Are You Doing Your Spiritual Reading?

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Annunciata:
Look at me! I do my reading before I come on-line in the morning…not before 9am…SD and I had a nice talk about this…and it works for me…most of the time…:o
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:rotfl:

I wish I could do that. I get up at 4:30 and drink coffee while I pariticipate on the forums. Then I had planned to head off to my parish to say my Rosary by 6:30, get in some mental prayer before the 7:00 am Lauds and 7:30 am Mass. I can’t bring myself to do coffee and prayers at the same time and need my java to wake me. So, I do the forums. However, I have a feeling that when I tell my confessor how many times I actually missed Lauds and was late for Mass due to this activity, he will probably tell me how to take care of it sniff :crying:

Oh my human weakness and self-discipline problem…I think I have to go now.

Yikes, I’m going to be late again! :bigyikes:
 
How do y’all do it? I can read Catholic History or works on Apologetics all day long (in fact, I often do!), but the few pieces of ‘Spiritual’ reading that I’ve picked up have bored me to tears. I was completely uninterested…couldn’t get past the first couple of pages… 😦
 
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Isidore_AK:
How do y’all do it? I can read Catholic History or works on Apologetics all day long (in fact, I often do!), but the few pieces of ‘Spiritual’ reading that I’ve picked up have bored me to tears. I was completely uninterested…couldn’t get past the first couple of pages… 😦
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Isidore,

If you’re reading Catholic History and Apologetics, it sounds like you’re doing a job to me! What other kinds of spiritual reading are you having problems with?

God Bless,
Gary
 
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gez722:
Isidore,

If you’re reading Catholic History and Apologetics, it sounds like you’re doing a job to me! What other kinds of spiritual reading are you having problems with?

God Bless,
Gary
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I meant along the lines of devotional reading: Scriptures, books like St. John of The Cross & St. Teresa of Avila’s ‘The Interior Castle’. I like the intellectual stuff, but on the ‘Spiritual Side’ I have problems.
 
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Annunciata:
I’ve been neglecting my Spiritual Reading lately and was just wondering if others have fallen into the same bad habit……
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Summer is always hard for me. With the kids out of school, there are no quiet times during the day and we don’t have a real schedule. We also live in the country. When the kids are in school and I am “in town” twice a day, it is easy to slip into an open Church or Adoration chapel or just pull the car over somewhere for some quiet time. Not so during the summer months.

Only a few weeks to go, though, and I have my next few books already picked out. 🙂
 
My plan is to read one meditation from My Meditation on the Gospel by Rev. James E. Sullivan, right before I go to sleep. The next morning, when I wake up, I think and pray about the meditation for one-half hour.
 
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Annunciata:
And they would be…? 🙂
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I have two that I started and need to finish: Igniting the Fire Within (Thomas Dubay) and God is Near Us (then Cardinal Ratzinger).

I also have next in line: The Fathers of the Church (Aquilina) and Crossing the Threshold of Hope (JPII).

I am also trying to get more disciplined about my Magnificat and Conversation with God readings.

And you? Any good recommendations?
 
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kmktexas:
… Any good recommendations?
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Good for you! I’m reading/rereading and recommending…
Saints In The Word - Jesus Urtega
When Jesus Sleeps - Luis M. Martinez
He and I - Gabrielle Bossis (translated & cond. by Evelyn Brown)
At God’s Pace - (biography of St. Josemaria) Francois Gondrand
 
Chris Jacobsen:
My plan is to read one meditation from My Meditation on the Gospel by Rev. James E. Sullivan, right before I go to sleep. The next morning, when I wake up, I think and pray about the meditation for one-half hour.
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That sounds really good…
 
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Annunciata:
I probably should have made it a bit clearer…I read Scripture daily too …but I guess what I was looking for is if you are reading spiritual books on the Faith, lives of the saints, etc., etc.
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Hey Annunciata!!

From my background, you know “Reformed” maybe I totally missed out on that aspect of the Reformed faith. I know biographies on great Reformers were very encouraging, and encouraging sermons by like Calvin and the like would probably be “Protestant Spiritual Reading” and then there’s a plethora of other type books, like one I read quite a bit of called “My Utmost For His Highest” by Oswald Chambers. Such reading may have been available, but typically wasn’t spoken of much in my circle.

But, you Catholics have such a wonderful (and almost immeasurable) source of very unique spiritual writings. Like, I’m into St Francis de Sales, but I know there’s soooo many more Saints who lived such lives that are so inspiring, and can, like St. Francis, say things in such a way to really effect us.

So, I want to get back into regular spiritual reading, I’ve been neglecting it. But it’ll make a Catholic out of you!!
 
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threej_lc:
God’s blest me with being able to go to adoration every day. Has given me some wonderful time to get my spiritual reading done.

Josh
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I remember that Rich Mullins song…

:clapping:

“Stories like that’ll make a boy grow bold
Stories like that’ll make a man walk straight”

I think, in that song, he was singing about young Jesus reading the stories about the OT prophets and such. I think I’m remembering that right.
 
Reformed Rob:
I remember that Rich Mullins song…

:clapping:

“Stories like that’ll make a boy grow bold
Stories like that’ll make a man walk straight”

I think, in that song, he was singing about young Jesus reading the stories about the OT prophets and such. I think I’m remembering that right.
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Speaking of Rich Mullins (and spiritual reading) I just finished reading Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to God a “devotional biography” by James Bryan Smith…

Now as a soon to be ex-Protestant - I can’t necessarily tell you all about the Catholic perspective on the book, but I thought it was a very good book. (It also cleared up for me the question of whether Rich had converted to Catholicism - he finished RCIA but decided not to - although he attended Catholic Mass every day while he lived with the Native American’s - and it was quite interesting to see just how Catholic some of his quotes really were - some were not, but there were quite a few to me that despite being new to Catholicism just really stood out to me - I think it is proof that one could not attend mass regularly like that without being changed)

Anyway, just wanted to share, since this was my “spiritual reading” this weekend. This week I’ve started reading St. Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life and I’ve also started to copy over my spiritual reading journal (started before I even thought of becoming Catholic, but actually started it while reading a book that started me down the path though I didn’t realize it) - I had been writing quotes and such from anything I read and I decided I wanted all the spiritual stuff to be together in one journal instead. And copying them over is giving me a nice reminder of my path in a way since its what I thought spoke to me at the time, and is also reminding me of some of those things I thought were so profound and worth remembering.
 
I spend an hour or two each day in spiritual reading, including both bible study as well as spirtual works such as Pope John Paul II’s work Crossing the Threshold of Hope, or St. Augustine’s The Confessions.

I am currently reading:

The Navarre Study Bible - John
Vatican II Documents
This is The Faith by Canon Francis Ripley

:bible1:
 
I have to shamefully admit that I’ve been spending more time posting lately than I have praying or reading. :o

Gonna have to take a break and get back into my rhythm and away from the forums for a bit.
 
I’m reading daily meditations for Lent from “In Conversation with God” by Francis Fernandez and re-reading “Hinds Feet on High Places”…do it a few times a year…
And… “Dream And Your Dreams Will Fall Short” - Pedro Casciario
 
Reading a biography of St. Faustina. I’m about half way through and it is fascinating. On deck is her diary.

The idea just came to me last week that I should read this. Since then, it seems like I am seeing references to mercy everywhere.
 
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