Summer Reading

Summer has started and the kids are gone from the school. For the summer, many teachers recommend a summer reading list. With the vacations we take, less school activities, and longer days, some of us have more free time to be able to read. Bookstores have sections devoted to summer reading as well. I would recommend that we take some of this reading time to enhance our relationship with God with some spiritual reading.

The Bible is always a good place to start.  One study states that only 10% of all Christians have read the entire Bible, even though most people have more than one copy in their house. An average reader could read it in 80 hours which is 15 minutes a day for a year or an hour a day for the summer. There is a wonderful podcast called the “Bible in a Year” which many people have already listened to and can help with the reading of Sacred Scriptures. Besides the Bible, there are some other great spiritual reading books depending on your tastes. When you are traveling there are some good podcasts for spiritual reading, Fr Mike Schmitz has his “Bible in a Year” podcast and the “Catechism in a Year” podcast as well to help us with some good audio reading. There are some really good current Catholic writers like Matthey Kelly, Bishop Barron, Cardinal Sarah, Jacque Phillipe, and many others. The Holy Fathers are also a wonderful resource as well as the many different saints who have written about a number of different topics, each of our last few popes have different styles of writing and a wide variety of topics. There are some of the writings of the early Church Fathers that we can turn to for example Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, or Polycarp. Some of the great Doctors of the Church have some wonderful books that can help us to grow in our faith as well. We have 2,000 years of tradition and writings to delve into and the selections are endless. Last year I recommended a couple including “Story of a Soul” by St. Therese of Lisieux and “the Confessions” by St. Augustine. The “Lives of the Saints” gives us a short synopsis of many different saints. I would also recommend to look up a saint that has a patronage of something that we are passionate about and read about them. A couple of more books that I might recommend are “Fire and Light” by Jacque Phillipe, this is a wonderful read that is very accessible for most people, but has some profound thoughts. I am currently reading Cardinal Sarah’s new book “The Catechism of the Spiritual Life” and it has been very good so far. A recommendation for kids would be “Stories of the Saints: Bold and Inspiring Tales of Adventure, Grace, and Courage” Thomas Kempis “The Imitation of Christ” is always a classic read as well. 

There is a great wealth of Good Catholic reading out there, take some of this summer time to pick up a book that will help to grow your faith life. 

God bless,
Fr. Ken