In Conversation With God: Daily Meditations Volume Two - Lent, Holy Week And Eastertide (Spiritual Devotion) by Father Francis Fernandez

Paperback:  In Conversation with God:  Daily Mediations Volume 2 - Lent, Holy Week And Eastertide (2012) consists of 96 meditations.  It is part of the series which offers a meditation for each day of the year.

Man's highest aspiration is to be able to converse with Jesus - to pray.

In Conversation With God helps the reader to pray with piety and confidence.  It is aimed not at the 'specialist' but is for the ordinary person - for the housewife, for the teacher, for the secretary, for the shop assistant and so on.

Following the thread of the Liturgy, this book gives many practical hints for deepening in one's relationship with God and those around one, improving one's character in and through daily work and family life.  The author has clearly succeeded in not creating a straitjacket;  rather the book, rich as it is in quotations from spiritual writers throughout the ages, is a source of open suggestions for daily meditation on every aspect of Christian life.  Sales of this series, running to several hundred thousand copies in all the main languages, are a testimony to its popularity.

In Conversation With God is a translation of Hablar con Dios - Vol II first published in 1987 by Ediciones Palabra, Madrid, and in 1989 by Scepter with ecclesiastical approval. 

About the author:  Francis Fernandez Carvajal was born in Granada in 1938.  A graduate in History from the University of Navarre, he also holds a doctorate in Canon Law from the Angelicum in Rome.  He is a priest of the Opus Dei Prelature.  Since his ordination in 1964, much of his pastoral ministry has been with university students.  For more than ten years, he has been Editor of the monthly magazine PALABRA.  Among his published works are an Anthology of texts (with more than 600 quotations from spiritual writers throughout the ages), Lukewarmness - the Devil in Disguise, and Commentaries on the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke. 

If You Seek Miracles: Reflections Of Saint Anthony Of Padua by Claude M Jarmak, OFM Conv

Paperback:  Saint Anthony of Padua deserves to be rediscovered as a saintly teacher for our time.  To meet this need, in splendid fashion, Father Claude M Jarmak, a Conventual Franciscan friar, responds in the pages of this book, If You Seek Miracles:  Reflections Of Saint Anthony Of Padua (1998). 

He helps us know Saint Anthony through the Saint’s own words, sharing his profound and engaging reflections on the teachings of Jesus.  The Saint claimed that Sacred Scripture supplies us with answers for all important questions in our life:  our origin, identity and destination.  It is in this sense that each section of this book is entitled "Saint Anthony reflects on..." because not only are his thoughts presented, but so are the passages from Sacred Scripture that he used to verify and confirm his teachings. 

No wonder Saint Francis of Assisi commissioned Saint Anthony to teach theology to his first Franciscan priests.  No wonder people crowded churches to hear Saint Anthony's preaching.  No wonder the reader will find this book an aid for reflective prayer, a resource for preaching and teaching, and a reference for Franciscan spirituality, and much more. 

This is because Saint Anthony’s lively intellect and prayerful reading of the Gospel of Jesus open up fresh understanding of the parables and offer uplifting insights on topics which range from the Blessed Trinity through Mary, the Mother of God, to the means of holiness.

May the Holy Spirit use these pages to let Saint Anthony guide the reader more deeply into the truth and power of the Word of God.

About the author:  Fr Claude Jarmak was born in Buffalo, New York on 20 August 1927.  He became a Franciscan in 1946 and was ordained a priest in 1954.  From 1976 to 1982, he was president and academic dean of St Hyacinth College and seminary in Granby, Massachusetts.  From 1982 to 1986, Fr Jarmak lived at the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, Italy.  Upon his return to the United States, he resumed teaching Latin and Franciscan studies at St Hyacinth.  He was also a contributing writer to the Messenger of Saint Anthony, published in Padua, Italy, a magazine for which he wrote a series of articles on the saintliness and spirituality of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony until his death on 19 August 2001.  Fr Jarmak is the author of three other books on St Anthony:  Seek First His Kingdom, Praise to You, Lord, and Saint Anthony:  Herald of the Good News.

Today by Mary Oliver

A Glass Of Water by May Sarton

Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally

Paperback:  In the shadow of Auschwitz, a flamboyant German industrialist grew into a living legend to the Jews of Kraków.  He was a womaniser, a heavy drinker and a bon viveur, but to them he became a saviour.

This is the extraordinary story of Oskar Schindler, who risked his life to protect Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland and who was transformed by the war into a man with a mission, a compassionate angel of mercy. 

This is an incredible story of huge risks and enormous gains, as Schindler defied and outwitted the SS to protect the beleaguered Jews who worked for him.

First published in 1982, Schindler's Ark became an international bestseller when it won the Booker Prize and was subsequently made into a multi-Oscar-winning film directed by Steven Spielberg. 

About the author:  Thomas Michael Keneally, AO, is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction.  He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982, which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor.  The book would later be adapted to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Born in Sydney, Keneally was educated at St Patrick's College, Strathfield, where a writing prize was named after him.  He entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly, to train as a Catholic priest but left before his ordination.  He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist, and he was a lecturer at the University of New England (1968–70).  He has also written screenplays, memoirs and non-fiction books.

Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use what was really his first name.  He is most famous for his Schindler's Ark (1982) (later republished as Schindler's List), which won the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film Schindler's List (1993).  Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.

Keneally has also acted in a handful of films.  He had a small role in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (based on his novel) and played Father Marshall in the Fred Schepisi movie, The Devil's Playground (1976) (not to be confused with a similarly-titled documentary by Lucy Walker about the Amish rite of passage called rumspringa).

In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).  He is an Australian Living Treasure.

He is a strong advocate of the Australian republic, meaning the severing of all ties with the British monarchy, and published a book on the subject in Our Republic (1993).  Several of his Republican essays appear on the web site of the Australian Republican Movement.

Keneally is a keen supporter of rugby league football, in particular the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the NRL.  He made an appearance in the rugby league drama film The Final Winter (2007).

In March 2009, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, gave an autographed copy of Keneally's Lincoln biography to President Barack Obama as a state gift.

Most recently, Thomas Keneally featured as a writer in the critically acclaimed Australian drama, Our Sunburnt Country.  Thomas Keneally's nephew Ben is married to the former NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally.

He has won the Miles Franklin Award, the Booker Prize, the Los Angeles Times Prize, the Mondello International Prize and has been made a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library, a Fellow of the American Academy, recipient of the University of California gold medal, and is now the subject of a 55 cent Australian stamp.  He has held various academic posts in the United States, but lives in Sydney.

Rating:  6/5

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The Messenger by Mary Oliver

That Is A Great Blessing

An Appeal From Argentina: The Apparitions of San Nicolás (Spiritual) by Father René Laurentin

Paperback:  I saw her and asked her what she wanted from me.  At that moment, her image disappeared and the vision of a chapel came, so that I understood that the Holy Virgin wanted to be among us.

In September 1983, an ordinary woman from San Nicolás in Argentina, Gladys Quiroga de Motta, began to receive visions and later messages, from Our Lady, calling for a sanctuary to be built and for the world to take greater heed of the Word of God and the messages from her son Jesus.

The response by the people of Argentina has been phenomenal, with thousands of people making pilgrimages to the shrine on the 25th of each month (the anniversary of the first apparition), culminating in September, the anniversary of the date of the first apparitions. 

The Bishop of San Nicolás, Mgr Castagna wholeheartedly supports Gladys and her visions, leading the pilgrimages, celebrating Mass, and overseeing the construction of the santuary.  The apparitions were declared "worthy of belief" by the local ordinary Bishop Cardelli on 22 May 22 2016.

An Appeal from Argentina (1995) is translated from the Spanish by Anne Harriss and is dedicated to Our Lady.  May She inspire her readers.

About the author:  Father René Laurentin (1917-2017) was a French theologian.  He is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost students of Mariology and is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles on topics including Marian apparitions such as Lourdes and Medjugorje; visionaries and mystics including Bernadette Soubirous, Thérèse de Lisieux, Catherine Labouré, and Yvonne Aimée de Malestroit;  as well as biblical exegesis, theology, and Vatican II.  Laurentin has received various awards and distinctions including the Marian Award of 1963 from the University of Dayton (1964), the Wlodzimierz Pietrzak Literary Award (1974), Italy’s National Catholic Culture Award (1996), Officer of the Legion of Honour (2002), and many other awards for his writing and contributions to Catholicism and Mariology

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Reading Stories Makes Us Better People

Life Of St Anthony Of Padua by Rev Father Ubaldus da Rieti OSF

Paperback:  St Anthony of Padua confirmed several dogmas of the Catholic Faith by the force of wonder miracles:

1) . the real presence of Jesus Christ in the most Holy Eucharist

2) . the forgiveness of sins in the sacrament of Penance

3) . the sufferings of hell

4) . the glories of the blessed in heaven

5) . the Divine Providence in our spiritual as well as temporal necessities

6) . and the intercession of the saints.

By this is seen:

1) . the divine mercy in the amendment of sinners

2) . the justice of God in punishing the wicked

3) . and the wonderful effects of the omnipotent wisdom and goodness of God toward sinners.

Life Of St Anthony of Padua (2018) was first published in 1895.

Malice (Detective Kaga Series) by Keigo Higashino

Paperback:  Acclaimed bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is found brutally murdered in his home on the night before he is planning to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver.  His body is found in his office, a locked room, within his locked house, by his wife and his best friend, both of whom have rock solid alibis.

Or so it seems.

At the crime scene, Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga recognizes Hidaka's best friend, Osamu Nonoguchi.  Years ago when they were both teachers, they were colleagues at the same public school. Kaga went on to join the police force while Nonoguchi eventually left to become a full-time writer, though with not nearly the success of his friend Hidaka.

As Kaga investigates, he eventually uncovers evidence that indicates that the two writers' relationship was very different that they claimed, that they were anything but best friends.

But the question before Kaga is not necessarily who, or how, but why.

In a brilliantly realized tale of cat and mouse, the detective and the killer battle over the truth of the past and how events that led to the murder really unfolded.  And if Kaga is not able to uncover and prove why the murder was committed, then the truth may never come out.

Malice (2014) is the first and one of the bestselling - the most acclaimed - novels in Keigo Higashino's series featuring police detective Kyoichiro Kaga, one of the most popular creations of the bestselling novelist in Asia.

Malice is translated from the Japanese by Alexander O Smith with Elye Alexander.

About the author:  Keigo Higashino is one of the most popular and biggest selling fiction authors in Japan, as well-known as James Patterson, Dean Koontz or Tom Clancy are in the USA.

Born in Osaka, he started writing novels while still working as an engineer at Nippon Denso Co (presently DENSO).  He won the Edogawa Rampo Prize, which is awarded annually to the finest mystery work, in 1985 for the novel Hōkago (After School) at age 27.  Subsequently, he quit his job and started a career as a writer in Tokyo.

In 1999, he won the Mystery Writers of Japan Inc award for the novel Himitsu (The Secret), which was translated into English by Kerim Yasar and published by Vertical under the title of Naoko in 2004.  In 2006, he won the 134th Naoki Prize for Yōgisha X no Kenshin.  His novels had been nominated five times before winning with this novel.

The Devotion of Suspect X was the second highest selling book in all of Japan - fiction or nonfiction - the year it was published, with over 800,000 copies sold.  It won the prestigious Naoki Prize for Best Novel - the Japanese equivalent of the National Book Award and the Man Booker Prize.  Made into a motion picture in Japan, The Devotion of Suspect X spent 4 weeks at the top of the box office and was the third highest-grossing film of the year.

Higashino’s novels have more movie and TV series adaptations than Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum, and as many as Michael Crichton.

About the translators:  Alexander O Smith is founder of Kajiya Productions.  He has been translating video games, novels, manga, and lyrics from Japanese to English professionally since graduating from Harvard University with a MA in classical Japanese literature in 1998.  After working at Square Enix’s Tokyo offices for four years, he went freelance and is now based in the hills of Kamakura, Japan with occasional stints in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.  Alex has given talks and workshops on translation for groups, including the Tokyo branch of SCBWI (Society for Children’s Books Writers and Editors), several universities including Dartmouth College and the University of Vermont, and conventions, including PAX Prime and PAX East.

Elye Alexander is a freelance writer and part time editor with Kajiya Productions.  A graduate of Harvard University (BA in English and American Literature and Language, 1994), his work with Kajiya includes regular editorial contributions to fiction and poetry projects.  Elye's other interests include Welsh language and literature;  speculative and literary fiction;  poetry and drama in English and translation;  song lyrics;  and the martial arts.  He also works as a custom builder.

Rating:  5/5