I recently read Redemption: A Rebellious Spirit, a Praying Mother, and the Unlikely Path to Olympic Gold by Bryan Clay, which struck me in light of Lance Armstrong and, to a point, the Manti Te’o girlfriend developments.

Clay is a gold-medal decathlete, winning in Bejing in 2008 and released this autobiography prior to his 2012 Olympic attempt. While I often have issues trying to read books by athletes, Clay’s book kept my attention and made me into a fan. He explains the decathlon enough to bring me up to speed enough to follow along and additionally helped me care about the outcome of this event.

In listening to the talking heads debate Lance Armstrong’s confession to Oprah last week, a common thread was the reminder that athletes are not role models. Lance has done great things with LIVESTRONG and had to worked hard for those Tour victories (as everyone was using PEDs, so he still had to beat other cheaters along the way). Nevertheless, he cheated. Likewise, there are plenty of athletes who stellar performance on the field was not dependent on illegal drugs, yet personally throw their money away on pointless, fruitless work that helps no one.

As a decathlete, Clay doesn’t have the fame of Lance or virtually anyone in the NFL. Save for the trials and the Olympics, his only chance for television is likely on ESPN8. There aren’t lines of folks waiting for his shoes to go on sale. His story, though, is inspirational as a story of someone who found his passion in athletics, worked hard, and rose to meet his goals.

[Disclaimer: I was given a copy of the book for free in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive or negative review and the opinions stated herein are completely my own. Being given the promotional copy of the book had no influence on this review.]

The post Book Review – Redemption appeared first on Brandon Kraft.

I have a confession to make about Friday’s post.

I had just finished reading Why Men Hate Going to Church by David Murrow. In his recent second edition, he postulates that the reason the gender gap is increasing in many Christian denominations is that many churches are overly feminized. Yes, the vast majority of pastors in Christian churches (and all ordained ministers in Catholic churches) are men, but the participants and those involved in lay leadership are majority women across the American Christian fold. Further, the lack of male participants will result in the death of a church, citing statistics that the higher the gender gap, the quicker a church’s attendance declines.

I found his book extremely interesting. Murrow connects today’s praise and worship music and the phrasing of having a “relationship” with Jesus Christ as one “male repellant”. His reasoning: What man wants to have a “relationship” with another man? Do men talk like that to each other? Did Jesus talk like that to his own Apostles? While we are called to an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, can’t we find a different way to phrase it, at least some of the time? The book has many examples and his reasoning for how they came about.

He cites that, while we shouldn’t go fire and brimstone exclusively, much of our discussion of Christ is based on Jesus the Lamb while viewing Jesus the Lion (e.g. throwing out moneychangers in the temple) as the anomaly of Christ. Murrow’s claim is that Jesus was “a lion” as much, if not more, than he acted as a “lamb” and that the overall Christian church has decreased that message to, for some, a footnote.

Murrow’s solution isn’t to make churches a den of masculinity, but to reduce the “repellent” aspects some and increase opportunities for men to feel useful. Men like to work with their hands and do stuff. For many churches, the only ministry some men feel useful is the usher or parking lot attendant. (I’m not saying women don’t like to work with their hands. I’m not trying to make any inference about how women feel included in the church community; just my thoughts on getting men more active.)

This book was written for the broader Christian church, so many aspects of it aren’t applicable across the board. From the Catholic position, many of his points about worship services simply don’t apply to Mass or, if they do, aren’t things we’ll change as they’ve been like that for hundreds of years if not thousands. Nevertheless, many of his points do make sense to me and could be applied to the Catholic practice in some way.

As I mentioned in the comments of Friday’s post about chicken broth, sometimes being Catholic is a bit too easy. When looking at the guidelines of excluding meat on Fridays (and Ash Wednesday), if the sacrifice is easy, what’s the point? Yes, there is something to be said to be reminded of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, but as a penance, is it effective?

My thought, regarding meatless Fridays and chicken broth, is especially in today’s world where we have a world’s worth of culinary styles at our fingertips, it isn’t that hard to find recipes that completely exclude meat and meat-based products. This is ignoring that for a long time in our history, the Lenten fast was for all of Lent and excluded all dairy, eggs, etc. In the Eastern rites and Orthodox Christianity, this is still practiced (to some degree at least, not researched). They have specific time periods labeled “Meatfare” and “Cheesefare” as the farewell to meat and cheeses for all of the Great Lent.

One reason the Knights of Columbus do so well generally speaking is it pushes men to do more. It gives them a structure that lets them do good work doing work they feel they can do as men. Not saying women can’t do any of it, but something that feels natural for a guy. While men can sit in a room and make rosaries just as well as women, in our society, it doesn’t feel as natural for a guy.

Likewise, I think one reason, at the University Catholic Center, why the men’s Catholic fraternity (Lambda Omega Alpha) has done a better job of recruiting than the Knights is the pledge process. The fraternity’s pledge process gives young men a challenge (to make it through) and a stronger sense of exclusivity. Truthfully, I don’t know if they have ever rejected a candidate for membership who participated fully, but the standard is set that you are expected to rise to this challenge.

The Knights process is easier. Frankly, if you want to join, you talk to someone, we vouch that you’re Catholic (typically by you saying so) and you can attend a ceremony to join. The Knights, even college Knights, shouldn’t adopt the fraternity’s approach; however, there are aspects of the “challenge” that could be adopted.

There’s more to the recruitment issue than the process of joining alone, but we’ll exclude that for now.

My point is that all people need to feel at home in the church and a diversity of opportunities and language need to be used to create that atmosphere.

With “challenges”, there are issues. Friday’s chicken post was examining a point of canon law. There needs to be a fair balance between requirements and expectations.

My mom called me last night to ask me a question. She had gone to confession a couple of weekends before Ash Wednesday. Does that count for Lent? She understood the expectation to be that she had to go to confession during Lent and that, now, some folks are saying that we need to go twice a year, at least, during Lent and Advent.

Truthfully, there is little required in this category. We are required to take communion annually, during the season of Easter unless fulfilled another time of the year for a just cause (Canon 920). You can’t go to communion if you are conscience of your own grave sin (Canon 916). You are required to confess your grave sins once a year (Canon 989). Thus, the “Easter Duty”, as it has been called, is strictly to receive communion during Easter, in the state of grace, which infers that you should confess your grave sins just prior to communion, which Lent is the time of penance and preparation for Easter. Therefore, going to confession during Lent is assumed to be required. (Other legal documents and extremely laudable practices notwithstanding.)

So for my mom, frankly, yes. Her pre-Ash Wednesday confession “counts” and, save any grave sinfulness, she’s fine to receive communion, as required, during Easter.

But note, that the expectation is to go to confession during Lent, if not twice a year, if not more.

Should we expect more of our faithful? Yes.

Should we require more of our faithful? I don’t know and I’m not in any position to change any of this, so it doesn’t matter.

With Friday’s post, I truly think accepting chicken broth is an invalid reading of canon law, but in either case, we should expect folks to exclude it. We shouldn’t require Liturgy of the Hours for everyone, but we can expect families to adopt some part of it, perhaps Night Prayer.

Why Men Hate Going to Church is a good read for those engaged in ministry. The book shouldn’t be taken as Gospel, but as a reminder to reexamine our churches to ensure that we are reaching all of our members and capturing their hearts and minds. For many men, the challenge will bring them.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for a review. I was not required to give a positive review.

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Fridays are now “Resource Friday” around here on the ole’ website. This week’s resource is the book, Proverbs: “Reconstructed”.

Proverbs: “Reconstructed” (Gus Dallas, WestBow Press) is an incredible effort by the author to reorganize the Book of Proverbsinto topical categories for easy reference. I enjoy the wisdom in Proverbs and I greatly appreciate the author’s effort to make this book more usable.

Proverbs: Reconstructed by Gus Dallas (WestBow Press)

The book breaks down Proverbs into virtually every possible category—both reasonable (fatherhood, wisdom, justice) and confusing (ant, apple, bear, dog)—and defines each category as “Good” or “Bad”, or divides the proverbs on a topic into each definition, as needed.

It is handy to be able to save time, pick up this book and quickly find a few words of wisdom from this ancient text. I prefer a different translation, but as a quick reference, it’s great. The book is fairly-priced just below $10 for both the paperback and Kindle versions.

I cannot tell from the book itself (and I’m not going to take the time to verify myself) if it contains all of Proverbs, or leaves out any that do not fall into a particular category. There are plenty of categories that have only one or two verses within them, so I assume it is fully inclusive. Nevertheless, an assumption.

Despite some critiques, I recommend this book. In leadership—whether inside or outside the home—sometimes we need just a little inspiration at a moment’s notice. The ancient texts of the Book of Proverbs is perfect for a moment’s reflection and now, thanks to the author of Proverbs: Reconstructed, we have an easy way to access it when we only have a moment.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a review. I was not required to give a positive review. Links to the book in this review are affiliate links. This review is fully my opinion and not a paid advertisement.

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Pershing by John Perry

I had heard the name of General Pershing a couple of times and the only thing I could remember was that he was the all-time second-highest ranked general in the history of the Army, after George Washington was officially promoted above him in the 1970s. When a reviewer’s copy was offered of John Perry’s latest book “Pershing: Commander of the Great War” as part of The Generals series, I jumped at the chance to learn more about this apparently incredible military commander.

For the book itself, I highly recommend it. Perry walks the reader through General Pershing life in enough detail to answer most of the questions the average reader would want to know in the process of reading the book but not too much as to overwhelm or to let the reader become bored. General Pershing, himself, couldn’t do that as his autobiography was 869 pages long with exacting detail.

Reader beware! Don’t look at the pictures until after reading the entire book. There was one particular picture describing a major event of his life included far before the text itself detailed the event. That soured the reading experience a bit.

General Pershing is written to be an amazing man. He entered West Point as a way to get a cheap education toward his goal of becoming a lawyer and ended up never leaving the military. A fair man who, when serving overseas, did not treat native (barbaric in some sense) peoples poorly but with respect. He stood his ground to French and British commanders in WWI when the U.S. was still the new kid of the block. General Pershing was a military statesman.

Even if you are not a military history buff, this book is a great read that give you insight to American’s most forgotten military hero.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a review. I was not required to give a positive review. Links to the book in this review are affiliate links. This review is fully my opinion and not a paid advertisement.

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I just downloaded and read a cute little children’s book. Thank You, God for Blessing Me, by Max Lucado. In print, it is a board book, about a caterpillar thanking God for the various blessing in his life.
 The illustrations are done well and are colorful enough to keep the eyes of the little ones attracted to the book. There are few ways, if any, to incorrectly thank God for blessings, so this book does not stray into any heretical theological grounds! Simply a cute little book that would make a nice Christmas stocking stuffer for a little one’s first or second Christmas.

I reviewed the ebook version of the book on the Kindle, which I tried both on the eInk device and through Amazon’s PC program. The images in the book did not translate to the greyscale device well. I would suggest changing the orientation to landscape to increase the relative size of the illustration. On the PC, the colors come through nicely, although the illustrations are a bit small compared to what they could have been given the additional screen real estate.

Nevertheless, it’s a good ebook to keep on the device for when you’re stuck somewhere and need to provide some additional entertainment (and catechism) to a pre-reader.

Material disclosure: I was provided the ebook from the publisher for free in exchange for this review. I was not required to post a positive review. The link to the book in the text is an affiliate link, which would give me a small referral fee if you purchase the book.

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I recently read Doing Virtuous Business: The Remarkable Success of Spiritual Enterprise and was disappointed. The book, by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, had the potential to be a great work looking at the various ways businesses have been successful while still leading through an ethical and virtuous approach. I thought this could be a more business-oriented book along the lines of Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership. While a decent book, it did not reach my hopeful ambition for it.

The last half to two-thirds of the book was great. While not perfect and I question a couple of the companies highlighted. Wal-Mart, for example, was studied and, while I don’t intent to indict the company, their status as an ethical company is not held to be true across the board. Choice of example notwithstanding, the author examines the various virtues, how they are elements required for business success, then presents a case about a company that is arguably successful using that particular virtue.

That section, alone, would earn four stars.

The killer about this book, to me, was the overwritten defense of capitalism. I’m not a crazy hippy. I’m not against capitalism in the least. Of my social circle, I’m one of the, if not the, most entrepreneurial. I like making money and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, within certain boundaries.

The author spilled far too much ink trying to convince the reader that capitalism is next to Godliness. The defense was overdone to the point of turning me against his argument. Aspects of the first third of the book leaned far too close to a prosperity Gospel message, that is, the message that those who are faithful will be rewarded materially on Earth.

Quite frankly, if someone didn’t already accept capitalism, on some level, as morally acceptable, why would they read this book?

In fact, I was ready to stop reading the book. I am glad I kept going, though, as mentioned above, the later sections of the book were much more fulfilling.

I’ll average the section scores to give this a square two stars. My advice is to skip the defense and move straight to the virtues.

Material disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for this review. I was not, obviously, required to give a positive review. Additionally, links in this post are affiliate links, meaning that I’ll get a little change if you click on them and then buy the books mentioned.

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Daddy Dates, by Greg Wright, is a great read. It’s been awhile since I couldn’t set a book down and it grabbed me from the forward until the end. The book is written by a father outlining his method of creating a lasting, meaningful and personal relationship with each of his four daughters. The primary tool outlined in the book are “Daddy Dates”, which are, generally, one-on-one outings with your daughter and designed to make them feel special. The author connects this to when dating your spouse: you had to really work at creating and maintaining that relationship and you have to do the same with your daughters.

As the father of two very young daughters, I was personally excited about this idea. Greg writes in a humorous, personal voice that makes you laugh out loud and tear up on more than one occasion. His idea is simple, but not one articulated very often. The book’s presentation of content is, all-in-all, logical. There is a chapter specifically for divorced dads that was good, but seemed to be awkwardly placed. I’m fine chalking it up to “the content needed to be in there, so it is what it is.” Besides that one issue, the book is excellent. Again, the idea is so simple that any father can do it and if more fathers did do it, the world would be a better place to raise daughters.

Some of his ideas (e.g. the ages that his daughters can date) may seem too “old school” for today’s world, but they way he explains them, it makes sense. While he is sure of his parenting style, his style of writing does not impose his thoughts as the sole way to accomplish these goals, but only as a suggested roadmap that worked for one dad.

This is a guy’s book. Written by a guy for guys. There is a good mix of theory, analogy and real-world experience using language that guys will understand and translate into an applicable vision. I’m sure ladies will enjoy the book too; the author sounds like a really sweet guy.

In short, if you’re the father of a daughter, this book is well-worth it. It would make a great gift, e.g. moms can give a Fathers’ Day gift too!

Pick it up from Amazon today!

Additionally, on May 14th, the author is promoting “National Daddy/Daughter Tea”–go grab tea/coffee with your daughter that morning. On the book’s website, there is a list of locations currently setup.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher for the purpose of writing a review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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For the long-time readers, you know that I have reviewed books from Thomas Nelson as part of their bloggers’ reviewer program. I haven’t written a review in a long time, and soon you’ll know why…

I’ve been trying to read Living Life In The Zone by Kyle Rote and Joe Pettigrew for over a year now. I received a complementary copy through Thomas Nelson’s reviewer program before Lent 2010 with the intention of using this 40-day male spirituality program as part of my Lenten journey.

It didn’t happen for Lent 2010, nor anytime else in 2010, nor Lent 2011. I was seeking for a deep set of spiritual reflections and, in my opinion, couldn’t find it in my multiple attempts through the book. I didn’t find any objectionable about the reflections, just not what I was seeking to fill my spiritual need. The reflection questions at the end of each day were interesting, but would be most effective in a group setting. In such a setting, the questions can lead to thought-provoking conversations.

On the positive side, the book’s use of sport metaphors is well done. The text does a great job as coming across as a coach working to get the most out of his players. I found that entertaining and enjoyable. For an group of men involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or active/interested in sports, this book could be a very fruitful tool.

In short, if you are looking for a tool to use with your men’s group or in a group of friends, order a copy and check it out. If you’re looking for something to use individually, take stock in what you’re really trying to achieve. If you’re attempting to restart a dormant faith life or starting fresh, this could be great for you. If you’re already in the habit, this might not serve you as well.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher’s book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Recently, as part of the Thomas Nelson Blogger Reviewer Program, I received a copy of Eli Gold’s From Peanuts to the Pressbox: Insider Sports Stories from a Life Behind the Mic. The work is an autobiography looking back at the life of a kid from NYC who skipped most of high school to watching sporting events that found himself in the right place in the right time many times over who advanced up the ranks of sportcasting.

I give the work three stars. It was an easy read; something to read while trying to fall asleep at night. For me, a sign of a great autobiography is one that the subject shares not only the events of his life, but why those events were important enough to recall as well as the lessons learned.

Overall, this work is a feel-good retelling of Eli’s favorite stories, without much added depth. Eli’s work has been overall contained to hockey, NASCAR, Alabama football and basketball. If you’re familiar with any of these sports, there will be many stories that will be quite enjoyable and fun to read. If you’re not, but have some idea of the benefit of sport, there are stories that will make you laugh, or make you stop to think for a moment.

All in all, a fine book.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

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I recently read Christianity in Crisis: The 21st Century by Hank Hanegraaf as part of a blogger reviewers program with Thomas Nelson Publishing.

The majority of the book included an item-by-item rebuttal of many “Christian” preachers that promote a Gospel message that is not congruent with the actual New Testament, including Texan Joel Osteen. I thought that this breakdown was a bit longer than it needed to be; however, if you’re a subscriber to one of religions quasi-based on the Gospel or are trying to engage someone in debate who is a subscriber, Mr. Hanegraaf’s detail will be very much appreciated.

The final section of the book attempted to answer the question “So, if all of these ways are wrong, what’s the right way?” While a fine attempt, I believe the author was too limited in his scope of what is a proper way to practice Christianity. The author’s assessment resulted in what seems to be the typical response by fundamentalists (i.e. “a Bible-believing church”, which is a veiled attempt to basically say any church that acknowledges the role of Tradition is excluded).

The Catholic Church, the faith I subscribe to, is a Bible-believing church, by our own understanding of the role of Scripture and Tradition; however, from my upbringing in the Bible Belt, I know far too many would exclude me from grace for this assessment. I believe the author’s work would be more inclusive, accurate and provide greater assistance to the Christian world trying to faithfully following the message of Jesus Christ in a world where prosperity and faith preachers derail authentic Christian thought far too often.

With that limitation noted, I still believe the majority of the text is quite fine and worth a read. Additionally, I think a shorter, summarized version would also make for a great tool for the armchair theologians in the United States who are trying to get a quicker answer to why these preachers “don’t seem right” to them.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

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Arriving in stores tomorrow is The Noticer by Andy Andrews and published by Thomas Nelson. In the book, the author follows the life of a homeless youth who is found by Jones, a wander himself who “notices” enough about people to help them see a new way of thinking. In addition to helping the homeless youth realize that he’s able to do more than sit under a pier, Jones seems to help everyone in the town one way or another. He’s everyone’s best friend, yet no one really knows anything about the “noticer”.

The book is an uplifting, quick read that did not draw me to any new thoughts, but reminded me of simple things I already knew–to be kind to others, that life isn’t all about yourself, and that life can be great or horrible depending on simply how you choose to view your situation. The author writes the book in a tone that suggests that the end is already known and thus lacking suspense. Jones seemed too good to be real and I struggled with that throughout the book.

Despite these limitations, the book is just right to remind the reader that even the worst of situations have a silver lining and a reminder for us not to take things for granted. I think the book would make a great gift for the always too-cynical high school guy.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

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Over Spring Break, I read Fr. Martin McGee, OSB‘s latest book, Christian Martyrs for a Muslim People, published by Paulist Press. This is a story of nineteen Catholic martyrs who died, for being Catholic, while serving a virtually completely Muslim population in Algeria.

While the land that is now Algeria was once a booming Catholic world before the Islamic faith traveled to north Africa, overall, Catholicism had only existed because of French colonial activity in the area. When Algeria gained independence in the mid-20th century, the vast majority of Catholics left the region. In the 1970s, the Algerian government consolidated many Catholic services still in the area (such as schools), leaving the various bishops, parish priests and monks with virtually no Catholic population. In fact, the book mentions one parish whose only Catholic parishioners were monks of a local monastery.

In a great multi-faith twist, the Catholic ministers began to serve the Muslim population–not in religious services, but through social work. The priests and religious would operate libraries and serve the non-religious needs of the community, despite the threat from extremists to remove Christians from Algeria.

The horrible actions of a few resulted in the death of nineteen Catholics in the 1990s.

Fr. McGee takes a great look inside the lives of these nineteen, explaining why they would face almost certain death in order to serve a population who was not Catholic nor would become Catholic anytime soon.

This is a great read about an aspect of our global Catholicism that I had known nothing about (beyond perhaps seeing these names on the annual list of Catholics killed for the faith). This is truly an amazing story and all Christians (not just Catholics) should read this as both a testimony of amazing lives and as an example of ways to interact with folks of other faiths.

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I recently read The Truth About You:
Your Secret to Success by Marcus Buckingham and found the book
interesting. The book comes in three pieces: a ~30-minute DVD, an
actual book and a notepad, stylized as a “ReMemo” pad.

Truly, I cannot decide if I liked the
DVD (which the book asks you watch before reading) or not. I have a
personal preconceived notion that a charismatic guy talking about
self-discovery is faking it. Mr. Buckingham seems very genuine, but
for me, I had to work hard to actually listen to him. In reality, the
DVD has some great basic “truths” about life–nothing
groundbreaking or worthy of a call to mother to tell her you’ve
discovered the newest nugget required for life.

The book is an “interactive book”,
which I wasn’t sure what that meant when I started reading it. I
expected the book and the DVD to work in tandem with each other, to
be weaved into use more. After watching the DVD before reading the
book, the DVD is referenced but not used again. An interactive book,
in this case, means the book, while mostly text to read, does include
various prompts with space for you to write a response.

My biggest critique is that the book
seems to just repeat what the DVD already said. Sure, there’s a bit
more depth and reading it gives you a chance to think about it in a
different way, but I had the urge to skip paragraphs because of the
“I’ve already heard this from him” line of thought.

That being said, I think the book still
has a great market–groups. While individually, I think the book was
good–not great–as a self-discovery tool, the book has great
potential to be used as part of a group to help individual members
discover more about their strengths and weaknesses. Whether you’re a
corporation, a prayer group or whatever else, using this
DVD/book/notepad set as a guided practice to help individuals
discover and discuss the results would be quite fruitful. As an
individual, I wanted to “skip ahead to the good stuff”, but the
good stuff about this book is what my mind naturally wanted me to
skip. In a group setting, I would have been “called out” early
for this and been able to more deeply enjoy the book’s strengths.

In short, if you’re really yearning to
discover more about your strengths or weaknesses, give this book a
try. If you feel alright about what you already know, find a group of
folks who are like-minded or are yearning and experience this book
together.

After the jump, you can explore the first few pages of the book.

Disclaimer: I was given this book by
the publisher, Thomas Nelson, as part of a program for book
reviewers, but given no direction to follow nor compensation for this
review. DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

Buy		Read

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The Rights of Catholics in the Church

by James A. Coriden

I just completed this work, one of the newer books published by the Paulist Press, The Rights of Catholics in the Church.
The work, by Rev. James Cordien, is obviously the work of a scholar of canon law. While very factual, the presentation is dry. At the end of the discussion in each section, Cordien adds needed flavor through a case study.
While the presentation is dry, the work is a comprehensive look at the rights of Catholics in Church (true to the name!) while admitting that these rights are not always respected. The sense from the author is that as the Church adapts more the notion of “rights of the faithful”, some of the difficulty is presented by the Church, through her priests or bishops or through the institutions of appeal or lack thereof.
In many sectors of the Church, the faithful are sadly believe that “Father is always right”, no matter the situation. This work brings to light many of the rights that I personally was not fully versed on, such as the right to educate children or for religious formation. Some rights, like the right to form assemblies of the faithful, are more well-known through their fruits, the many lay association movements that now exist in the Church. Other rights, such as the right to receive the sacraments should be explored in greater depth–many pastors prohibit individuals from marrying because of parish “registration”, something not foreseen by the Church.
The work is divided into three broad sections: “An Overview of Rights in the Church”, a section that looks at the historical development of rights and freedoms in the Church, from the apostles to the revised 1983 Code of Canon Law. The meat of the book is found in the second section, “The Rights of Catholics in the Church”. This 100-page section speaks of twenty-eight rights identified from the Code of Canon Law by the author broken into relatively easy to understand sections that follow a logical order. Many of these discussions overlap since many of the rights are rooted in common themes, especially the active participation of the faithful in the life and ministry of the Chuch. The final section, “Limitations On and Defense of Rights in the Church”, after acknowledging the rights, explores the limitations and nature of appealing when a person’s rights are denied.
All in all, I give this book three stars for “I liked it”. I probably won’t read it cover-to-cover again, but it’ll stay in my reference collection and add to my understanding of canon law. I do hope the author completes a second volume discussing the obligations, the flip side of the rights coin, of Catholics in the Church.

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Ed. Note: This marks my 500th post on this blog. I probably should figure out my organizational structure soon!

Discovering that they are loved by God, people come to understand their own transcendent dignity, they learn not to be satisfied with only themselves but to encounter their neighbour in a network of relationships that are ever more authentically human.
Men and women who are made “new” by the love of God are able to change the rules and the quality of relationships, transforming even social structures. They are people capable of bringing peace where there is conflict, of building and nurturing fraternal relationships where there is hatred, of seeking justice where there prevails the exploitation of man by man.
Only love is capable of radically transforming the relationships that men maintain among themselves. This is the perspective that allows every person of good will to perceive the broad horizons of justice and human development in truth and goodness.

From the opening of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. You can buy it from Amazon.com or view it online.

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God, Country, Notre Dame

by Theodore M. Hesburgh

As I mentioned before, if a book leaves me thinking about it for a good time following or leads me to tell everyone I encounter that they must read the book, it will get five stars in my book.
This is the life story of Father Ted Hesburgh, CSC, former president of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend. In addition to living the life of a priest at Notre Dame, he was an international player in atomic energy politics, founding member of the Civil Rights Commission and has met more Presidents of the United States and Popes than I could name (maybe not true, but point the same).
One particular story that stuck out for me was when one of the Presidents asked him what he could do to help repay Fr. Hesburgh for all of his work. The good priest said to fly in the fastest plane in the world, at the time being the SR-71. The request was denied at first since the military does not allow that. Without hesitation, Fr. Hesburgh replied that the military works for him.
The section of the book telling about his life as a priest impacted me the most. First, he tells of what the Holy Cross seminary experience was like. Then he tells of his experiences as a simple priest at ND. The discussion of this is some of the greatest vocational material I’ve read. Perhaps, this might because it wasn’t written to be vocation material. Just a priest doing what he was ordained to do.
Fr, Hesburgh is obviously a very intelligent person able to discuss the finer points of almost any topic. In the context of the book, there is a little bit of something for everyone.

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The Power and the Glory (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

by Graham Greene, John Updike

The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene, is a story of an old “whiskey priest” trying to escape capture in old southern Mexico. The State had outlawed God. Churches were closed and destroyed. Priests either had to marry, by law, or be killed, almost all opting for death. The Padre finds himself being the only priest, surrounded by the spiritual needy and the demons of his own life, trying to make sense of everything.
I found this book to be a quick read that I found to be thought provoking. I’ve heard much about this work before sitting down and reading it. I expected the internal conflict within the priest to be greater than what it was. His struggle, while very real, was a struggle between his thought and his action. His thought did not seem to battle itself—he seemed clear that he was a bad priest, that is, a horrible priest not worthy of the title. However, through his actions, he helped the faith of the people whom he admitted he failed in saving.
Looking at the whole of the book, it reminds us that martyrs may not be the ones you expect. Those who are completely unsure of his place in life or of his faith may be asked to sacrifice it all. Those who continue the walk of Christ despite the painful death it will cause is a martyr. They may be lacking in faith and devotion, but there is something holy in the unexpected martyr that, in many cases, speaks loudly to people facing the same crisis of faith.
The work is very good, but I cannot give it five stars. To get five stars, a book has to keep me thinking about it days after I finish reading it. This one was close, but not quite.

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“There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described.”

An interesting point made by Tufte is that “comparisons must be enforced within the scope of the eyespan”. For those readers who do not have this book, there are four separate maps of China with red dots of varying sizes indicating the number of poets born in what location during each of four dynasties. Since these maps extend two pages in the book, they are not a good tool for comparisons.
Can’t a comparison be displayed in two separate locations and still be a comparison?
Let’s ignore numerical data, as that would clearly be able to be compared outside of a single eyspan. What other types of data can be displayed and compared in separate locations? In many cases, dimensions of the data can be compared. For example, on the two-page example, it is quite difficult to compare different dynasties in terms of exactly how many poets were born in a single area. However, it is not as difficult to compare that the Ming dynasty had a much greater concentration of births along the coast as compared to the Tang dynasty.
We should be careful to say when something can or can’t be done.
Small multiples would be well used for displaying the progression of one’s facial expression during a class. In lieu of a video or animation, we could capture 9 still photographs of an individual’s face- once every ten minutes for the standard 90-minute class. Looking at the presented information, we can determine if the material led to excitement, boredom, shock or another one of the human emotions we express through our faces.

Do no evil.

In addition to being the motto of Google, this is also the credo of information designers. When adding color to information displays, the first question that should be asked “does this help or hurt the presentation of information?”
Colors should interact on a level that allows the consumer to see the data, not the colors. Color should enhance the data, not confuse it. For example, the colors on a CapMetro system map are designed to allow information consumers to follow bus routes on the map. However, there needs to be more care taken in high-traffic areas, such as downtown and the UT campus. In those areas, the multiple colors detract from the information to be conveyed, making it difficult to follow a bus route. In these cases, they should consolidate the lines and reduce the number of objects on the map.
A theme that is constant is that information must be presented in ways that would not confuse the intended consumer. If the data is confusing, it is not useful and the purpose of information, in most cases, is to be useful.

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Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing (2nd Edition)

by John R. Trimble

I highly suggest this “writing manual”. I purchased this book for a class a few years ago and read it, yes read it, while commutting on my beloved Route 1 (which is now Routes 1L and 1M, but that’s not the point).
The style of book led itself to be read as a book, not as a reference work. Tremble takes the reader through the entire writing process and includes the very helpful “sometimes you need to break the rules”.
Overall, it is a very good book and I would suggest it to anyone who would like some advice on how to write.

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Envisioning Information

by Edward R. Tufte

After the first thirty-five pages, I’m left with a desire to find a connection between design and information. Today, I met with a web site consultant for the University Catholic Center, my employer. If you visit the homepage of the UCC, it conveys a lot of information (we’ll ignore that it isn’t quite up to date and some of the links return 404s). However, the design is not up to par in terms of easy navigation and use.
One of the important roles of a web designer is to determine a way for the content (information) to be displayed in the best manner according to the objective of that content. For example, a “STOP” sign is big, red and a shape that is not used for any other sign. From hundreds of meters away, you know what content the sign is intended to convey.
If that sign was instead was of a common rectangle shape, white with black lettering and said “ALL TRAFFIC MUST COME TO A COMPLETE STOP”, like sign R3-7L, the “LEFT LANE MUST TURN LEFT” sign, the driver would not be able to determine exactly what he is required to do until he was quite close to the sign.
Likewise, early stop signs nearly were not as readable as the ones today and the Federal Highway Administration is constantly working to improve typefaces on road signs. (Have you noticed the new signs popping up around Texas with the new font?).
In relation to the book, the display of information on roadways have adapted over the years to reflect the purpose of the information. The use of colors, 3D attempts, charts and graphs have all added to our understanding of information. The design of the information tool greatly impacts the ability of information to be shared and understood.

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