Lil Bean Book Recs: January Reads

One of my lifestyle changes for 2018 was to always have a book on my nightstand and to read 30 minutes minimum daily. My church gave out copies of Perfectly Yourself by Matthew Kelly, so I researched popular titles on Dynamic Catholic and then perused my library digital shelves. The following are the faith-based titles I read and finished in January 2018.

The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic

Matthew Kelly has written and published dozens of books, and the second one I read is The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic. It calls for Catholics to not only attend church on Sunday and participate in regular confession, but to get involved and engaged with their parish. 

This book was given to me upon my Confirmation by my sponsor last year. It's not just a book of encouragement, but also provides reasoning behind why it's so important to be an active member of the church. While our financial contributions do help, our local parish also needs our time and talent to perform at its peak and help as many people as it can.

Kelly writes very conversationally, making it easy to hear his voice and want to listen to his arguments. For anyone entering the church, I would highly recommend this book to get the wheels rolling on how to get involved with the community. Joining the church is only the first step, and Catholics needs to get engaged in order to feel fully connected to their new family.

Almost Catholic

One way or another, I stumbled across Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, and Mystery of Ancient Faith by Jon Sweeney, a self-proclaimed "evolved" Protestant. As a convert to Catholicism, I love hearing about stories of people who discovered their faith later in life. There's something solidifying to know that someone was tested on faith by never knowing faith, and the fall that happens when you finally give in to faith is a feeling that stays with you.

Rather than teaching on the faith and the church in terms of conversion, Sweeney explains the why's behind so many traditions and beliefs that both non-Catholics and Catholics cannot explain. I spent five years in El Paso, a largely dominant Catholic city, but when I asked about why they pray to saints and not directly to God, about why Mary is given so much reverence, about why baptism happens at birth, no one had a concrete answer or even an answer at all in some cases.

These are just a handful of questions that have pretty straightforward answers when the need arises for straightforwardness, but so many cradle Catholics cannot answer these questions because, quite frankly, their confirmation classes ended when they were about 13 or 14 and so they forget most of it. I'm the same with algebra. The difference is that we should constantly remember our faith and church to help those outside of the church understand our beliefs when they inquire.

Sweeney does this well, especially when he draws from his Protestant upbringing. Sweeney calls himself an almost Catholic because he has never officially joined the Catholic church, but everything he provides in his book answers many of the most commonly asked questions regarding the church, beliefs, and traditions.

The best way to get concrete answers about something is someone who has already been in your shoes. Sweeney provides fully-fleshed answers to not just the traditions, but also the history (as the title implies) and everything in between.

The Names They Gave Us

Emery Lord is a name that has popped up more often in YA literature in the last few years, but I

never read her titles until this year. The Names They Gave Us is a look at faith and trust when everything hard about life hits at the same time. I needed this lighter fictional read to break up the nonfiction, but I stayed close to Christianity to keep me focused on my goals.

This novel follows a young seventeen year old girl who doubts God after her mom's cancer comes back and her boyfriend breaks up with her. It doesn't matter what age I am; there is always something I'm angry about, and watching how this protagonist overcame her obstacles to learn to trust in her faith again was something that deeply resonated with me. I'm going to pick up more of Emery Lord's work and hope they're all as beautiful as her latest release.