Monthly Archives: July 2011

Every once in a while I get a book that I don’t like. Recently I was invited to read and host a book review for a cyber book tour. After reading this book just over half way, I knew it had no place on the “Pillars,” much less anywhere near the Catholic or Orthodox website, except to refute it.

“The traditional churches have always asserted that this is a distortion of their teachings. Nevertheless, their doctrine of elevating and praying to blessed Mary as the “Mother of god,’ and as an interceder and mediator, has caused confusion. It unintentionally feeds into a generalization that Christianity is an apostate religion believing in three gods. In the Quran we find this verse:

And when Allah will say: O Isa son of Maryam!

Did you say to men, Take me and my mother

For two gods besides Allah, he will say: Glory

Be to Thee, it did not befit me that I should

Say what I had no right to [say]. (Surah 5:116, Shakir)

Muslims conclude and judge Christianity by the Quranic argument that God is not born and does not give birth (Surah 112:3, Shakir)

 (All capitalization’s and non-capitalization’s are quoted exactly as per the viru..err..the book.)

Mikhail continually refers to the Marian doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church as a heresy. Quoting the Bible every step of the way with shallow and incomplete quotes and conveniently leaving off pertinent details. He says that, on page 111,

“It is very dangerous doctrine to believe that the spirits of the saints who died come back, appear, speak, and make miracles for the people on earth. This teaching opens the door for the evil practice of those claiming that you can communicate with all spirits, including…”

Surely this man has imprisoned God the Almighty in the pages of the Bible with no wiggle room. He has no ability to stretch his mind and see God’s glory being more than what is in the Bible anymore than he probably has the ability to see that there is more to a person than what is in their bio. He essentially has closed the book on God and at the same time slandered all Christians who believe that there are other aspects of our God and His communion of saints.

He goes on to say further in his book, “We believe that if blessed Mary were to come back to life and see the pictures of herself hanging in the churches, some pained with her carrying the baby Jesus and showing a halo of light over her head (much larger than the halo over His); if Mary were to hear the prayers being raised by those believing in her miracles, see the priests offering incense to icons picturing her, and see her statues being sold to Christians to glorify her – she would be shocked. He is carrying on the myth and unfortunate misconception that Catholics worship Mary, we don’t and never have…we venerate her for her role in salvation history.

“2. …. The Protestant churches have no communion with the Romish (Roman Catholic) church.”

“What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.”

It Doesn’t End Here Gaining Great Reviews

The CWG Prayer Chain Post is a weekly post for members to include their special intentions by adding a comment.  

July Intention Prayer 
 

 
Please leave a comment with your intention. If you have problems adding an intention, email it to Mike Hays at coachhays@gmail.com and I will add it.  God bless. 

Last month, I wrote here about chiastic structures and framing techniques used by Mark to construct his Gospel. While maintaining a more-or-less chronological narrative made of succeeding scenes of action, as in any story, Mark also adds meaning to the incidents by arranging them strategically so that they comment on each other and interpret each other. One example is the feeding of the 5,000 which is deliberately juxtaposed to Herod’s birthday banquet. Here we have contrasted two feasts, two kings, two kingdoms. King Herod’s party is drunken, violent, characterized by power struggles and leads to death. King Jesus’ party is peaceful, fully satisfying, characterized by compassion and leads to life.

What can we storytellers learn from this? Writers of memoir, biography or ‘the essay’ might benefit the most by taking note of how real-life material must be selected and sequenced to make a point, not merely to record ‘what happened.’ Incidents and scenes can be paired to echo each other or offer commentary on each other (without explicitly telling the reader what ‘meaning’ you intend, since the incidents themselves ought to do that). Poets know well that the structure, the architecture of the poem is a subtle way to communicate meaning – it isn’t just the words, but the choice of structure – such as a sonnet, ghazal, ‘free verse’ or, of course, the concrete poem – add meaning and tone. In a similar way, ‘the essay’ – being closer to poetry than story even if it reads like story – pays attention to structural juxtapositions. Study any essay by EB White to see how it’s done.

But what about fiction, especially ‘genre fiction,’ where the aim is to entertain, meet certain expectations of the category (eg, romances and detective stories have conventions and ‘rules’ to follow), and maybe make a point?

Novels are built of scenes, and so any discussion of a story’s ‘architecture’ will involve the types and placement of scenes. There are three ways that fiction writers employ different kinds of scenes as a way to make those juxtaposed scenes comment on each other. They are: strategic use of flashbacks, interwoven subplots, and multiple points of view. A fourth is ‘the dream’ but it must be very carefully used and most writers who use it abuse it.

I’ll consider these in turn next time.

I’ll probably refer to paired and juxtaposed scenes in my mysteries BLEEDER and VIPER so you’d better get your copies in the meantime! Ha! Blatant self-promotion! Sorry…

Grace and peace,
John

Congratulations to We Have a Pope! 

CWG member Karen Congeni’s We Have a Pope! (New Springtime Press) won the Children’s Book Award for the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada’s 2011 Catholic Book Awards. “The history and splendor of the papacy is presented to children in easy-to-understand language accompanied by captivatingly beautiful photos,”said the Catholic Press Association. In 2009, We Have a Pope!, also received the Catholic Writers’ Guild Seal of Imprimatur.


The nonfiction book, written for ages four to eight, follows the papacy from its biblical beginning to the present, using full-color photos and illustrations. From the handing of the keys, to the election of a new pope, from the rock on which the Church is built, to the Popemobile, the Ring of the Fisherman, and the Swiss Guard, We Have a Pope! presents the history and splendor of the papacy in simple, easy-to-understand language. Congeni’s book also includes a glossary of terms and list of popes from St. Peter to Pope Benedict.


The Most Rev. Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, says of Congeni’s book, “We are all familiar with the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Karen Congeni’s pictures are worth thousands of words in We Have a Pope! as she deftly explains the papacy to children. This book is a beautiful introduction for our young people to the ministry of the of the Successors to Saint Peter.”


Tim Drake of Faith and Family: The Magazine of Catholic Living, called We Have a Pope! “a wonderful catechetical lesson about the papacy. I was won over by the book’s simple way of teaching and the beautiful photographs and historical artworks that accompanies the text.”


In her interview by Catholicmom.com‘s Lisa Hendey, Congeni said she wrote We Have a Pope! to “help our children understand that we have a living, breathing authority that Jesus so lovingly gave us to pass on the Faith with integrity.” Congeni started New Springtime Press as Congeni and her husband searched for Catholic books for their own children that would pass on their Catholic faith. In their search, they found “a need for children’s books written with a Catholic worldview. As a former elementary teacher and collector of children’s books, I became keenly aware of the subversive message trend in children’s books … so as part of a “Prayer Moms” group at my children’s school, we started praying in earnest that God would send faithful Catholic children’s publishers.” Congeni and her husband also prayed through the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Our Lady, and Blessed Pope John Paul II and others. “Over the years of prayer, I began to discern that maybe our Lord was preparing me to publish.”


Read more about Congeni and We Have a Pope! in Lisa Hendey’s interview by clicking here. We Have a Pope! is available at Amazon, New Springtime Press, and Catholic World where you can receive quantity discounts for the book. 


Catholic Writers Conference Live in Two Weeks!

The third annual Catholic Writers’ Conference LIVE will take place August 3-5, 2011, at the Scanticon Hotel Valley Forge in King of Prussia, PA. Sponsored by the Catholic Writer’s Guild (CWG) and the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN), it will be held in conjunction with CMN’s annual retailer trade show. The Catholic Writers Conference LIVE provides Catholic authors with a prime opportunity to meet and share their faith with editors, publishers, fellow writers, and bookstore owners from across the globe. Go here for more information.


Catholic Writers Retreat

Opportunities for networking also will be offered through an informal “book bash and social hour” Wednesday evening and Faith Catholic’s one-on-one “pitch sessions” that give writers the chance to sell their current writing projects. Writers will enjoy three spiritually-enriching days of daily Mass, adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation and many hours of writing time. Talks will explore how God speaks to and encourages writers through Scripture, papal writings and other topics in order to promote faith-filled writing.