Catholic Women's Book Group

Meeting Time and Location
The book group meets the first Tuesday of each month from 2-3:30pm in the Parish Ministry Center. For more information, contact Sue Andzik (719-359-2471 or sandzik@gmail.com).

2021 Book List

January If Your Mind Wanders at Mass by Thomas Howard
February Live Big, Love Bigger: Getting Real with BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus by Kathryn Whitaker
March Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World by Sally Reed
April Can a Catholic Be a Socialist? by Trent Horn
May Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah by Brant Pitre
June What Does God Want? by Fr. Michael Scanlan
July Activated Disciple: Taking Your Faith to the Next Level by Jeff Cavins
August The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission by George Weigel
September Loved as I am: An Invitation to Conversion, Healing, and Freedom Through Jesus by Miriam James Heidland, S.O.L.T.
October Infiltration: The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within by Taylor Marshall
November True Reformers: Saints of the Reformation by Jerome K Williams
December The True St. Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas by William J. Bennett

2021 Book Reviews
Ratings 1–5 †

December 2019
If Your Mind Wanders at Mass by Thomas Howard (††††)

Synopsis: “Distractions, fatigue, boredom at Sunday worship--maybe we experience these because we don't fully appreciate what's going on at Mass. Howard's profound and practical look at the liturgy focuses our wandering minds. It reminds us that at Mass the veil separating earth and heaven lifts, so that we stand with angels and saints in the presence of God Most High.” Scott Hahn. “We are now at a stage where the spiritual depths of the Mass deserve a fresh exposition. Howard’s reflective guidance is just what we need after many years of busy ways of getting into a participatory mode. He does more than probe the meaning of the Mass. He shows us how to pay attention and let the sonder of the Eucharist touch our souls.” Rev. Alfred McBride, O.Praem.

Comments from the group’s discussion:

I thought this a great overview of the entire Mass. I particularly liked his explanation of the Kyrie said three times. It comes from a profound confidence that God has had mercy, He does have mercy, and He will have mercy on us.
I thought the cover was cleverly done with the different ‘i’ in the word ‘mind’. We are all a little too focused on ourselves. He mentions ‘the Mass is the focal point’ and should be our focus of worshiping God and praising God. I liked his mention of why we stand at the Gospel—giving the reading great anticipation and showing our readiness on hearing the very WORD of God, and why we say “we lift our hearts to the Lord” as it should be.
I had trouble getting into the book and I was disappointed with it. Perhaps expecting too much or maybe too many virtual Masses these days.
Reading this book made me proud to be a Catholic and to be able to see the Mass with all its structure and every little part meaning something.
I thought it was an easy ready with good reminders that the Mass is the central act of Christian worship. Howard said that “Christianity teaches that our inclination to worship is planted in us by the One for whom we were made. It was to God that Abel offered sacrifice, and to God that Noah and Abraham and all of Israel raised altars.”
Latter while explaining the breaking of the bread—“He was led as a lamb to the slaughter”—Howard says that “all tribes and cultures seem to have been aware that expiation or propitiation must occur to reconcile us mortals with the deity. Expiation…to appease; to atone for; to make amends; to purify; to extinguish guilt; to pay the penalty; to make reparation. This, say Scripture and the Church, is what was achieved at Calvary for us.
I enjoyed the book and liked the writer's style. It was worthwhile as a study, but I'm not sure how much it will help my distractedness.