Reviewed by Jim Logue, Jr.

Shane Kapler wasn't always a Catholic. He had his doubts, questions, curiosity. How can Catholics believe in the the things they do? Instead of just tossing the questions aside, he sought answers. And the answers he found were in the Catholic Church.

This book has several lives. It is an autobiography. It is a journal of Shane Kapler's journey to the Catholic Church. It is a catechism written in the language of a normal person. It is a reference book of Scripture and quotes of people from the saints to the early church fathers to today's theologians and apologists of the Catholic faith.

A sample of how the book deals with topics is Chapter 5 - Every Boy Needs His Mother (and Brothers and Sisters Too). This chapter deals with our Blessed Mother Mary. Kapler talks about how, as a teenager, he questioned the role of Mary in the Church, and how his conversion as a young man was influenced greatly by a growing devotion to Mary. In the chapter, he takes a look a the Scriptural insights of Mary, comparing Mary's visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, to David's reception of the Ark of the Covenant. Kapler also quotes from early Church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, and more. He asks the questions that we also tend to ask, and provides some good, solid answers.

The book deals with topics like the Trinity, the Old Testament vs. the New Testament, Salvation, the Catholic view of the "Rapture", biblical errancy, marriage and sexual behavior, our relationship with other Christians and other churches, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and more.

I like this book because it is well-written and easy to follow. Some books can be heavy on the technical terms and hard to read. That's not the case with this book. If you know someone who has questions about the Catholic Church, or if you want to learn more about what it is you believe, this is an excellent book to get started.

You can learn about Shane Kapler, order copies of the book, and read his blog at ExplainingChristianity.com.

Reviewed by Jim Logue, Jr.

As Catholics, we are taught about the existence of Purgatory; however, we tend to forget about it or try to avoid talking or even thinking about Purgatory. This is something we cannot afford to do, for the sake of our own souls and for the souls that are there. But what is Purgatory? Why should we believe in it? What is the point of praying for the Holy Souls there, and what do we get out of it?

Best-selling author Susan Tassone, who is considered an expert on Purgatory, helps us in learning what Purgatory is and answers many of the questions we have in this new book. What Susan has provided us is a wonderful guide to help dispel some of the myths that people have and to give us some practical advice on how to pray for them. Susan drawn on the words of the Saints, who themselves have had much to say about Purgatory.

As an example, St. John Vianney said, "Oh! If all of us but knew how great is the power of the good souls in purgatory with the Heart of God, and if we knew all the graces we can obtain through their intercession, they would not be so much forgotten! We must pray much for them, so that they may pray much for us."

In this book, Susan gives us some wonderful stories of how the saints have prayed for the souls, and how the souls have responded to their prayers. Susan also gives us some practical ways to pray, including Novenas, prayers, and ideas for spiritual practices that we can do throughout the year.

You can learn more about Susan Tassone at her own website, SusanTassone.com.
The book, Praying With the Saints for the Holy Souls in Purgatory can be purchased through Our Sunday Visitor.

Reviewed by Jim Logue, Jr.

MattieOnline.com. "Remember to play after every storm. Storms aren't necessarily clouds with rain. They're things that darken your day."

This was the philosophy of life for Mattie Stepanek. From an early age, Mattie knew that his time on earth was going to be limited, but he was not one for self-pity or giving up. For him, life was not just for existing, it was to be lived as much as possible.

Mattie Stepanek was a young man who suffered from a form of muscular dystrophy called "dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy". His two older brothers, Jamie and Stevie, and his sister Katie all died very young from the same disease, and his mom, Jeni, suffered from an adult version. Because of this illness, Mattie spent much of his fourteen years on earth in a wheelchair and was in and out of hospitals. Yet, with all this going on, he still took the time to reflect on how important God is and how God called him to be a messenger of hope and peace. He took that vocation very seriously.

Early on, Mattie became interested in poetry and learned to express himself in verse. As one person writes a journal of their life, as a musician composes music on where they are in life, Mattie composed poems and shared them with people:

See now; and listen to me...
God speaks into my heart,
Then I choose the words
To shape the message, so you
May understand and know
What God wants us
To understand and know.
See now, and listen to me...
Do you hear my voice
Shaping with words
What the Voice in Heaven
Puts into my heart?
You will hear it now and
You will hear it again
When you come into Heaven.
See now, and listen to me...
I say to you,
Follow your heart.
This is what
My voice, and
The voices of Heaven
Now say to you...
See now, and listen...
These are the words I choose
To shape the message from God.
Follow your heart...
Please,
Just follow your heart...

(from "The Church Ride" in Reflections of a Peacemaker: A Portrait Through Heartsongs, pg 152.)

Mattie had six books of his poems published, and his mission for peace led him to co-write a book with former President Jimmy Carter entitled "Just Peace". And country singer Billy Gilman recorded a CD of Mattie's poems set to music.

Mattie believed in peace and in people's ability to work for peace. One example of this was on September 11th, 2001, during the aftermath of the terror attacks in New York and Washington. Mattie and his Mom, Jeni, would pray each night about various things. But that night, Jeni confided in Mattie that she was at a loss as to what to pray for. "How can we pick up the pieces?" she asked. "I don't even know where to start."

Mattie responded, "We need to see all the pieces, every fleck of ash, as a gift in the mosaic of life. Rather than seek revenge, we have to begin to rebuild the mosaic. If we keep seeking to retaliate, it's never going to end. Why can't people see that? Fear begets fear. Revenge begets more revenge. We need to stop. Just stop."

Mattie's Mom, Jeni Stepanek, set out to write this book so people could understand who Mattie was. He was not just the celebrity that many of us saw on Oprah or Larry King Live or as ambassador for the Muscular Distrophy Association. He was a boy who suffered much, but loved even more. He taught us that it's okay to be different, that we can being about world peace of we just give it a try in our own corner of the world.

From my own perspective, this book taught me to look at people differently. Even at Mass, when I sometimes get distracted by crying children and find it annoying, after reading this book, I found myself not worrying about that. Peace does not begin in another state or another country. It's not something we read about in the news. Peace needs to begin with us, with me.

The book is called "Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J. T. Stepanek and HeartSongs", written by his mother, Jeni Stepanek, wiht Larry Lindner. Poet Maya Angelou wrote the forward for this book. It will be released November 3rd by Dutton, part of the Penguin Group of publishers. Visit MattieOnline.com to learn more about Mattie Stepanek and his books and his life.

Reviewed by Susan Bailey

Ken Canedo, a liturgical composer, is the editor of the SpiritandSong.com blog and writes regularly for Todays Liturgy magazine. He has written an important work on what he calls the folk mass revolution with his debut book, Keep the Fire Burning. At first glance, this book looks like a quick and easy read but dont be fooled: Canedo has packed each of the 140 pages with fascinating research, history and very human stories on a period in the Catholic Church which surprisingly, few have written about. Keep the Fire Burning is much more than a book about the folk mass. It is a history of the amazing transitions the Catholic Church went through before and after Vatican II during one of the most turbulent decades in recent American history. Keep the Fire Burning brought back so many wonderful memories for me, a baby boomer, folk music lover, and longtime participant in the folk mass/contemporary music movement. I was flooded with fond remembrances of the Latin mass, and the exciting transition to the English (or vernacular language) liturgies we have today. I also revisited with great pleasure how much folk music meant to me during the sixties and seventies, music which I totally embraced in my singing and playing as a Catholic artist. The folk mass played a vital role in my teen years, introducing me to lifelong friends, and my husband of now 30 years.

I had expected a wonderful, nostalgic read but Keep the Fire Burning proved to be so much more. Ken Canedo lay the ground work for what was to become the folk mass by reviewing the history of reform (and how it affected music) in the Roman liturgy. Canedo takes this history and weaves it through the lives of people who were the movers and shakers in the reform movement, some of whom eventually became key players in the folk mass revolution.

Yet, there is still more. While Vatican II and the liturgical reform movements were both vital to the birth of the folk mass, Canedo also takes much time to explore the social and political movements taking place in the fifties and sixties, and the rise of folk music as a means of voicing concerns about social justice. This social justice theme along with the influences of folk music legends such as Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary can be clearly heard in the early folk mass music of composers such as Ray Repp, Jack Mifferton, the Dameans and Carey Landry.

Keep the Fire Burning is not just a book to read, but is also a series of podcasts which allow you to actually hear the music. Canedo narrates the series, found at www.kencanedo.com, where there is an episode for each chapter. Since Canedo worked in the early 1970s for the now defunct FEL Publications (the first company to publish and market folk songs for the mass), he has access to many rare cuts of music which you will never hear anywhere else. The historical value alone is worth the listen.

Why should you read Keep the Fire Burning? The Folk Mass revolution has had far-reaching implications both inside and outside the Catholic Church, including laying the groundwork for the Contemporary Christian music industry, and giving a powerful voice to social justice issues in the Church. In keeping with the nature of secular folk music, Catholic folk music (now known as Contemporary music) was controversial in its time and is still so today. A resurgence of interest in Gregorian chant, traditional polyphony, and the Latin mass (with the reinstitution of Tridentine Mass by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007) stirs the controversy all the more, making Keep the Fire Burning a necessary read on the motivation, history and heritage of modern Church music.

Reading Keep the Fire Burning lit a fire in me, reviving my appreciation for both the Latin and vernacular masses, and the history behind them. It also gave much needed legitimacy to the folk mass movement which, in turn, affirmed my own music ministry as a liturgical song leader and Catholic recording artist.

My only complaint was that I wish Canedo had written more! The book ends just before getting into the era of the St. Louis Jesuits. Canedo has promised that there is more to come.

Keep the Fire Burning is a must read for any person involved with Catholic music, whether it be in traditional or contemporary liturgical music, or in the para-liturgical expressions found in acoustic gospel, rock, pop, hip hop and rap. Published by Pastoral Press, you can purchase your copy at OCP.org/Products/6152. Listen to the podcasts at KenCanedo.com.