Friday, 13 May 2016

Don't Just Try, … Train - Matthew Kelly


Don't Just Try, … Train
Matthew Kelly
Lighthouse Catholic Media
ASIN 1937509222

 After listing to Matthew Kelly's Becoming The Best Version Of Yourself, from Lighthouse I have become more addicted to both Matthew Kelly's audio and written teachings and also some of the amazing resources available from Lighthouse Catholic Media. This was an audio talk given shortly before Christmas, Matthew reflects on the importance of spiritual disciplines, with a focus on being the right person. He talks about the culture we go out to and are surrounded by every day. But Matthew calls us to draw nearer to the Lord, to find the true meaning of Christmas. 

 He reminds us that we want to become better people, but or spiritual life is often 3 steps forward 2 steps back, or we fall and do not want to get up. Matthew states: "People do not fail because they want to fail, they fail because they do not know how to succeed. We don't not make this journey because we don't want to make this journey because don't know enough about the journey." And to be honest based on all I have listened to and read from Matthew Kelly that teaches is geared towards helping us succeed and to become the best version of ourselves! "Transformation is not just about trying; it is about training." He highlights that we train for everything else in life, sports, jobs, hobbies but we just show up for church on Sunday. He highlights that as human beings we have a natural capacity to increase our abilities, physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. But in order to do so we will need to put in some work.  

 And ultimately our spiritual growth begins and ends in prayer! And through becoming people of prayer we will discover our sense of mission, our purpose.  And if we pursue it life will not just pass us by. We need to step back from life, enter the silence of prayer, and cultivate our soul and through that we will discover our greater purpose in life. We will learn that who we become is much more important that what we do. Who we are out our core is more important than our job. That relationships are the most important thing in our life. We need to draw near to the lord, we need to imitate Christ. For that is the path to true happiness, to true holiness. 

 I have listened to this about 6 times over the last 2 months. The Christian life is not just about trying it really is about training! And this is a great tool to remind us of this core importance. 


Books by Matthew Kelly:
I Know Jesus
The Long View
Decision Point: The Workbook
Decision Point: The Leader Guide
The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic
The One Thing
Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction
Why Am I Here?
Perfectly Yourself: 9 Lessons for Enduring Happiness
Perfectly Yourself Discovering God's Dream For You
Building Better Families: A Practical Guide to Raising Amazing Children
The Dream Manager
The Seven Levels of Intimacy: The Art of Loving and the Joy of Being Loved
The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose
Building Better Families - 5 Practical Ways to Build Family Spirituality
The Book of Courage
The Shepherd: A Modern Parable about Our Search for Happiness
Mustard Is Persecution, Matthew Kelly Foundation
A Call to Joy - Living in the Presence of God
The Rhythm of Life: An Antidote For Our Busy Age
Words from God
Resisting Happiness
The Narrow Path
Our Father
The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity
Why I Love Being Catholic
Good Night, Jesus
In a world where you can be anything ...

Beautiful ... Series:
...

Rediscover Books by Matthew Kelly:
Rediscover Catholicism: A Spiritual Guide to Living with Passion & Purpose
Rediscover Advent
Rediscover Lent
Rediscover Jesus: An Invitation
Rediscover the Rosary: The Modern Power of an Ancient Prayer
Rediscover the Saints

Audio by Matthew Kelly from Lighthouse Media:
Becoming The Best Version Of Yourself
The Best Way To Live
Don't Just Try, Train
Faith At Work & The Holy Moment
The Four Signs Of A Dynamic Catholic - Excerpt
The Jesus Question
My Spiritual Journey
Our Lives Change When Our Habits Change
Raising Amazing Children
The Seven Levels Of Intimacy
The Seven Pillars Of Catholic Spirituality

(Note: this books is part of a series: A Year of Reading Intention - Catholic Reading!)
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Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Fulton Sheen's Wartime Prayer Book - Fulton J. Sheen


Fulton Sheen's Wartime Prayer Book
Fulton J. Sheen
Sophia Institute Press
ISBN 9781928832652
ASIN B004L6298U

This book was a very interesting read especially in this day and age. For weather we like it or not the work is at war, a war with terrorists, a culture war, even currently a war about bathroom use. Originally composed in 1943 as The Armour of God this book is a collection of prayers, thoughts, reflections and quotes from the bible, saints and church history. In a time of ISIS and a time of gang attacks and terror attacks in Europe we need to be a people of prayer more than ever before. We can learn so much from this book written almost 75 years ago, and learn it from a man who devoted his life to prayer and teaching and was a Catholic pioneer in new media.

I have been slowly dipping my feet in the waters of Fulton Sheen's works, I know many who love listening to his old radio broadcast or watching his TV appearances but I am still a person of the written word. This is the third book by Sheen that I have read this year and I have a few more planned. But from the get go this one was very moving, and I have returned to it a few times to pray specific prayers or with specific intentions since I have finished reading it.

The chapters in the book are:
Introduction
Clearing Away the Debris
Thoughts in Wartime
Thoughts for Soldiers
Reflections on Prayer
Looking into My Soul
Encouragement
The Eucharist
The Blessed Mother
The Stations of the Cross
Basic Prayers
Morning Prayers
Evening Prayers
Occasional Prayers
Appendix

When I purchased this book I was expecting a collection of prayers, and this book is that but it is also so much more than that. I highlighted a number of passages in this book on my first read through. And here are those passages as examples of some of the wisdom and guidance found in this volume.

"There are only two philosophies of life: the Christian, which says: first the fast, then the feast; and the pagan, which says: first the feast, then the headache. In either case, there is pain. The Christian never ends with it, even if he waits until the end of time."

"I am not fighting for a freedom that means the right to do whatever I please but for a freedom that means the right to do whatever I ought. Oughtness implies Law; Law implies Intelligence; and Intelligence implies God."

"I am not fighting to preserve the kind of world we had just before this war. If I were, I would be fighting to preserve a world that produced tyrants and dictators. The new world must be a better world than that, or it is not worth fighting for."

"We do not pray in order that we may change God's Will; we pray rather to change our own."

"We do not pray that we may have good things; we pray rather that we may be good."

"Unless we have some work in hand, unless we are struggling, unless we are fighting with ourselves, we are not followers of those who "through many tribulations entered into the kingdom of God."
A fight is the very token of a Christian. He is a soldier of Christ; high or low, he is this and nothing else.
If we have triumphed over all mortal sin, then we must attack our venial sins; there is no help for it; there is nothing else to do if we would be soldiers of Jesus Christ."

"My station in life, my routine duties, my work, my family - all these are but the species of my life, which may remain unchanged; but the substance of my life, my soul, my mind, my will, my heart `transubstantiate,' stantiate,' transform them wholly into Thy service, so that through me all may know how sweet is the love of Christ. Amen."

If from these few quotes you are not intrigued enough to pick up this book I will be surprised. So I will add, this book is transformative, it will help to transform your heart, it will help to transform your will. And if you let it, it will help to transform your life and through that help you to be an agent of transformation in the world. One of the key ways it will do that is that it will inspire you to become a person of prayer, a prayer warrior for it is true as Christians, as Catholics we are all called to be in the army of God.


Books by Fulton J. Sheen:
God and Intelligence in Modern Philosophy
The Seven Last Words
Philosophy of Science
The Eternal Galilean
Calvary and the Mass
The Cross and the Beatitudes
Communism and the Conscience of the West
Peace of Soul
Three to Get Married
Life Is Worth Living Series 1-5
Way to Happiness
Way to Inner Peace 
Life of Christ
Missions and the World Crisis
The Power of Love
Footprints in a Darkened Forest
Lenten and Easter Inspirations
You
Treasure in Clay: The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen
God's World and Our Place In It
The World's First Love

Books About Fulton J. Sheen:

(Note: this books is part of a series: A Year of Reading Intention - Catholic Reading!)
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Monday, 9 May 2016

Exodus - A.J. Gillette - Geoterra Book 1


Exodus
Geoterra Book 1
A.J. Gillette
Hidden Lake Press
ASIN B01EYPLN70

There is a new name on the horizon in Canadian Science Fiction and that name is A.J. (Alfred) Gillette. The first three books are now available in this amazing new series. These books mainly written during National Novel Writing Month Competition (NaNoWriMo) in various years are now seeing the light of day, and if the first book is anything to judge by this will be a truly wonderful series to read. The writing is like a cross between Harry Harrison, Spider Robinson and Robert J. Sawyer. Fred has a computer science background but his writings so far is not a tech focused as Asimov and is more story telling driven.

The story begins just outside of Ottawa when Alfred Joseph Freeman, Joe wins a very very big lottery. He decides he will focus his time and effort on creating a new communications system. Being above average intelligence, and better than most at what he focused his time on, he soon consumed all he could about wormholes and quantum entanglements. His discovery would change earth and life for all humans in ways they could never imagine.  After first contact is established humans are given an option to either join space faring or stay separated. A new one earth government decides to join and things start changing very fast.

Joe soon realized that maybe earth made a mistake and finding out others with similar sentiment soon puts together a plan. Working with a team they plan and prepare to execute the greatest mission humans have ever undertaken.

This is a pretty face paced story. At first some of the different story arcs seam pretty separate much like a Tom Clancy novel, but when they start to come together you wonder how you failed to see it coming. There are some great characters, some face paced action. To be honest the story was so good that when I finished I did not wait to write a review as I usually force myself to do, but immediately started on book two.

These books have great writing and I really look  forward to seeing where the series will go. The only drawback is we only have 3 of the nine planned books available so it will soon be a waiting game. Check them out and for the price you cannot go wrong.  

The books are available on both Kindle and Kobo.

Books by A.J. Gillette:
Geoterra Series:
#1 Exodus
#2 Journey
#3 Arrival
#4 Chaos
#5
#6 Order
#7 Geoterra
#8 NewTerra
#9

Other books by A.J. Gillette:
Evolution
Being Yeti




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Saturday, 7 May 2016

Making Business Connections That Count - Michal Stwaicki - Six Simple Steps to Success Book 4



Making Business Connections That Count: 
The Gimmick-free Guide to Authentic Online 
Relationships with Influencers and Followers
Six Simple Steps to Success Book 4
Michal Stawicki
AISN B01F9O3L84

I read an early draft of this book, and have just finished reading the final version. I loved the draft copy and this is in many ways even better. This is also the 12th book by Michal I have read in under a year, well actually the 9th book but I have read a few of them twice because they were so good. Many of Michal's other books are a synthesis of compilation of thoughts on different topics for self-improvement, but this one is almost completely original thought, and as much as I like his other books this alone makes this book that much more powerful. Michal always writes from his own experience, and in this book again he shares tips from what he has learned.  

 So let's take a quick look at some of the quotes I copied from this amazing little book and hear from Michal in his own words:

 In the beginning Michael states: "I was a little frustrated about my life. Everything was OK- my health, my spiritual life, my finances, my career and family- but none of it was great. I had no vision for my life; I was just getting by each day. However, I was in the right mindset to try new things." The form and shape of those new things was to be writing he says: "At the beginning of April 2013 I started writing my first book. In the next two and a half years I published twelve books and sold over 17,000 copies. I attribute my successes, in the most part, to my networking skills. Many successful businessmen say that the core of a business is connections and interactions with people, rather than any business- specific skills or market acumen. I tend to agree with them." And Michal has grown his network and now mentors, motivates and coaches, not only through his writings but also through other avenues.

 He is very upfront that there is not 6 quick steps, or 5 easy secrets he declares: "You probably wonder if I have a secret. Good news for you: there is no secret. There rarely is a "secret sauce" in any business realm. It's quite easy to learn the "hows" of any business; it's the personal implementation that gets tricky. But if you ask me the core of my networking success, I would say simply authenticity and tenacity. I didn't have to do anything fancy to connect with other people. It was enough to just be me. I consistently followed some people over long periods of time and provided value to them. Those two traits are behind my successes, and anyone can apply them." It will take work but Michal shares his successes and some of his failures, and by learning from him we can seek our own success. But he emphasises that knowing that alone is not enough, "Accepting truth and acknowledging possibilities is just a tiny step forward. Then comes the toughest obstacle: "can I do it?"" And we must come to the conclusion that we can, or we will continue to remain frustrated and unfulfilled. 

 One of the biggest points that Michal reinforces again and again through this book is authenticity! "You see, everybody has this deep desire to live an authentic life, but very few do. There are a multitude of reasons for that, but they all come down to different ways of avoiding pain. The human brain's default option is avoiding pain (remember the tiger?), so the majority goes along this path (and regrets it on their deathbed)." Along with that we need integrity "How does integrity make anyone effective? Simply put: people trust individuals with integrity. Trust eliminates the friction from the cooperation process." With that trust almost anything is possible. 

 Jumping to a new topic he then talks  about self branding. He quotes "Jeff Goins in his book "You Are a Writer" said that in the end you are your brand. Either you stand behind what you say and your deeds are compatible with your words, or your brand is a shambles, unlikely to produce any meaningful results." And by your brank you will be known, you do not have a questionnaire about a brand you interact with it, and the same with people "You don't send someone a survey about their values. You interact with them to determine if they are the right candidate for a long-term friendship.."  And we all have something to bring to the table, Michal states "How does one provide value? What if you have nothing to say? In my view, you are never without the potential to add to the conversation. If you don't have new facts or knowledge to bring, you can always bring gratitude, appreciation, encouragement, and a positive attitude. This world is a desert when it comes to such qualities. We can never have too much of these things."

 A common theme that runs through most of Michal's writings is that or habit, either big H habit or tiny habits. It is habits that have helped him progress to where he is today and habits that will help him achieve his stretch goals of today. He uses habit tracking to make it all happen, from physical changes, establishing connection. He says: "For my commenting habit, I use the Coach.me app for all of the above. My trigger is going through my habit list in the application. When I see I haven't commented yet, it ignites me to find and read an appropriate blog post. After commenting I mark the habit off on the Coach.me list and the sense of accomplishment connected with this activity is my reward. Coach.me also serves as a tracking tool." And based on his advice in earlier books I can personally attest to the effectiveness or habits and specifically tracing them. 

 He reminds us a few times about the power of encouragement, he states: "Encouragement is much rarer and more precious than money." And that combined with work ethic is worth a lot, "Whenever you present yourself as a doer, you shine among the throng of talkers.". 

 To be honest considering the length of this book there is an amazing amount of good advice. Michal states that "Vulnerability and authenticity are the bridges to friendship. It's hard to build a relationship without some level of openness. Be yourself." But he also reminds us to use caution in both who and what we put our energy and time into he says "Armed with that knowledge, be mindful about those you allow into your social circle. Consciously seek relationships with people you want to emulate. Consider who you want to become, and what character qualities you want to possess. Then associate with people who already have these." But then it all comes back again to hard work, it is going to take work, time and effort to make this happen: "Get rid of your instant gratification mindset. It's an illusion. Nothing is instant in this world (except maybe instant coffee; but is that stuff really coffee?). The most valuable things are built with time: muscles, relationships, children, enterprises." 

 So now it comes down to you. Are you willing to spend the time reading the book? Are you willing to listen to his lessons and work at applying them in your life? Are you willing to work to eliminate bad habits and gain new habits that will help you achieve your dreams? Because those are the challenges that this book will present to you.

 This was another great read by Michal, maybe his best. If you are already a fan you will love it. If you have not read any of his books give it a try it will likely not be the last of his you read. Michal writes in a very simple and engaging style, he writes from experience and that will draw you in and keep you reading and maybe spark some new dreams in your life!

Books by Michal Stawicki:
The Art of Persistence: Stop Quitting, Ignore Shiny Objects and Climb Your Way to Success
A Personal Mission Statement: Your Road Map to Happiness
Trickle Down Mindset: The Missing Element In Your Personal Success
Slicing the Hype
99 Perseverance Success Stories: Encouragement for Success in Every Walk of Life
Power up Your Self-Talk: 6 Simple Habits to Stop Beating Yourself Up and Reclaim Your Life
99 Habit Success Stories
...

Six Simple Steps to Success
Simplify Your Pursuit of Success - Book 1
Know Yourself Like Your Success Depends on It - Book 2
Bulletproof Health and Fitness: Your Secret to High Achievement - Book 3
Making Business Connections That Count - Book 4
Directed by Purpose: How to Focus on Work That Matters, Ignore Distractions and Manage Your Attention over the Long Haul - Book 5

How to Change Your Life in 10 Minutes a Day Series:
The Fitness Expert Next Door - Book 1
Learn to Read with Great Speed! Only 10 minutes a day! - Book 2
Release Your Kid's Dormant Genius In Just 10 Minutes a Day: Parenting Your Smart Underachiever With Consistency and Love - Book 3
Master Your Time In 10 Minutes a Day: Time Management Tips for Anyone Struggling With Work-Life Balance  - Book 4
From Shy to Hi: Tame Social Anxiety, Meet New People, and Build Self-Confidence  - Book 5

Author Profile and Interview with Michal Stawicki


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Friday, 6 May 2016

Serving God, Altar Serving and Learning to Listen


Serving God, Altar Serving and Learning to Listen

Over the past few months there have been some big changes and to some extent it comes down to prayer, reading and listening. I use a mix of Kindle, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play Books for most of my reading. Last year I read 177 books and only about a dozen of them where physical books. At the beginning of this year I went through my reading apps and made a list of all the books I had started but not finished yet. There was a large collection of Catholic books that I had started or had but had not been read yet. I went through and made a list of 39 books I wanted to read this year to be intentional about working through this list. Basically it became A Year of Reading Intention - Catholic Reading!

One of the first books I read was Beautiful Mercy edited by Matthew Kelly. While I was reading it we received an email from the school asking for children grade 4 and above to become altar servers. We talked to our oldest and she was really excited about it. While emailing to get her enrolled, I shared that I had been an alter server as a child, while in my 20's at Queen's University and in my 30's while at St. Jerome's University. I was asked if I would consider serving again, especially because they need men to help serve at funerals. Now I need to state that the night before in Beautiful Mercy I was reading about the corporal works of mercy and specifically, on burying the dead. There were three chapters on this work of mercy:

Hopeful Mercy - Mother Olga Yaqob
Personal Mercy - Sr. Marie Veritas, SV
Affirming Mercy - Dr. Carloyn Woo

I said I would be willing to help with no hesitation. And lo and behold a week later I received a call that they needed me, so I went and server two evening massed and a funeral that Thursday. I have also since served at another funeral. I had been praying about a way to become more active at our parish, and this is dropped in my path. I asked God to open doors and he opened one I would never have expected. My daughter and I have been trying to go and serve mass together during a week day at least once a week. I think it is amazing that she wants to serve, and that she wants to serve with me. Over the last few months my daughter has alter severed at about 20 masses and I have served at about a half dozen. It is helping us build a bond with each other, it is helping build her faith. We go early and pray before mass, we take a moment and pray after mass. We talk about our successes and our failures and ask God to strengthen us to do better the next day.

And to be honest a big part of this came about because of reading good catholic books. I had just been reading on a topic and get asked to help in that area the next day. The Holy Spirit was defiantly guiding and leading, and thankfully I was open to hearing and paying attention. It is a new found joy to be able to assist at mass this way again.

On Divine Mercy Sunday the new alter servers were enrolled and I was reenrolled. We had 19 altar servers assisting at mass. It was truly a blessing.

So my questions to you are:
Are you intentional about reading to develop your faith?
Do you have a reading plan?
Are you willing to shut off the TV earlier and spend an hour a day reading for your spiritual development?

You never know how the Holy Spirit might guide you.

(The photo below is my daughter, Father Alex and myself after the enrolment service.)





Related Posts:
The Colors of the Church Year
The Privilege of Altar Serving
Serving God, Altar Serving and Learning to Listen
Saturday 18th Week or Ordinary Time
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2017
Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2017

...

Note: Link to all posts about St. Agnes Parish.

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Wednesday, 4 May 2016

Basic Field Manual for Hearing God's Voice - Philip Kosloski


Basic Field Manual for Hearing God's Voice:
11+ Ways to Distinguish Between God's Voice, Satan's Voice and My Voice
Philip Kosloski
Philip A. Kosloski
ASIN B01BFURIU8

I do not even recall how I came across this book, it might have been recommended based on other books I had read or bought. But to be honest you cannot beat the price. The ebook is available for a very reasonable rate. In many ways it reminds me of a bible track or 4 Spiritual Laws booklets that were used for evangelization by non-denomination groups when I was at university. It is a very short volume. But in reality has a pretty solid message.

The main focus of the book is to be a guide to help us in growth of discernment during our times of prayer and meditation. The main focus is that we hear four voices when we pray, two are internal and two are external. The internal one's or distractions and or our own wish fulfilment, the external are either Satan trying to lead us astray or the authentic voice of God speaking to us and guiding us. In the introduction the author states: "As always, I suggest taking everything to a trusted spiritual director, who acts as God's instrument and can help you sift out what is true and what is false. I hope this short eBook gives you the clarity you are searching for." And even for someone who has prayed for years there are some good tips in this book worth pursuing. Through the rest of the book Philip gives clear concise teaching, drawing heavily upon saints and church tradition to help us learn how to discern between the four voices. He draws extensively from Saint Ignatius and he has an amazing quote from Father Jacques Philippe.

One of the greatest strengths of the book is the two page appendix, it gives some amazing jumping off points to go deeper on the lessons taught in this book. Of the 22 books recommended I have read a few but after encountering quotes in this book have added a few more of them to my to be read pile. This book was a good enough read at such a great price point that as soon as I finished it I bought another of his and immediately read it also!
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Monday, 2 May 2016

Motivation Code - Anthony Smits


Motivation Code
Anthony Smits
Smashwords
ISBN 9781310634604

There are a couple of adages or sayings that really do not apply to this book. The saying goes "You don't get something for nothing." or "You get what you pay for." But neither is true for this book. I discovered Anthony as the editor of Michal Stawicki's books, when I found out he had a few of his own I was very intrigued. Then to find out that both of his books were available for free I was blown away.

This book has a lot of great information condensed and presented in an easy to read, encouraging and friendly manner. The chapters in this brief volume are:
Success Requires Self-Motivation
Your Sphere of Influence
Action 1: Unmask Your Character
Action 2: Train for the game you like playing
Action 3: Choose a distinct path and follow it
Your Sphere of Effectiveness
Action 4: Justify your choices
Action 5: Commit to campaign until you win
Action 6: Consistently Show Initiative that Enacts Your Plan

To be honest there was not a lot terribly new in this book, but it was great reminder. It is sort of like going on a motivational retreat or conference but doing so by yourself and with Anthony as the guide through his writing instead of paying huge to attend a live event with Robin Sharma, Dan Millman or Stephen Covey. You can get a great start and some amazing tools from this book. Then if you want to pursue costlier advice by all means, do so. But Anthony has some excellent advice and guidance so give is book a try, you really cannot beat the price!

Books by Anthony Smits:
The Motivation Code
Inspiration Language: The East Way to Motivate Others



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