Homily on the Importance of Scripture

October 26, 2021

This video includes Fr. Joseph Elston's October 10th homily on the importance of reading the Bible.

The Gospel reading begins at the 15 minute mark and the homily follows.  This homily made a big impression on me because I had been struggling to make reading the Bible part of my daily routine. 

This was just the encouragement I needed!

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My Bible in a Year Study Space

October 20, 2021


Where I'm at with the Bible in a Year Study 

I spent all of November focusing on the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge.  Which did not leave a lot of time for my Bible in a Year study.  I also had to cut back on a few other things - including this blog.  

Right now I'm trying to re-establish a reasonable balance between my faith, home, writing, shop and media.  I'm not quite there yet but I already feel so much better.  Particularly because of the faith piece.  But getting my home back in some semblance of order is helping too.

It's nice picking up where I left off.  Almost like reconnecting with an old friend!

Yesterday I watched my first Trent Horn video in over a month.  Today I started stripping the last bit of trim in the front hall - and wrote this post.  Tomorrow I am going to revisit my neglected apologetics books.  Next week I'm going start back up with my Bible in a Year Bible study.  On the weekend I hope to possibly make a YouTube video, second blog post and / or hop back on Etsy and work on my shop.

There is a lot more to say about all of that.  But today I want to focus on Bible study.  It is hard to add a new activity to my daily routine but I really do feel called to do it.  So, to me, it was no coincidence that our parish priest, Fr. Elston, began to talk about lectio divina and the importance of Scripture in his homilies just as I was starting the study.  

Father has even started putting a reflection verse and guide to lectio divina in the weekly bulletin.  I hope to talk more about lectio divina in another post.  In this one, I want to share the Bible in a Year Study space I set up before things got so crazy.

Creating a Spiritual Space in My Home

During lockdown I made my living room into a mini chapel. 

I set up an altar and started collecting holy statues.  Then wall mounted a flatscreen TV (that had gone unused in my bedroom) so I could watch Sunday Mass when it was livestreamed from our local parish.  

I am back at Mass now but I still like having the space to say my Rosary and watch some of my favorite Catholic priests on YouTube.  

Recently I decided it would ALSO be nice to set up a Bible study space in the same room.  This space is just a corner of a room and you do NOT to have a dedicated chapel-room to do it.  If space is an issue for you (like it was for me, prior to the last move) you can always set up a space in your room or a shared area.  If you use a shared area it may help to create private time by getting up early.

My Bible In a Year Study Corner

You can see my Bible in a Year study corner in the picture above.

The rocking chair once belonged to my maternal grandmother as did the china cabinet. I know a china cabinet doesn't really belong in a living room but I had to move it out of the kitchen anyway to make room for the coal stove and I like the idea of putting my prayer books, Bibles, prayer cards and rosaries behind glass.  They are holy items and I think it's nice to put them somewhere special.

In the pictures below you can see my Bible in a Year study tools both in the cabinet and out.

You may notice that my Bible in a Year notebook is spiral bound.  It did not come this way!  But because I wanted it to lay flat I took it to Staples and had it rebound.  The spiral binding and plastic cover (clear in front, navy blue in the back) costs under $5 and to me it's worth it if I'm going to be using a book a lot. ( I'm actually going to be doing the same thing with Fr. Ripperger's prayer book later this week.)

The Our Lovely World book you see in the bottom picture is my favorite book from childhood and one of two I've kept.  It is about a crow looking for the creator of the beautiful world that surrounds him.  It touched me as a child and I am even more impressed by its message now.

I hope to review the study materials in a future post but will say here that I am very happy with my Great Adventure Bible and Bible in a Year notebook.


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To listen to Fr. Jos. Elston's inspiring homily on lectio divina and the importance of Scripture, please see the following post:  Homily on the Importance of Scripture

You can buy the Great Adventure Bible on amazon.  The hardcover (affiliate link) pictured above is out of print right now on the editor's website (where I got it) and pricey on amazon  but the paper copy is still available on amazon (affiliate link) and the editor's website, as of this writing.

You can buy Fr. Ripperger's Deliverance prayer book on amazon (affiliate link) in both kindle and paperback or from his website.

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Catholic Friendly Paranormal Fiction & NaNoWriMo

October 16, 2021


I've been saying the 54 day Rosary Novena for 14 days now.  And I feel that my increased devotion to the Blessed Mother is helping me gain some much needed clarity.

I will talking about this more in next week's video, but I wanted to hit a few key points here in this post.

The Clarity I Gained

Ever since I can remember, I've been interested in the paranormal.  

I like popular movies like Deliver Us From Evil, the Exorcist and the Conjuring series.  I've had first hand experience with what some people call "the other side."  I was once a very serious paranormal investigator,  I have read a range of books on the demonic and a fair amount of paranormal fiction.

I also write in that genre.

My writing now is very different from the writing I did when I was involved in the New Age and occult but most of it revolves around the very same themes.

While the themes I write about haven't really changed, however, my perspective is very different.  And the more popular books and media I consume, the more disagreement I see between my beliefs and those expressed in the mainstream.  

For example.  I don't think God and Satan are evenly matched.  I don't think that magic is a thing or that there is a positive "energy" we can draw upon to empower ourselves.  I don't believe in the law of attraction or other occult concepts.  And I don't believe that we can overcome evil without God's help.

This makes writing paranormal fiction tricky.  But I still want to do it.  Partially because I love it.  And partially I keep tripping over the subtle and not so subtle messaging in popular paranormal media.  This has happened so many times over the last couple of weeks, in fact, that it got me thinking about my own (stalled) paranormal novel.

I'll talk more about that in next week's video.  What I want to share here is that I feel like my awareness of this messaging was heightened by my increased devotion to Mary.  And that this awareness makes me want to write a paranormal novel which is, if not Catholic specific, at least Catholic friendly.

I will still be finishing the testimony ebook and hope to spend the month of December doing just that.  But for the remainder of this month and next I'm going to take my paranormal novel off the back burner and write my first draft.  

And I'm happy to say that I came across something this week that may help me do it.

Comitting to NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo).  

The basic idea of NaNoWriMo is that novelists commit to writing 50,000 words in one month.  Every November thousands of novelists start with a brand new idea and end up with a first draft.  Others take an existing idea, or a beginning they've been struggling with, and write 50,000 words to finish it.

I have always wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo.  And I always miss it.  Except that, this year, I didn't.  Probably because I had been laying the groundwork without even knowing it.

In early October I started thinking a lot about popular media and how nice it would be to finish the paranormal novel I started earlier this year.  Why not, I asked myself, put something out there that doesn't directly contradict spiritual truth as I know it?

I couldn't think of any reason why I shouldn't give it another shot.  Fiction is, after all, what I do best and these are the themes I like to write about.

So I went back to the novel I'd set aside. I even sent a couple of excerpts to my son to get his take.  Which is a step I have never made before.

The working title of the new  novel is The Demon Tracker.  As the title suggests it is about demons but is also about the Catholic faith.  I have been struggling with the concept for a while - which is the real reason, I think, that I jumped ship.  

But the really cool thing is this.  The day after I went back to the manuscript I got an email about NaNoWriMo.

It seemed like what I needed, exactly.

Where Mary Fits In


I'm not saying, or even implying, that the Blessed Mother is calling me to write paranormal fiction because I don't think that's the case.  But I do think that my increased devotion to Mary has made me more sensitive to the problems that people of faith have with many of shows and films and books that focus on the paranormal.

Maybe people of faith shouldn't watch or read (or write) that stuff.  But the fact is, many do.

I believe that much of what is available in that genre distorts the truth.  It is just entertainment, of course.  But it is entertainment with a message that essentially opposes many of the tenets of the Catholic faith.

I don't know if the Blessed Mother approves of what I'm writing or not.  I do think, however, that she would want me to do what I do in a way that doesn't directly contradict what her Son has taught.  And that the increased sensitivity I'm gaining, through my devotion to her, might help me do that.

I talk a lot about the faith both here - and on YouTube - and I intend to continue.  But I am not an apologist or a Bible scholar or a religious.  I am a popular writer.

I think that I'm finally beginning to understand that I can be who I am and not compromise my beliefs.  So, in November, I'm going to give NaNoWriMo a shot.

Please check back throughout November for updates and excerpts!
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For more about NaNoWriMo you can check out NaNoWriMo.org or visit my profile here.

For more on my creative journey please see the following post: The Season of Being Creative.

For more on Catholic friendly paranormal fiction please see my Catholic Paranormal Fiction post.
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Our Lady of the Rosary: My Focus

October 6, 2021


Pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace in the world . . . for she alone can save it. - Our Lady of Fatima, July 13, 1917  

Because October is Rosary month and tomorrow, October 7th, is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I have been focusing on Our Lady of the Rosary in a few different ways.  These include learning about the Rosary, saying a 54 Day Rosary Novena and designing a new Rosary pamphlet for my Etsy shop.

A Bit About Our Lady of the Rosary

I am just barely scratching the surface of all there is to learn about Marian apparitions and the Rosary but here are a couple of  things I've learned so far. 

In 1208, St. Dominic was sent to preach against the Albigensian heresy but had little success until the Blessed Mother appeared to him and gifted him with the Rosary.  While there is no hard historical proof of this story, it is known that St. Dominic was a great champion of the Rosary and that the Rosary came into widespread use thanks to his efforts.

On October 7th 1571, a combined force of European nations triumphed over the Ottoman navy.  Because the odds were against the smaller European force, Pope Pius V had called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary in petition just before battle.  By all accounts, the Europeans shouldn't have won and, as a result, many considered their victory nothing short of miraculous.  This is why we honor Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7th to this day.

In 1917, at Fatima, the Blessed Mother appeared to three shepherd children on the thirteenth of the month for six months, beginning in May and ending in October.  During the July apparition, Mary urged the children to say the Holy Rosary daily in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary because only she could bring peace.

About the 54 Day Novena

In Italy in the late 1800s, a girl named Fortuna Agrelli had been suffering for almost a year with a very serious illness. The doctors had given up but the family relied on their fatih and began a series of Novenas. About two weeks later on 3 March 1884, the Blessed Mother appeared before Fortuna and told her to pray a series of three Rosary Novenas for healing.

The girl directed her prayers to Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, and was healed. In the apparitions that followed, Mary taught the girl the full 54 Day Rosary Novena.

Since that time many people have had their petitions granted after saying the 54 Day Rosary Novena.

My Rosary Pamphlet

I designed a trifold Rosary pamphlet for Rosary month and listed it in my Etsy printables shop.  The pamphlet includes all of the traditional Rosary prayers and has a complete list of the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous mysteries (listed under the days of the week they are to be recited).

The pamphlet is available for digital download at $1.25  But if you can't afford to purchase the pamphlet for any reason please contact me through Etsy and I'll provide the PDF free of charge.

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You can see my Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary Trifold Pamphlet on Etsy at the following link.

You can read more about my decision to pray the 54 Day Rosary Novena here: How I'm Celebrating Rosary Month

See this pamphlet in my shop, Catholic Book And Card!
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How I'm Celebrating Rosary Month!

October 4, 2021


The 54 Day Rosary Novena  

“Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today.” – St. Padre Pio
October is Rosary month.  And I'm celebrating by praying the 54 day Rosary Novena.  I'm going to be using the Hallow app, which is a Catholic prayer app (available in both a free and paid version) to guide me through the Novena.

The app is a good resource for me because it helps me stay on track and I like participating in the guided prayers.  But the same content is available via the Hallow website - and elsewhere.

A traditional Novena is only nine days long, so the 54 day Novena I'm doing is actually a series of six individual novenas.  Three novenas in petition (27 days) for a specific request and three novenas in thanksgiving - whether or not we perceive our petition as being granted (another 27 days).  

The 54 Day Novena uses the the traditional Rosary mysteries, the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious.  So by doing one set of mysteries per day, you cycle through the entire Rosary three times for each of the six individual Novena's.

If this is confusing to you, I suggest checking out the Hallow website (below).

Why I Love the Rosary

“The Rosary is a remedy for all our evils and the root of all our blessings.” – Pope St. Leo XIII

I love the Rosary because it draws me closer to Jesus and Mary and because the Rosary gives me new insights into the events in the lives of Mary and Jesus (and the Gospel message as a whole).  An added benefit is that the Rosary centers me and gives me a degree of peace.

For me, the Rosary is also a wonderful spiritual warfare weapon.  Because of my past involvement in the New Age and occult, I've opened a lot of doors and there are times when spiritual warfare is a very real issue for me.  

I do not rely upon the Rosary alone.  In addition, I go to Mass, receive the Holy Eucharist, make a regular confession, say specific Catholic prayers and have begun to read the Bible everyday with Fr. Mike Schmitz.  

Still, the Rosary is a very key piece.  And this isn't just me saying so.  The effectiveness of the Rosary is well attested to by multiple saints, such as St. Padre Pio, Pope St. Leo XIII and, of course, St. Dominic, as evidenced in the quotes I've included in this post

I think that the Rosary is a wonderful way to petition God for a specific (large or small) requests.  Through the Rosary we can intercede for the Church, the world, our immediate area and the people we love the most.

I have been told that the 54 Day Rosary Novena is especially good in this regard.  

The Way Things Sometimes Line Up

“The Rosary is a fortress against evil. It is a sign to Satan that you belong to Our Lady.” – St. Dominic

Modern life can be stressful and (like everyone) I have a lot going on.  While I'm fine during the day, I sometimes worry at night, more than I sleep, and there are times when I struggle with both my spiritual practice and my faith.  

Fortunately, just as these things really began to weigh on me I was reminded of the importance of the Rosary by several seemingly unrelated events.  

These events included:

  1. Watching the movie Fatima
  2. Gleaning a new perspective on Mary through Fr. Mike's Bible in a Year study
  3. Coming across the 54 Day Rosary Novena on Hallow
  4. Walking into church blind and seeing the special statue of Our Lady giving the Rosary to St. Dominic set up for the celebration of Our Lady of the Rosary (this Thursday)

It seemed to me that these events were all pointing toward the Rosary - and suggesting that I make an effort to develop a stronger devotion to Mary.  So I'm going to be doing that.  

I will be writing more on the Blessed Mother and her Rosary in future posts!

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Info on the 54 Day Rosary Novena on the Hallow website.

For more on my experience with the movie Fatima and the Year in a Day study, please see the following blog post and video:  The Movie Fatima and Catholic Bible in a Year Study.

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