Inspirational media for today's Catholics
It’s a new year, a new decade, and a wonderful time to begin a new journey. Journeys are a major focus of this column. I love to explore the different journeys of our lives and how truths about these journeys can be found in the films we watch, the books we read and the music we hear. These are not, however, journeys that burn gasoline, earn frequent flyer miles or require stamps in a passport. These are journeys of the spirit – voyages that tell us so much … [Read more...]
Darkness has covered the earth; thick clouds of intolerance, aggression and greed hang low among the peoples. Despite this ill weather, the weary world still clings to the prophets’ hopeful words that love will rain down and a Savior will spring forth from the earth. Patience, people, for the Lord is coming. High above Whoville on the top of Mount Crumpit, the Grinch is in a sour mood. He dreads this time of year because the Whos make so much noise during Christmas. … [Read more...]
Meet Marie. Life is easy for Marie, a television journalist in Paris. She searches for the truth in every interview she conducts. She is passionate about her job, which makes her very successful and popular in her community. One day while vacationing in a seaside village , Marie walks through the market, shopping for gifts from street vendors. A little girl tries to sell her a bracelet. They both turn toward the ocean to see a tremendous tsunami wave destroying … [Read more...]
One of the more interesting times in my professional career was the period I worked on Music Row. I didn’t work for a record label or a publishing company, two industry sectors with the highest profiles. Besides my time with an artist management company, I worked for sectors on the periphery of the musicindustry: artist merchandise and database marketing. Unlike working for large organizations such as Vanderbilt University, HCA and LifePoint Hospitals, working on … [Read more...]
A long, long time ago… I can still remember the power and popularity of the men who truly had the right stuff: the astronauts of NASA. Shepard, Glenn, Aldrin, Armstrong, Lovell… aside from my Dad, these men were my first heroes. We crowded around the black & white TV in our living room on July 20, 1969 and listened to Walter Cronkite describe Apollo 11’s descent upon the moon. There we sat transfixed as the first grainy images were transmitted from the lunar … [Read more...]
“You can’t buy forgiveness. It’s free, but you have to ask for it.” When scraggly old Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) hears these words from his hometown preacher in the current film Get Low, he picks up his ball of money and goes back home. You see, Mr. Bush has been a hermit in these here parts of Tennessee for nearly 40 years. Folks across four counties can tell some pretty tall tales about his life, yet nobody really knows what he’s been doing all these … [Read more...]
When I was a wee lad, about five years old, my favorite toy was Doggie, a cuddly-soft stuffed animal. This little guy had floppy cloth ears and black button eyes. I played with him during the day and held him tight every night as I drifted off to sleep. Doggie got a lot of my playtime and love, so much so that his fur eventually became worn, an eye was lost, and all the leg stuffing was squeezed down into four very large paws. But it didn’t matter, Doggie was my … [Read more...]
Amid the hundreds of news items emanating from Rome last month was this little gem: The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano officially designated the film “The Blues Brothers” as a “Catholic classic” and recommended it for viewing by Catholics everywhere. Now I’m all for the Vatican commenting on popular culture and helping us discern inspirational messages from our films, music and books. That’s the same goal as this column. But to recommend a … [Read more...]
Your church is eligible to receive a free single subscription to New Catholic Books & Media. Each quarterly issue is filled with information about new books, author … [Read more...]
