Shy. Weak. Unmotivated.

These are some of the words that might come to mind when the average person thinks about introverts. Most of us think of them as immersed in their own worlds, unable to cope with social situations, and less likely to contribute ideas and innovation compared to their extroverted counterparts.

Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking seeks to explode these myths about introverts by examining the overlooked gifts that they bring to the office, the classroom, and society at large while understanding the underlying science behind introversion.

The book is composed of four parts. In the first, Cain begins, not with neuroscience or psychology, but culture. Specifically, she explores how modern western society came to embrace the “extrovert ideal.” This ideal embraces the outspoken, the fearless, and the gregarious over and above the quiet, the timid, and the intimate. Yet, as studies have shown, it is the gifts of introverts that actually lead to greater creativity and productivity in the workplace.

In the second part Cain explores the biology of introversion, highlighting research demonstrating that introverts actually process sensory input differently from extroverts. She also talks with experts researching the interaction between a person’s genetic makeup and environmental factors that may influence their temperament.

The third part explores extroversion and introversion in other cultures, while the fourth gives concrete strategies for introverts and extroverts for dealing with the differences between the two. This includes a very interesting chapter on how parents can help their introverted children.

Cain includes an impressive amount of  interviews and anecdotes which serve to illustrate the research and studies she discusses. Cain talks with Harvard business students, an evangelical pastor, children, a beloved psychology professor, and others. These help to flesh out some of the drier academic content and put real human faces to the struggles introverts overcome.

If you have an introvert in your life you want to understand better — or if you are an introvert and want some strategies for living in an extrovert’s world — Quiet is the book for you.

Disclaimer: I recieved a free advance reader’s copy of this book from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program.

As I have done the past two years, I’d like to offer five book selections that I read the previous year to “jump start” your reading pile! These books come with my highest recommendation. (Of course, I’ve also been told that I have strange tastes, so your mileage will vary!)

• Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life, by Fr. James Martin, SJ (2011) – I can’t imagine anyone else having written this book. Fr. Martin’s signature wit and gift for bringing spiritual topics to the masses makes this not only a delightful read but a probing search for joy in the faith.
• Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet, edited by Brandon Vogt (2011) – As I wrote in my full review, I fully expect the next generation of Catholic media creators to cite this book as a powerful inspiration. The essays contained within highlight some of the best Catholic work being done on the web.
• Practice Makes Catholic, by Joe Paprocki (2011) – Joe’s latest book outlines the Catholic faith through five principles: sacramentality, community, justice and the dignity of human life, reverence for Tradition, and a disposition towards faith and hope. A great read for any Catholic looking to deepen their practice of the faith.
• Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science, by David Lindley (2008) – I actually listened to the audio version of this book. It’s a fascinating exploration of the struggle to understand and accept the mathematics and implications of modern physics.
• The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara (1987) – I first heard about this book when it was referenced as inspiration for the TV show Firefly. It is a fictionalized account of the Battle of Gettysburg, with intriguing portraits of the major figures involved in that pivotal moment in US history.

If you have any recommendations that you’ve read in the past year, share them in the comments!

Photo by Thomas Hawk / FlickrCC

How Catholics live their lives in the public square is one of the hot button issues in the Church. For evidence one need only look at the recent USCCB General Assembly, where issues of religious freedom and political pressure where at the forefront of the conversation. And while these macro-level conversations are vital for a Church that does so much public good, I sometimes wonder if we aren’t missing the boat by failing to talk about how the average Catholic lives their faith when they aren’t at Sunday Mass.

Fortunately, Randy Hain’s The Catholic Briefcase: Tools for Integrating Faith and Work seeks to start that conversation, at least as it pertains to Catholics and their work lives. In doing so he draws both from his own experience as an executive seeking to integrate his faith with his work, and on the experience of other Catholics (through interviews included in the book) living their faith in the workplace.

Of course there are many obstacles to being a person of faith in the modern business world, from concerns about policies (official or unofficial) against talking about faith in the workplace, to uncertainty about the best way to broach faith topics, to incongruities between faith and business culture. Hain acknowledges each of these and offers gentle suggestions and tips for overcoming them. He also offers practical advice for nurturing a spiritual life as a busy professional, reflections on the relationship between love and work behavior, examples of good stewardship in the business place, and advice for managers and executives on the Christian understanding of leadership.

Each chapter includes several reflection questions, which makes this an ideal book for a small faith community or gathering of Catholic professionals. Hain also includes an excellent series of appendices with additional resources including recommended books and web sites, a “Daily Examen for Busy Business People,” and even a blueprint for starting a local Catholic business group. These resources will help people put the material from the book into practice. (Personally, I’m already seeing if there would be interest in a Catholic business group in our area.)

I would recommend The Catholic Briefcase for any Catholic professional interested in deepening their spiritual life and looking to integrate a Christian outlook in the business world.

Disclaimer: I received a free manuscript of this book from Ligouri Publications.

The book flits back and forth between different periods in Harris’ life, making it hard to construct a chronological narrative of how her outlook has evolved over time. It’s not until mid-way through the book that a real sense of that conversion emerges, after she enters a conservative christian college and encounters the hypocrisy of her peers and the emptiness of political maneuvering.

Harris is good at constructing a compelling narrative — each chapter includes clever anecdotes from her early life in religion and politics — but I would have liked a more nuanced look at the belief systems Harris has encountered during her life. Everything in the book is from her perspective, and the various systems of thought encountered are explained only in the most superficial way. While I recognize that this is a memoir and not a more systematic treatment of American politics and religion, a little more depth would have added context to her story.

I would also have been interested to hear if and how her parents’ outlooks have changed. In the beginning of the book they sound rigid and inflexible in their beliefs, yet by the end of the book Harris seems to indicate that their stances have softened, if not as radically as hers.

Raised Right is a quick, easy read for anyone interested in learning more about the outlook of young evangelicals seeking to move beyond the easy answers of partisan politics towards a more Gospel-based means of living in the world.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing‘s Early Reviewer program.

It is very difficult for me to review a book like Fr. Robert Barron’s Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith. Years in the making and heralded by a healthy dose of promotion across the Catholic corner of the internet, it can be hard to separate the hype from the thing itself. I also have the nagging feeling that I’m not Fr. Barron’s primary audience for this work. I say that less as someone who works full-time for the Church, and more as someone who prefers systematic theology to philosophy. (Fr. Barron’s masters degree is in philosophy and he is an unabashed admirer of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose life and writings are frequently cited in the book.)

With those provisos, what can you expect from Catholicism?

In the introduction Fr. Barron promises to take us on “a guided exploration of the Catholic world… I want to function as a mystagogue, conducting you ever deeper into the mystery of the Incarnation in the hopes that you might be transformed by its power.” He intends a celebration of the faith, rather than an academic overview, and he keeps his word.

Fr. Barron covers the major topics of the faith in ten chapters that mirror the ten episodes of his DVD series. These include the person of Jesus Christ, his teachings, the Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Eucharist, the saints, and prayer, among others. Each chapter includes highlights from the Church’s historical and theological heritage, from Bl. Theresa of Calcutta to St. Augustine, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris to Bl. Pope John Paul II. The book also boasts an impressive amount of photography and artwork, much of it from Europe’s great cathedrals and basilicas.

As anyone who has seen his YouTube videos knows, Fr. Barron has a gift for explaining the faith in simple, understandable terms, and this gift is on full display in Catholicism. Even notoriously complex issues such as theodicy (the problem of evil) are dealt with in clear terms, with non-Christian alternatives laid out in contrast with the person of Christ:

For the Christian faith, the only adequate “resolution” of this dilemma is the one effected by God himself on the cross of Jesus Christ. On that cross, the darkness of the human condition met the fullness of the divine love and found itself transfigured into life. On that cross, God went to the limits of godforsakenness and made even death itself a place of hope. God, in his love, becomes the answer to the problem of evil.

One thing you should not expect is a systematic walk through the Church’s teachings. This is actually one of the little things that bugged me about the book: it’s incomplete treatment of certain subjects. For instance, in the chapter on prayer, Fr. Barron spends most of his time on Thomas Merton, John of the Cross, and Teresa of Avila — important figures, to be sure, and ones who have much to teach on prayer! But Fr. Barron then offers a few pages on petitionary prayer before wrapping up the chapter — neglecting the other four forms of prayer laid out in the Catechism. Similarly, his chapter on the “last things” includes very good reflections on heaven, purgatory, and hell — but no mention of judgement, the traditional first “last thing.” Again, Fr. Barron’s approach isn’t wrong or even unhelpful. But for someone acquainted with the Catechism and the traditions of the Church, the omissions are curious.

Another troubling aspect of the book is it’s solid Euro-centrism. Almost no attention is paid to Catholicism as it is lived in the global south, either in the stories Fr. Barron tells or in the artwork used throughout the book. At a time when Christianity is seeing unprecedented growth in Africa and South America, this makes Catholicism look rooted in the Church’s past, rather than its future.

But those are minor quibbles about an otherwise impressive accomplishment. Fr. Barron has crafted what may prove to be the defining introductory text to the faith for the coming decades; I predict that Catholicism will be added to many personal and parish libraries and will become a classic text for inquirers and RCIA candidates. Anyone interested in learning more about the Catholic faith could hardly do better than picking up this book.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing‘s Early Reviewer program.

The nicest compliment I ever received came from a Catholic deacon at a parish in Iowa. My family and I were getting ready to move out of the area (my one-year fellowship at the local Catholic hospital was ending) and he was explaining why our family would be missed: “It’s been so nice having you here. You and your family live the faith joyfully.”

This compliment came back to me while reading Jesuit Fr. James Martin’s new book, Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life, which hits shelves today. Fr. Martin has crafted a wonderful book highlighting the rich tradition of faithful humor and joyful spirituality. He takes dead aim on the gloomy, pessimistic side of Christianity, arguing that it is not only antithetical to the teachings of Christ, but hurtful to the Church’s mission of evangelization.

If you’re looking for a quick summary of Fr. Martin’s insights, skip to chapter four (helpfully entitled “Happiness Attracts: 11 1/2 Serious Reasons for Good Humor”). This is a similar list to the keynote talk I heard Fr. Martin give at the 2011 NCCL conference. At the top of the list is the fact that happiness and humor are ways to witness to our faith:

Joy, humor, and laughter show one’s faith in God. For Christians, an essentially hopeful outlook shows people that you believe in the Resurrection, in the power of life over death, and in the power of love over hatred. Don’t you think that after the Resurrection Jesus’s disciples were joyful? “All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well,” as the fourteenth-century mystic Blessed Julian of Norwich said. For believers in general, humor shows your trust in God, who will ultimately make all things well. Joy reveals faith.

This may seem self-evident, but the number of dour and humorless Christians would seem to indicate that it bears repeating. Fr. Martin goes to on extol humor’s virtues in the area of health, spirituality, hospitality, play, and interpersonal relations.

What’s more, the book is funny. Fr. Martin sprinkles jokes and humor from the saints liberally throughout the text, including stories about Pope John XXIII; Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ; Dorothy Day; various Jesuit saints; and, of course, Jesus!

In fact, I think his look at humor in Sacred Scripture (both Old and New Testament) will be especially eye-opening for many people. As Fr. Martin points outs, it is easy to overlook the humor in the Bible:

We’ve simply heard the stories too many times, and they become stale, like overly repeated jokes. “The words seem to us like old coins,” [Elton Trueblood] writes, “in which the edges have been worn smooth and the engravings have become almost indistinguishable.” Trueblood recounts the tale of his four-year-old son, who, upon hearing the Gospel story about seeing the speck of dust in your neighbor’s eye and ignoring the log in your own,laughed uproariously. The young boy readily saw the humor missed by those who have heard the story dozens of times.

Besides the Bible Fr. Martin recommends numerous books on humor and spirituality (he admits up front that his book is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject) and even gives a list of his favorite funny movies. I may be showing my hand, but I have to agree on his choice for the #1 spot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ42IMu7HIQ

A quick note about the book’s intended audience: some Catholics may wonder why a book about spirituality by a Catholic priest includes insights from other Christian traditions as well as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. Fr. Martin writes for a broad audience, and I hope that his Protestant and non-Christian fans from the Huffington Post and the Colbert Report will pick up the book; I think many would be surprised at the relevance of its subject.

I heartily recommend Between Heaven and Mirth for anyone interested in furthering their own spiritual journey — or just looking for a few new jokes from their repertoire. The Church’s rich tradition of faithful joy is a treasure that deserves to be shared, for humor is a gift from God.

Or, as Hilaire Belloc so succinctly put it:

Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book for free from TLC Book Tours.

Mladinich offers a variety of reflections, activities, tips, and tricks for catechists to use in their sacramental prep programs, beginning with some nice reflections on what it means to be a catechist. I especially liked her insistence that “It is a joy for the faithful to pass these truths on to their children so that they, too, might live in loving union with God.” (I may be using that line in some upcoming presentations!)

More specific to sacramental prep, Mladinich has some great suggestions to teaching reverence to children. Proper “church etiquette” is lacking in many parishes, so I was glad to see her tackle it head-on.

She then tackles First Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation in turn. For each sacrament there are plenty of ideas for activities and lessons that will open up the meaning and impact of the sacraments in surprising and effective ways. These include the fun, the prayerful, and the educational. They are also very “doable”, in that they don’t require special resources or prep time.

I do have a small theological quibble: Mladinich states in the introduction that “the sacraments are administered by those ordained for ministry in the Church: bishops, priests, and deacons.” This statement overlooks the fact that, in marriage, the outward sign is the exchange of consent between the couple. Thus, it is the couple who administer the sacrament; the priest witnesses to the marriage. Similarly, while clerics are the ordinary ministers of Baptism, anyone (including non-Christians) can validly baptize if they use the proper formula and intend what the Church intends in Baptism.

But that’s nit-picking an otherwise excellent resource for catechists involved in the sacramental prepration of children and youth.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book for free from Our Sunday Visitor.

• What would catechesis look like if it followed the pedagogical model used by Jesus?
• What if we sought to not just teach about the faith, but help the faithful (both young and old) learn from and be transformed by our rich Catholic tradition?
• How can parents be more intentional about passing on the faith?

Thomas Groome’s new book, Will There Be Faith? A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples, seeks to answer these questions by proposing a life to Faith to life model for catechesis and Christian religious education.

By life to Faith to life Groome means a methodology that begins with the life experience of the faithful, invites them to consider that experience in light of the wisdom and practices of the Church, and then to bring those new insights back to their lived experience. This intuitive, praxis-based approach builds off of Groome’s earlier body of work in the field of Christian religious education.

Groome’s aim is to take catechesis away from the strict classroom-based model that has became prevalent in many places in the Church. This model, although popular, has led to the compartmentalization of catechesis. As Groome writes:

The emergence of denominational schools, Sunday schools,’ and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) all greatly enhanced the effectiveness of religious education. The disadvantage, however, was that they removed the family from its central position as educator in faith and gave the impression that the school — of whatever kind — could educate better than and instead of parents. Even the Church helped to convince parents of this schooling paradigm. As a result, most parents still assume that if they simply take their children to a parish program, say one hour a week for about thirty weeks a year, it will make them Christians.

Groome’s life to Faith to life approach seeks to re-integrate faith formation into the lives of the faithful by beginning not with the dogmas and doctrines of Christianity, but with the lived faith experience of the people to be catechized.

Groome quotes liberally from the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) in making his case, pointing out that catechesis “bridges the gap between belief and life, between the Christian message and the cultural context” (n. 205) and “one must start with praxis to be able to arrive at praxis” (n. 245), to give but two examples. He also utilizes the Emmaus story (Luke 24:13-35) to demonstrate Jesus’ use of this approach. By beginning with life experience as a tool to draw people into conversation about the faith, Groome honors the GDC’s commitment to catechize as Jesus did. (Cf n. 143)

At the same time Groome affirms the need for good doctrinal content to the proper formation of the faithful, including catechisms and curriculum guidelines. By starting with life experience Groome is not proposing a radical “I’m OK–you’re OK” relativism; rather, he proposes using life experience as the starting point for introducing how our Catholic faith provides a framework for living as a disciple of Christ in our particular historical, social, and cultural contexts.

All this would be well and good as a theoretical discussion. Fortunately Will There Be Faith? shines in its outline for implementing the life to Faith to life model in a variety of settings. Groome lays out strategies for parishes, schools, and families for putting the life to Faith to life approach in to action. Groome even has positive things to say about devotional practices for families:

After Vatican II, such popular practices fell off, and for so good reasons. Many had become exaggerated devotions, sometimes with a dash of superstition, there being a fine line between faith and magic. Vatican II made a successful effort to recenter what should be at the core of Catholic faith: Jesus, the Bible, Mass, the sacraments, and discipleship. Now, however, almost fifty years later, we might return to some of those old devotions, informed by better theology and without exaggerating their importance to the Faith. We need some such personal and family-centered practices. They are powerful ways to nurture and sustain people in faith. They educate. The key is for families to choose ones that will be meaningful for them, so that they are likely to practice them regularly.

My only correction to this passage would be to add that such a revitalization of devotional practices — in light of the Second Vatican Council — is already occurring, spearheaded by young Catholics who are rediscovering them with joy.

Unfortunately Groome’s approach will be overshadowed for some people by his use of inclusive language and praise of liberation theology — which is a shame, because these issues are not intrinsic to the life to Faith to life approach he outlines. Groome goes out of his way to avoid gender-based pronouns for God, including such phrases as “God calls us to Godself,” a phrase I can’t imagine being written by anyone except an academic theologian. His uncritical praise of liberation theology is especially disappointing since Groome points out that all metaphors for Christ’s work, if taken too literally, end in error — yet he never points out such boundaries on his metaphor of “liberating salvation.”

That having been said, I would encourage readers to look beyond these secondary issues to the heart of Groome’s approach, which offers a promising vision for Christian religious education. Will There Be Faith? merits multiple readings — especially the last two chapters in which he lays out his total vision for the life to Faith to life approach. I look forward to reaping the fruit of this book for years to come.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book for free from TLC Book Tours.

In the early Church, the mortal remains of martyrs were taken for burial, and Masses were celebrated at their tombs on the anniversaries of their deaths. Over time great churches were built on these spots (St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is a good example) and soon even non-martyrs recognized for their virtue and holiness were honored in this way.

Not all the relics mentioned in the book are body parts; they also includes various church’s claims to possess the nails that held Christ to the cross (along with other objects connected to the Crucifixion); the Shroud of Turin; and the Black Madonna of Czestochowa (which, according to legend, was painted by St. Luke on the Holy Family’s kitchen table).

The stories behind the relics demonstrate the remarkable connection the faithful have with the saints. Many relics survived times of persecution only through the heroic efforts to smuggle them out of threatened churches to safety.

One of the book’s aims is to “de-mystify” relics. To non-Catholics relics can seem macabre, silly, or even superstitious. In his introduction Mr. Craughwell does a good job of laying out the Church’s understanding of relics and the proper veneration due to them; this would be a useful section for those not familiar with relics to read.

If I have one complaint it is that most of the entries have less to do about specific relics and consist mainly of biographical information about the saint in question. I would have appreciated more in-depth information about the relics themselves, especially if any miracles are connected to them. I also would have liked more pictures, although I understand the economics of publishing enough to know that too many pictures can be cost-prohibitive.

One other caveat I’d like to add: in the introduction Mr. Craughwell mentions that there is a busy online market in relics. While this may be true, it is against Church law and a sin to sell sacred objects and relics — so please don’t try to buy them online!

Despite these drawbacks Saints Preserved offers a unique insight into this rarely-discussed aspect of the Church’s veneration of saints — and an interesting read, too.

Disclosure: I received my copy of this book for free through Library Thing’s Early Reviewer Program.

Infinite Bandwidth: Encountering Christ in the Media does the work for you by condensing and systematizing the Church’s teaching on social communications. In doing so Dr. Eugene Gan provides an invaluable resource for those of us engaged in and interested in new technologies and their impact on the work of the Church.

Dr. Gan has pulled from nearly 100 years worth of Church teaching on media seven general principles for how Catholic are called to enjoy, produce, and interpret media messages. Each chapter follow a general pattern:

1. a basic overview of the principle in question;
2. concrete examples for how the principal is used or ignored;
3. reflections on why the principal matters;
4. and a section on applying the principle in real life.

For instance, in in the chapter explaining the Church’s teaching that media should be truthful, Dr. Gan starts with an objective truth; reflects on the truth contained in Schindler’s List, contrasting it with the false impression and fabrications often encountered in the online world; notes how the media uses stories to influence our understanding of truth; and ends with some practical ideas and reflection questions.

Thankfully, Dr. Gan avoids a strident parochialism in his book. Along the way he praises both explicitly Christian (EWTN, The Passion of the Christ, SQPN, etc.) and overtly secular media productions (The Dark Knight, Life is Beautiful, etc.). He also doesn’t pull any punches criticizing religious productions that take shortcuts with production values and fail to make themselves attractive to their target audience.

Infinite Bandwidth should be required reading for anyone interested in the intersection of faith and media. Just as the Theology of the Body makes Bl. Pope John Paul II’s teachings on human sexuality accessible to the average reader, Dr. Gan’s book makes the Church’s teachings on social communications less intimidating and more lucid. In fact I could see catechists and educators using this book with high school students or adults as part of a media literacy curriculum.