Buy HER book: "Felon Blaims 1970s Church Architecture for Life of Sin"

Once upon a time, when I was a newborn blogger and my content was more Catholic than catholic, I fell in complete agape with Ironic Catholic (IC). 

I have long-admired her ability to poke well-deserved fun at Roman Catholicism. Her cheerful, edgy reverence is grounded in theological smarts.

More than once have I thanked God and all the saints that she's in a position to teach others in the classroom and online. 

Truly I perk right up whenever IC posts one of her news stories. She positions them as "fake news" but verily some of these could be true. Lord, have mercy. 

Now, gathered in the first of what will hopefully be many volumes, is an e-book of these gems. Felon Blames 1970s Church Architecture for Life of Sin is available at Smashwords and as a Kindle ebook. 

For more information on The Ironic Catholic site itself, click here. Buy her book!

Not that any of my readers would be so ortho-whatever to be offended, but note that IC was among the bloggers invited to the Vatican Blogger Meet-Up.  So was, blogosphere gal pal,  Blue Eyed Ennis, also revered by moiself for her ability to speak fierce truth with humor and love.

More Cool Tools & Widgets

At some point I'll write about bouncing from the 1st to the 21st centuries throughout the day. What's with the 1st century? I'm writing about it in my "engaging good humored" way for my next book about the Jewish roots of almost everything Christian. Quite the challenge on many levels, including internally for yours truly. But that's not what this post is about.

This post is about my 21st century adventures. Now that I'm on Twitter and following thought leaders and trend setters in the world of social media, I'm getting access to some very cool stuff. Here are two items you might want to use.

Stop watch: A fabulous and very cute but not cutesy count up and count down meter. I have it on my desktop screen, sized down to nearly unobtrusive, and set to manage my time at the computer. A bell rings when the time runs out. I reset it and keep going. Since I write/break in 45/15 minute rotations, this is very handy and keeps me on task.

Random Bible Verse: Take a look at my blog's sidebar. See the Scripture snippet? This widget was developed by Jason DelGuidice as SacredMint.com. Hit the "refresh" a bunch of times to see how it rotates verses. Now, go get the code and put it on your blog or website.

Not only may you choose among designs, but also from among 16 translations. As you can see, I've chosen the NIV translation. I have my reasons. In fact, I devote an entire chapter of my new book to explaining ways of reading Scripture as well as wassup with different translations. (I do this without using the word, "hermeneutic.")

Book Review: Hear My Voice (Children's Lectionary)

Hear My Voice: A Children's Translation of Gospel Readings of the Catholic Mass for 2009
123 p. 8.5" square
Hardcover: $18.95
Review pages at Prayer Press

A pre-publication copy of this marvelous book arrived over the weekend. Author Jonathan Stampf and illustrator Robert Conrad deserve glory, honor and praise for their fine contribution to liturgical resources.

Hear My Voice has everything I look for -- and hope others do, too. First, it's a gorgeous book, beautifully designed and illustrated in a user-friendly trim size. The full-color illustrations are charming without being mawkish. In fact, they abound with historically accurate details of buildings, clothing, terrain, and food. The colors are vibrant and sophisticated; no visual dumbing down with primary colors!

And the content? My guess is that parents will get as much out of reading this as kids. In fact, any adult could benefit from reading how Stampf interprets the Lectionary readings (included in a sidebar). He uses colloquial language without devolving into slang. Be very grateful: You won't find Jesus addressing the Apostles as "dudes." You'll find smart, vocabulary-building text that will benefit readers of all ages.

The best part: this finely nuanced text places Stampf well within the ancient Jewish tradition of Midrash, something Jesus himself would have known, appreciated, and probably used when he wasn't speaking in parables.

Hear My Voice will be available this November. Start the new liturgical year right by ordering it now! Also available through the Catholic Company.

Free Shipping from The Catholic Company for Blog Readers

Got an email this morning from Chris Cash, Director of E-Commerce at The Catholic Company extending the offer of free shipping to readers of this blog (and others who are on his roster of product reviewers). When? From today, Tuesday (9/23) until midnight on Sunday (9/28).

This is a great deal because the offer is good on any sized order and not just books, although that's what the postal carrier will be lugging up to my front door.

Here's how it works:

1. Simply place an order through their website, by phone (317-663-4566) or fax (206-312-0069).

2. Use the coupon code: BLOG

If you order online: you'll be asked to type the coupon code into a box at the bottom of the payment page during checkout.

If you order by phone: announce the coupon code, BLOG, to your customer service agent.

If you order by fax: include the coupon code BLOG on your order form.

The fine print for this fine offer: This offer cannot be combined with any other offers. Applies to U.S. delivery addresses only. Applies to standard shipping only. Cannot be used on orders already placed or on backorders. Offer expires at 12:00 midnight, Eastern Time on Sunday, September 28, 2008.

Product Review: Faith Database

Faith Database
CD: $39.95
[1,646 MB]
Annual upgrades planned.

This review was written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program.
Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Faith Database CD-ROM.

Faith Database is the labor-of-love brain child of Tim Cooper who entered the Catholic Church in 2003. For five years, Cooper collected Catholic resources for his own study. Then, while leading a parish-based group on early church writings, he wrote a computer program linking doctrine to scripture and content in those early texts.

With encouragement and guidance from folks at Catholic Answers, the project evolved. Launched in August, Faith Database allows users to search through writings by the early Church fathers, Doctors of the Church, popes, and orthodox theologians (e.g., Chesterton, Newman); 10 different translations of scripture; Church Council documents; the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Old Catholic Encyclopedia, the Baltimore Catechism, and the Code of Canon Law.

Via email I asked Tim to tell me more about his vision for the project. "My original intent was for all Catholics for wish to learn their faith better," he wrote. "As a former Protestant I can say with all sincerity that most Catholics don't know what they have and most Protestants don't know what they're missing." Yesterday I spent a lot of time wandering through Faith Database to see what was there and to evaluate the ease of navigation.

Mostly I used key words from research for my new book about the Jewish roots of Christian identity and religious practice. I greatly appreciated the convenience of having all church writings and scripture in one place. Normally I log on to several different websites to find this stuff. The database of art images and maps is a useful, inspiring addition.

While I didn't find everything I wanted, I did find material I needed and was pleased with that outcome. According to Cooper, he and business partner Jerry Suelzer plan to add approximately 10 new texts a month. Personally, I hope they either stick to agreed-upon classics or broaden their view of who is making important contributions to Catholic thought these days.

Technicalities: According to Tim, I'm not the only one who had installation troubles. He admits the install with Vista is very slow. They're working on a new installer program and encourage calls for technical support. I also found the navigation a bit cumbersome and hoping they add a spell check to their next iteration. I have every confidence these technical quirks will get worked out. Meanwhile, Faith Database is a good resource, one that does indeed introduce the Catholic faith.