict. Welcome to the human condition.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: 101 Ways to Happiness

Finley Book of the Month for July 2009

2009-07-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

From The Ten Commandments: Timeless Challenges for Today (Liguori Publications):

Notice that God does not say, "Either you obey my commandments or else I will punish you severely for your disobedience." Rather, it's as if God says: "This is the natural order of things; this is how you are put together. This is the way of human nature. If you follow the utterances I give you will thrive. If you ignore what I say the natural consequence will be a world of hurt. The choice is yours. "Choose life" (Dt 30:19b).
With the Ten Commandments, then, God does not threaten us with a list of blunt rules and regulations designed to fence us in or prevent us from having any fun. Quite the opposite. G. K. Chesterton illustrates the point, quotable as always:

"...the curtness of the Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden.... It is better to tell a man not to steal than to try to tell him the thousand things that he can enjoy without stealing; especially as he can generally be pretty well trusted to enjoy them."

The purpose of the Ten Commandments is to enlighten and guide, to help us act in ways that are good for us and will help us to have a life worth living.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: The Ten Commandments.

Finley Book of the Month for June 2009

2009-06-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

From You Are My Beloved: Meditations On God's Steadfast Love (Resurrection Press):

For as the loincloth clings to one's loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD. . . (Jeremiah 13:11)

Who says God does not smile?
Who says the Bible has no sense of humor?
Translate "loincloth" into modern terms,
and you get underpants.
Hilarity in the extreme.
You want to know how close I am to you? says the LORD.
I am as close to you as your underpants.
Ha! Knock yourself out laughing,
laughing with joy and relief.
God's loving presence is
as close as your Fruit of the Looms,
as close as your b.v.d.'s,
as close as your panties,
as close as your skivvies,
as close as your undies.
Laugh out loud,
tears streaming down your cheeks,
it is soooo funny!
God's love
is as close to you
as your underpants.
Fall down on the floor
laughing
with joy and gratitude,
that God would love you so,
so much that right there in the Bible
Jeremiah declares that God's love
clings to you like your unmentionables.
Think about that when you
get dressed in the morning.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: You Are My Beloved.

Finley Book of the Month for May 2009

2009-05-02T14:57:00.001-07:00

From Surprising Mary by Mitch Finley (Resurrection Press):

We turn to you for protection, holy Mother of God. Listen to our prayers and help us in our needs. Save us from every danger, glorious and blessed Virgin. - The Oldest Known Prayer to Mary

Now look. This ancient prayer is not a private prayer, it does not begin with "I," it begins with "we." This is a prayer prayed together by a faith community, probably in a liturgical context. The feast of Mary we observe on January 1 brings her before the whole church, the whole people of God, and we recall that she is what the early church called her, in Greek Theotokos, which literally means something like "Birth-Giver of God," or "God-bearer," or "Bringer-forth-of-God."

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: Surprising Mary

Dying and Rising

2009-04-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

From The Liturgy of Motherhood: Moments of Grace (Sheed & Ward) by Kathleen Finley:

The days of the Easter Triduum -- Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday -- put us at the heart of the paschal mystery, the dying and rising of Jesus -- and the dying and rising to which we are all called, every day. The Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner called this experience "dying in installments."

As mothers we are called to die and rise in so many ways; to set aside most of our expectations for our children, to love them even while not liking their choices -- or even our children themselves, at times -- to serve in many ways that may never be noticed or appreciated, and to let go in countless ways. Mothers experience plenty of dying, and hopefully, also see the rising of new possibilities in themselves and in their children -- even in the very dying to which they are called.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: The Liturgy of Motherhood

Lively Prayers for Married Couples

2009-02-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

From Prayers for the Newly Married (ACTA Publications):

(In the prayer "For a Faithful Love," after a brief reflection and scripture passage, there is the following prayer:)

God of all love,
you have given us a gift beyond all measure
in our love for each other,
a love that goes on caring year after year.

We ask your presence and help in our love for each other,
that it will continue to be the delight of our lives
and that, as other demands for our attention arise
we will continue to give each other the first place in our hearts.

Help our love for each other to keep growing
as we continue to choose each other, day after day, year after year,
grounded in your faithful love for each of us,
which never gives up on us.

Amen.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: Prayers For the Newly Narried.

A Delightful Collection of Brief Daily Reflections

2009-01-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

From 101 Ways to Happiness: Nourishing Body, Mind & Soul by Mitch Finley (Liguori Publications):

The Emptiness Only God and Others Can Fill

The truth is that humans come into this world with an emptiness that only the God who is Love can fill, a thirst or hunger that only the God who is Love can satisfy. The insight that Christianity contributes is that our relationship with God cannot be separated from our relationships with one another. So. . .happiness depends upon cultivating a healthy relationship with our Creator, who is Love, and with our fellow human beings, especially our families and those with whom we live and work most closely on a day-to-day basis. To carry the Christian insight yet another step, our relationships with one another cannot be separated from our relationship with the earth itself. So any happiness we experience depends upon cultivating loving intimacy with God, with our fellow humans, and with the earth.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: 101 Ways to Happiness

A Delightful Christmas Book for All Ages

2008-11-30T13:45:00.000-08:00

From The True Meaning of Christmas by Santa Claus with Mitch Finley:

Listen to Christmas Music

During the Christmas season, the air is filled with Christmas music. Everywhere you go, in the stores and in the streets, you hear Christmas music of all kinds. Sometimes the Christmas music may seem loud and frantic, which does not add to the true spirit of Christmas. Instead, it creates a feeling of holiday chaos and uproar. Bang, bang, bang? Do not allow that to be your only Christmas music. Make sure to listen to some good Christmas music sometime during the Christmas season.
Whether you are a child or a grown-up, if you can, attend a live performance of Handel's Messiah; that would be good. Sit there and soak in Handel's music. If you look around, you may find me there, as well. Let the music warm you from the inside out. If you cannot attend a live performance, listen to a good recording.
Would you like to know a secret? One of my all-time favorite recordings of Christmas music is by a group that was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s, called the Kingston Trio. This album is titled The Last Month of the Year and it is, for me, always beautiful, entertaining, and uplifting. Sometimes I listen to it through earphones on my portable music player as I fly through the night skies. If you look, you may find this Kingston Trio collection yourself. Of course, there are many other beautiful recordings of Christmas music.
Remember: Christmas music should not just be background music. Instead, make time to sit down and really listen to the music. Listen, really listen. Let Christmas music fill your heart and help you to feel more deeply the true spirit of Christmas.

If you would like to learn more about this book, or purchase a copy, click here: The True Meaning of Christmas

An Amazing Story for the Month of All Souls' Day

2008-11-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

From Whispers of God's Love: Touching the Lives of Loved Ones After Death, by Mitch Finley:

Frederick Buechner Receives a "Visit" From an Old Friend

Frederick Buechner, Presbyterian minister and bestselling author, reported his experience in a talk he gave in 1987, sponsored by the Book-of-the-Month Club, which appeared later in Spiritual Quests: The Art and Craft of Religious Writing, edited by William Zinsser (Houghton Mifflin, 1988). Buechner told his audience that a good friend had died one year ago, and a couple of months later he and his wife stayed overnight with the man's widow. That night, he dreamed that his friend stood there in the guest room "looking very much the way he always did in the navy blue jersey and white slacks that he often wore . . ."
Frederick Buechner told his friend how much they missed him and how happy he was to see him, and his friend acknowledged this. "Then I said, ‘Are you really there, Dudley?' I meant was he there in fact and truth, or was I merely dreaming that he was? His answer was that he was really there. And then I said, ‘Can you prove it?' ‘Of course,' he said. Then he plucked a strand of blue wool out of his jersey and tossed it to me, and I caught it between my index finger and my thumb, and the feel of it was so palpable and so real that it woke me up. That's all there was to the dream."
It seemed, Buechner said, as if his friend came to do what he did, and then he left. The next morning at breakfast, Buechner described his dream, and he had barely finished when his wife spoke. She declared that she had seen a strand of blue wool on the guest room carpet that morning as she was getting dressed, and "she was sure it hadn't been there the night before."
Buechner wondered if he was losing his mind. "I rushed upstairs to see," he told his audience, "and there it was--a little tangle of navy blue wool that I have in my wallet as I stand here today."

To learn more about this book or to purchase a copy click here: Whispers of God's Love

A Family Prayer for Autumn

2008-10-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

From Amen! Prayers for Families With Children by Kathleen Finley:

On a Fall Day

God of all the colors of the rainbow,
thank you for this amazing fall day
when the leaves are bright with hues
that will soon fade as winter comes near.
You made these leaves for us to enjoy,
to give us shade in summer
and now to see in a whole new way
as they begin to fall and die.
Their dying now will make room
for new life next spring,
just as when we die to the selfishness inside
we make more room for your new life in us.
You made each one of us
as different as each of these leaves,
each very special to you.
Help us to see your love in many ways all around us
and to enjoy this colorful time of year.

Amen!

"Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:24

To learn more about this book or to purchase a copy, click here: Amen!

Deepen Your Understanding of What Faith Is by Considering What Faith is Not

2008-09-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from What Faith is Not by Mitch Finley:

When we say that faith is not a security blanket, the metaphor of the security blanket is an image of a faith that you can turn to anytime for a feeling of well-being. All you need to do is grab your faith and pop a thumb in your mouth to make things right with the world. But if this is how you relate to your faith then your faith is bound to disappoint you. If, when life gets scary, you turn to your faith like Linus turns to his blanket, sooner or later you will discover that your faith will slip right through your fingers and be gone. Sooner or later life, like Snoopy, will snatch your security blanket faith away from you, and because it is a weak kind of faith it will be gone in the blink of an eye. Zip! Gone, just like Snoopy is gone with Linus' blanket. Of course, you may try to hang on to your security blanket faith, but if you do you can expect to find yourself airborne and going for a wild ride, and before long your security blanket faith will slip from your grasp and be gone, with you lying on the ground wondering what the heck happened there.
A security blanket faith is phony because it is a "faith" that depends upon a woefully inadequate image of God. It reduces God to the role of an emergency rescue technician. If my faith is a security blanket, that means that it is God's role to rescue me from bad times, suffering, grief, and the consequences of my own stupid mistakes and idiotic choices. It also means that never will my faith require me to take any risks or accept suffering for the sake of some greater good.

Order a copy of this book, or learn more about it...Here.

Eucharistic Meanings For an Adult Faith

2008-03-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from The Joy of Being Catholic by Mitch Finley:

There seems to be considerable misunderstanding of the eucharist among Catholics in our time. To say that the eucharistic bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ is not a mere analogy or metaphor. The Catechism of the Catholic Church could not be more clear: “At the heart of the eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the word of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ’s Body and Blood. . . . The signs of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood of Christ. . .” (No. 1333).

This is the ancient faith of the church, the faith of the followers of Christ since the earliest days of the Christian community. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, which scholars date to about A.D. 54, St. Paul reminds his readers: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?” (10:16).

We should not be too hard on Catholics who do not believe that the eucharistic bread and wine become the actual “body and blood, soul and divinity” of Christ. Perhaps not only they, but all of us, are not as well informed about the eucharist as we could be. Perhaps Catholics who do not accept the conventional description of the eucharist simply want to be honest, and the conventional formula no longer “works” for them. Perhaps those of us who do accept the conventional formula about the bread and wine becoming the “body and blood” of Christ sometimes wonder what this actually means. As eucharistic ministers, it is especially important for us to seek as complete and accurate an understanding of the eucharist as we can.

It is possible that by simply repeating the phrase “body and blood” over and over, insisting that this is what the bread and wine become, we have lost touch with the deeper truth of the eucharist. Like all religious language, “body and blood of Christ” is an attempt to put into human words a mystery the human intellect can never fully grasp. Perhaps it will be helpful if we take two steps back, look at what we are talking about, and see if we can spark some new life in the old words.

Gradually, we may find ourselves faced with a Great Mystery, and appropriately so. It is important to understand that “body and blood” is a Semitic phrase that means “the whole person.” When we say that the bread and wine of the Mass become the “body and blood” of Christ, we say that the bread and wine become the “whole person” of Christ. Catholicism insists that following the consecration the whole person of Christ is present in both the bread and the wine. Only a sacramental simple-mindedness will view the bread as Christ’s body, the wine as his blood, and never the twain shall meet.

This is why for many generations Catholics received Communion only in the form of bread while the priest alone drank from the chalice. This is why, even today, in certain instances a person may receive Communion only from the cup--someone whose illness prevents him or her from swallowing a consecrated host, for example. Also, it is still not unusual for many Catholics to receive only the host at Communion, even when the consecrated wine is available. In both cases, though receiving only the bread, or only the wine, the person really and truly receives the “whole person” of Christ--”body and blood, soul and divinity”--in Communion.

Perhaps those who say they do not believe that the bread and wine become the “body and blood” of Christ are trying to say that they no longer find meaning in the phrase “body and blood.” Perhaps they think they have no choice but to take this phrase literally, in a physical sense that borders on the gruesome. Our era has been so heavily shaped by the human sciences, including psychology, that perhaps the phrase “whole person” will make more sense, and be more acceptable, to more people. If we explain that “body and blood” means “whole person,” perhaps that will help clarify the meaning of the eucharistic presence of Christ.

We need to remind ourselves, as well, that in the eucharist we do not receive the historical, flesh-and-blood Jesus. Continually repeating the “body and blood” phrase, without explanation, may not only mislead some people, it may also reinforce the misconception that the Christ we receive in Communion, in the consecrated bread and wine, is Jesus as he walked the dusty roads of Palestine, or Jesus as he hung on the cross. This simply is not true.

The Christ we receive in the eucharist is, indeed, the one who lived, taught, and died in first-century Palestine. But the Christ we receive in the consecrated bread and wine is much more than that. The Christ we receive is the risen Christ who is with us now, alive and active in the church and in the world. It is the “body and blood, soul and divinity,” the “whole person” of the risen Christ that we receive in Holy Communion.

With this realization we find ourselves smack in the middle of an overwhelmingly profound mystery, an experience of transcendent holiness, a sacred event of awesome dimensions. When we receive Communion, and when we as eucharistic ministers give Communion to others, if we have even an inkling of what we are about, we may be inclined to fall on our faces in wonder and worship.