For about ten years, there was a post-it note on my music stand:
“Call Rose.”
Every week when the folk group gathered to practice the music for the upcoming Sunday Mass, we’d put the phone on speaker and call one of our friends from church whose health did not permit her to go to Mass.
We all had our reasons for our fondness for Rose. A longtime lector, she sat in the front pew for Sunday Masses and would always expect us to wave during the Sign of Peace. She welcomed some of us to the parish, and she was a Secular Franciscan with me.
“I pray for you every day,” she would say. “Each and every one of you.”
We counted on that. We knew she prayed for us all, by name.
So when Rose couldn’t come to Mass anymore, and our deacon (who brought the Eucharist to her every Sunday) let us know how much she missed the music, we decided to let her eavesdrop on rehearsals.
Rose was always happy to hear from us, and it was good to hear her voice. After some songs, she’d say, “Is that all?” and we’d ask if she had time to listen to more. Over the years, it became more difficult for her to hold the phone up to listen to more than three songs, but we kept calling and she kept listening. We’re not sure which songs were Rose’s favorite, because if we asked whether she’d liked something, she always said she did.
The last time we called Rose was August 13. She thanked us, as she always did. “Thank you for calling and singing to me.”
And we replied, as we always did: “Thank you for listening to our music!”
When Rose said she had to go, we all signed off the way we always did: “We love you, Rose!”
She said, “I love all of you too.”
And that was the last time we heard her voice. The next Wednesday afternoon, I got a call from another Secular Franciscan, Rose’s very dear friend, letting me know that Rose had suffered a terrible stroke.
So instead of calling, we prayed.
Rose passed away a week ago, and we’re waiting to find out the date for the funeral. But her family gave us a beautiful gift. They asked us to play for the funeral, and requested that we choose the music.
I don’t know Rose’s favorites, but I went through the hymnal and sent the music director a list of 23 possibilities. We’ll only get to do 5 or 6 of them, so I’m glad I’m the one who won’t have to make the final choice.
And when we do play and sing at that funeral, we’ll be telling Rose we love her, one last time.
The first Wednesday of each month, Carolyn Astfalk hosts #OpenBook, where bloggers link posts about books they’ve read recently. I had a total knee replacement in mid-July, so I’ve had less time to read than I normally do, not to mention less capacity for reading anything heavy (though there are a couple of tougher books in this pile). And I’ll admit there’s been more time spent binge-watching HGTV, specifically Beachfront Bargain Hunt and old Flip or Flop.
Here’s a taste of what I’ve been reading this summer (since I’m seriously behind in participating in Open Book):
Fiction
A new Maddie Evans novel, Hooked on the Heart, dropped last week and, as I told the author, it feels so good to fall into one of her books. If you like your rom-com with plenty of banter and characters you can’t help but like, this book is for you. Chef and restaurant owner Colin moves in downstairs from Natalie, a yarn store owner who insults his restaurant before knowing who he is, then misunderstands his comment about his apartment stove and decides it’s her mission to teach him to cook. Two more books are planned for the series, and I’ve already preordered those!
T.I. Lowe’s novel Lulu’s Cafe was not at all a light read, and at times it was difficult. All that said, it was an excellent story with a hopeful ending. On the run from a husband who violently abused her and locked her in a closet for days at a time, Leah winds up in a Southern town and is taken in by Lulu, a cafe owner who gives her a job and a place to stay. But Crowley, a local lawyer, is suspicious about Leah — and attracted to her enough to find out the truth about her past. Trigger warnings: graphic domestic violence.
If you like fun stories with lots of banter, I recommend A Very Terrible Text by Elana Johnson. Hillary mistakenly texts the neighbor she doesn’t get along at all with to ask for a date, thinking she’s messaging someone she’s been contacting on a new dating app. And then things snowball and she doesn’t know how to get out of it. This isn’t even a Grumpy/Sunshine story, since both main characters are grumpy! For extra fun, much of the banter is conducted via text message. It’s a hilarious, clean read, and you’re probably going to crave potatoes for a while during your book hangover.
I waited quite a while for my library’s copy of Under the Tulip Tree by Michelle Shocklee, and it was definitely worth the wait. 23-year-old Rena wants to be a writer, but it’s 1936 and there are no jobs of any kind out there, much less writing jobs. A kind newspaper editor lets her know about a new WPA program that was assigning writers to interview former slaves about their life history. Rena meets the 101-year-old Frankie, who tells Rena the story of her life — which includes a horrifying revelation. Highly recommended.
YA/Children’s
Normally I don’t reach for vampire novels (or any other horror books, for that matter), but Pauline Books & Media sent me a beautiful review package for The Curse He Chose by Sister Allison Regina Gliot, FSP. When a book for kids, tweens, or teens comes my way, I take my responsibility seriously — is the book something I’d have encouraged my own kids to read at that age? There are many vampire novels out there for readers 14 and up, but very few Catholic ones. This book deals with questions of salvation, the presence of evil (and what we do about it), and the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It’s beautifully written, and a compelling story — and I will admit, so intense that I needed to switch to a lighter book after the sun went down! This is Book 1 in the In Aeternum series. If your teens want to read vampire novels, you can hand them this book without worrying about inappropriate content or anything that goes against the teachings of the Church. Bonus: there’s some gentle evangelization happening in there, too, in the novel itself and in the extra content at the end of the book: “Fact or Fiction?”, a prayer section, and a glossary of religious terms a reader might not know.
Nonfiction
Notre Dame football season started last night, and though the game didn’t end the way I’d hoped, it was still great to watch and I have high hopes for the season ahead. Father Nate Wills, C.S.C., chaplain for the team, has written Pray Like a Champion Today: Sacred Stories from the Sidelines of Notre Dame Football. In it, you’ll find prayers and football stories, but more than that, you’ll find testimony to the importance of prayer and presence, no matter what you’re doing. (Netgalley review)
Newly released from Pauline Books & Media, Daily Devotions for Grandmothers is Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle at her gentle, encouraging best. This author is one I’ve followed for a good 20 years. Her earlier books were a great inspiration in the middle of my days of mothering little kids and teenagers. In this book, you’ll find 366 daily entries, each beginning with a Scripture verse or a quote from a saint or the Catechism. The daily entries also include a meditation (“Steep”), call to action, brief prayer, and an observation or affirmation to consider through the day (“Savor”). Bonus content includes the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, other prayers and litanies, and meditations for the Seven Sorrows Chaplet (which one of my own grandmothers used to pray — I now treasure her chaplet). This book would make a terrific gift. I’m not a grandmother (but I hope to be one someday) and the publisher kindly sent a review copy.
Do you follow Babs on Instagram? (She’s on TikTok too, but I don’t use that app.) Babs is the Fun Grandma who shares cooking, parenting, and household tips with her followers, and she’s all about optimism, encouragement, and prioritizing family time. Every Day with Babs: 101 Family-Friendly Dinners for Every Day of the Week,the second cookbook by Barbara Costello, is packed with terrific recipes, stories, and cooking tips. I love that the recipes come with photos of the finished dish. I borrowed this book from the library and made a list of at least 30 recipes I wanted to try — and that was enough to get me to buy my own copy and one for a friend. The price is great right now, $19 for a large, full-color hardback cookbook.
Version 1.0.0
Rose Sweet’s new book, My Type of Holiness,takes a fresh look at the age-old basics of temperament theory and connects it to our quest for sainthood. Our goal is Heaven, and God has given us the gifts to get us there — if only we can get out of our own way. (Review copy received from the publisher.) Read my full review.
In Real Moms of Real Saints, Colleen Pressprich takes a look at the real lives of mothers of saints, reassuring modern-day moms that there’s nothing picture-perfect about holiness. This encouraging book does not sugarcoat the struggles these strong women faced and is a refreshing change from books that portray saintly women as wearing halos during their earthly lives. A balm for any woman who’s doing her best to keep it together in challenging circumstances. I’m honored to have been asked to endorse this book.
And one I bought over the summer but haven’t read yet …
File this one under “You’ll know your friend is a Church geek when you see this on her coffee table”: Sacred Times: A Guide to the General Roman Calendar and the Table of Liturgical Days by Paul Turner, published by Liturgical Press. I’ve been interested in the liturgical calendar since high school, now that I think about it, so when I saw that this book had won a Catholic Media Award, it seemed only right that I get myself a copy. It’s all about how the liturgical calendar works and what prayers to use on what days. I don’t think I’ll be reading it cover to cover, but I’ve already used it to reference a couple of things.
Links to books in this post are Amazon affiliate links. Your purchases made through these links support Franciscanmom.com. Thank you!
Where noted, books are review copies. If that is not indicated, I either purchased the book myself or borrowed it from the library.
Follow my Goodreads reviews for the full list of what I’ve read recently (even the duds!)
Visit today’s #OpenBook post to join the linkup or just get some great ideas about what to read! You’ll find it at Carolyn Astfalk’s A Scribbler’s Heart and at CatholicMom.com!
Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Images copyright 2023 Carolyn Astfalk, all rights reserved, used with permission
Rose Sweet’s new book, My Type of Holiness,takes a fresh look at the age-old basics of temperament theory and connects it to our quest for sainthood. Our goal is Heaven, and God has given us the gifts to get us there — if only we can get out of our own way.
From the publisher’s blurb on the back cover:
Properly understood, the love and study of temperaments should be a doorway to holiness. As well as giving you self-knowledge, this book can lead you more deeply into relationship with God.
Know Yourself to Better Love God and Others
Through anecdotes and with gentle good humor, Rose Sweet describes what we can learn about ourselves from classic temperament theory. I found the author’s descriptions clear and enlightening; I’ve read quite a few books about the temperaments, but this is the first one that helped me understand how better to relate to others who are gifted with different temperaments than mine.
The author candidly discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the various temperaments, and true to her own nature, makes sure to keep the focus positive, upbeat, and encouraging. It’s never fun to consider your own weaknesses, but in this book, readers will learn how to leverage the best part of our temperaments into improving our behavior.
What’s Wrong with [Name of Temperament]?
Nothing that grace, wisdom, and experience can’t fix. Our weaknesses are our strengths carried to extremes — and this is true for everyone. Pride and fear are usually at the heart of our sinfulness.
A Very Catholic Look at Temperament Theory
With the focus always on grace, My Type of Holiness is a very Catholic look at temperament theory. There’s a whole section on “Looking to Sainthood,” and it’s refreshing to see our goal of sainthood emphasized so frequently in this book. In that section, you’ll learn about rooting out sin, creating a rule of life, making time for prayer, managing media use, spiritual direction, and more — all with specific advice targeted toward the individual temperaments.
In this book, you’ll also find capsule biographies of saints who exemplify the four temperaments: Melancholic, Choleric, Phlegmatic, and Sanguine. While we can never positively identify the temperament of another person, particularly one we do not personally know, there are clues we can use to correlate the qualities of various temperaments to the behavior of others. By doing so, we can learn to understand others better as well as ourselves.
There’s Even a Quiz!
I used to love the quizzes in print magazines, where you’d be asked five questions and your answers would reveal some hidden aspect of your personality. My Type of Holiness offers a 40-question quiz at the back of the book that will help you determine your own temperament — if you haven’t already figured it out from reading the preceding chapters.
Ask for My Type of Holiness at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Our Sunday Visitor.
Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Amazon affiliate links included. Your purchase via these links supports my work. Thank you!
Summer is a great time to read new books! As a child, whenever I packed for summer vacation, the books were always the first things in my travel bag.
Introduce your children to a new author or a genre this summer with these books your family can enjoy together.
Nonfiction Picks for Summer
If I still had kids in elementary school, I’d hand them a copy of God Made That! Catholic Nature Field Guide by Kathleen M. Hoenke and William A. Jacobs (Pauline Books & Media) and send them out to the backyard. This book helps kids and families explore and learn about the world around them, with discussions of different environments such as deciduous forests, rainforests, grasslands, and deserts and what we can learn from creation. Seamlessly woven in are mini-biographies of saints who made an impact on scientific study and set an example in caring for creation. Readers will learn about the animals, birds, insects, trees, and plants found in various regions and environments, and they’re encouraged to take notes in a nature journal, share what they learn with others, and thank God for the world around them.
Children interested in the saints will enjoy Virtues of the Saints: 15 Heavenly Habits for Children by Father Donald Calloway, MIC and Patrick Hearn, illustrated by Adalee Hude (Marian Press). This book boasts beautiful art and introduces young readers to saints including Saint Joseph, Saint Peter, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, and Saint Joan of Arc — and the Blessed Mother as well. Each saint’s story ends with a prayer. This is not a picture book for toddlers; there’s a lot of text on these pages. I’d recommend it for children in grades 2 through 4 for independent reading, or kindergarten and up for read-alouds.
Families with small children will enjoy reading The Gospel of Luke for Little Ones, written by Sarah Beth Meyer and illustrated by Allison Hsu (Marian Press). Selected episodes from each chapter of Luke’s Gospel are retold in simple rhymes and illustrated with gentle watercolor depictions. A bonus page shows how Jesus prayed the psalms and offers a few verses to memorize.
Another cute picture book for the little ones is Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s I Can Pray Anywhere, illustrated by Jim Starr (OSV Kids). Two young children and their family are shown praying in many ways, including crossing the street on the way to church, before a meal, and even standing on their head! This sweet book encourages children to talk to God throughout their day, in thanksgiving, petition, and expressions of delight.
New Summer Fiction for All Ages
Planning a road trip? Leslea Wahl’s latest novel from Perpetual Light Publishing, A Summer to Treasure, tells the story of a three-generation family road trip, complete with a mystery for the three teens to solve! The last thing Luke, Celia, and Austin want is to be cooped up in an RV, far away from friends, fun, and reliable Wi-Fi … but when Grandma drops enough clues for them to believe she’s dying, they agree to re-create the national parks tour Grandma had taken with her own parents when she was young. Along the way, the teens get into some tight spots, but they learn a lot about friendship, helping each other, and staying true to yourself.
For middle-schoolers and teenagers, The Saint I Knew: Exciting “Encounters” with Holiness by Kevin Wilson (Marian Press) offers ten short stories in which the narrator meets a saint-to-be at a young age. Get to know saints like Mother Teresa, Padre Pio, Maximilian Kolbe, André Bessette, Carlo Acutis, and five others in a new and interesting way! Bonus information at the end of the book includes brief stories of the miracles that helped to elevate these individuals to canonization. This book would make a great gift for a teen preparing for Confirmation next year.
Lindsay Schlegel has taken my very favorite Saint Thérèse quote and built an entire picture book, God’s Little Flowers,around it! This picture book (OSV Kids), with its simple and cheerful illustrations by Joy Laforme, shines a light on the truth we need to share with all the children in our lives: each of us is uniquely gifted by God and has something special to share with the world — and all our gifts are important! Lindsay also stresses that not all gifts are as obvious as skill at a particular sport, art, or music. Share this book with a young girl you know, and help her identify her own gifts and those of the people special to her!
Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Images created in Canva
This article contains Amazon affiliate links, which provide a small compensation to me when purchases are made through the links, at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.
At this time of year, your diocese is probably about to celebrate priestly ordinations, so now is the perfect time for OSV Kids to launch a new picture book about the daily lives of priests! In Father Drew, What Do You Do? Rebecca W. Martin, author of Meet Sister Mary Margaret, tells what a parish priest does on a typical day and shows the many ways priests serve God and bring God’s love to the people they encounter. Best of all, it opens the door for young children to start thinking about how they can serve God when they grow up.
A Lesson on Vocation, Sacraments, Prayer, and Friendship
In a friendly, approachable tone, the title character introduces himself and explains what a priest does. Steliyana Doneva’s illustrations bring the book to life, showing Father Drew celebrating Mass, preaching a homily, visiting the sick, administering sacraments, and even grocery shopping.
The pages highlighting the sacraments explain the different ways God reaches out to people through each sacrament. The book also mentions that priests pray, both by spending time with Jesus in Adoration and by praying the Liturgy of the Hours (I loved that “you can learn to pray it, too” is emphasized here).
Father Drew is also depicted visiting families at their homes, serving the poor, and enjoying hobbies like cooking or playing musical instruments. Priests from a few religious orders are also mentioned in the book and shown wearing their habits.
Father Drew, What Do You Do? ends with a prayer for the child to pray, asking God to help them know His will for them; this would be an excellent addition to your family’s morning or bedtime prayer routine. Bonus pages for parents include a note about vocabulary and a brief explanation of why only men can be priests, as well as a beautiful prayer for our children’s vocations (of all kinds). I’d recommend that prayer to every parent of young children!
Learning New Words While Learning About Priestly Life
As parents (or teachers, or catechists) read this book with children, they’ll notice that some words are larger and bolder than others. Some of these include ordained, parish, homily, sacraments, and vocation. Those words are explained through context clues and will help children enrich their vocabulary as they learn about the life of a priest.
Ask for Father Drew, What Do You Do? at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Our Sunday Visitor.
Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Photos copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz, all rights reserved.
This article contains Amazon affiliate links, which provide a small compensation to me when purchases are made through the links, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my work!
The first Wednesday of each month, Carolyn Astfalk hosts #OpenBook, where bloggers link posts about books they’ve read recently. Here’s a taste of what I’ve been reading:
Currently in progress (and highly recommended):
The King’s Curse, historical fiction by Philippa Gregory. From the summary on Amazon: As an heir to the Plantagenets, Margaret is seen by the King’s mother, the Red Queen, as a rival to the Tudor claim to the throne. She is buried in marriage to a Tudor supporter — Sir Richard Pole, governor of Wales—and becomes guardian to Arthur, the young Prince of Wales, and his beautiful bride, Katherine of Aragon. But Margaret’s destiny, as cousin to the White Princess, is not for a life in the shadows. Tragedy throws her into poverty, yet a royal death restores her to her place at young Henry VIII’s court where she becomes chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine. There she watches the dominance of the Spanish queen over her husband and her tragic decline.
Media Fasting: Six Weeks to Recharge in Christ by Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP (Pauline Books & Media). I’m just getting started with this book, but I’m already seeing a difference. From the publisher’s summary: Do you ever feel sluggish, anxious, or overwhelmed after too much screen time? Does media leave you feeling disconnected from God? Recharge your spiritual life and find freedom and peace with Media Fasting, a six-week journey to grow closer to God and develop a Christ-centered strategy for your media use. Evaluate your current media habits; create your own media fasting plan; and deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ through daily devotional readings, reflection questions, and prayers.
Nonfiction:
A Beautiful Second Act: Saints and Soul Sisters Who Taught Me toBe a Badass Age with Grace by Maria Morera Johnson (Ave Maria Press). Women in all stages of life will find encouragement and inspiration in this new book that intersperses the stories of saints and holy women with tales from the author’s own life. You’ll want to binge-read this one, but I encourage you to take it slowly and consider the questions at the end of each chapter for journaling or discussing over coffee with a friend or three. This is a follow-up to My Badass Book of Saints but can be read on its own.
Opening the Holy Door: Hope-Filled Scripture Reflections from St. Peter’s Basilica by Joan Watson (Ave Maria Press). If you’re looking for a wonderful way to mark the Jubilee of Hope, I highly recommend this book. I knew there was a Holy Door in Rome but was unaware that it’s comprised of a series of bronze images that depict the salvation story. Joan Watson offers guided reflections on 12 of these images. The book includes large photos of each image featured so readers can closely examine it as they read the reflections, delve into Scripture, and then respond in faith. I read this book in the Adoration chapel over a series of weeks. (Review copy received from publisher.)
Fiction:
The Bennetts Bloom by Katie Fitzgerald. I’ve been reading this novel in bits and pieces for a couple of years now. The author, Katie Fitzgerald, first presented this book as microfiction on Instagram, and I (and many other readers) were hooked by the story of a fairly oblivious widowed dad of a toddler and his sweet single neighbor. Everyone knows where Fern and Dave’s story is going long before Dave does, and that’s what makes the ride so worth it. Katie eventually compiled all the stories in chronological order into a novel told in moments. This sweet romance is sure to make you smile.
Everything’s Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh is a fun read about a young woman who thinks that rerouting her life means she’s giving up her dreams. Rosie wants to be a Broadway star, but several years in, she’s behind on rent and getting nowhere. Desperation leads her to apply for jobs without thoroughly reading the descriptions, and this lands her a summer gig as a theatre director in what turns out to be a luxury retirement community in Wisconsin. Of course there’s a love interest in this clean romance, but the real fun comes with the quirky side characters who help Rosie realize what it means to live your dream, as well as her talented troupe of friends who show just how much they believe in her. This story will make your day. (Netgalley)
Book 3 in the Sons of Scandal series is Uneasy Street by Becky Wade. Former best friends and business partners Max and Sloane parted ways four years ago, but they’re thrown together again when Sloane returns to Max’s hometown to care for her teenage niece for a few months. Realizing to her horror that she’d rented an apartment from her nemesis Max, Sloane tries to ignore the sparks (which, of course, her niece delightedly encourages) while Max attempts to pull strings to force her to spend time with him. I’m not the biggest fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope and honestly, I didn’t appreciate Max’s underhanded tactics, but this author does tell a good story. (Netgalley)
Young Adult:
Book 3 in Leslea Wahl’s Finding Faith series, In Plain Sight, revolves around a couple of mysteries: what’s up with the secret passages and hidden doorways in an old lodge Emerson’s dad is renovating — and what happened to Em’s mother and sisters? It’s clear that Em has suffered a great loss and that she’s to blame; lonely and bored, she finds herself caught up in figuring out the history behind the old building her father is working on, enjoying the company of a few new friends she can’t completely confide in, and finding out that the lodge owner’s teenage son is as interested in her as she is in him. This story features characters from the other two books in the series but definitely works as a standalone.
Bad Influence by Claire Ahn takes a look at the decidedly unglamorous world behind social-media influencer beauty in this story of a Korean-American high-school student who secretly aspires to be an influencer but hides her work from her parents, lying to them about the source of the money she hands over to help the household after her father’s work accident. Charlotte soon learns how quickly online fans can turn against someone when they give in to temptation to represent a brand that’s tainted by rumors of hate, and how much her own hunger to be liked by strangers online has risked her own friendships, family life, and more. Recommended for high-school students. (Netgalley; releases April 29, 2025)
Children’s Books:
God’s Little Flowers by Lindsay Schlegel; illustrated by Joy Laforme (Our Sunday Visitor) is a sweet introduction to a beloved saint. I love that Lindsay Schlegel has taken my very favorite Saint Thérèse quote and built an entire storybook around it! This picture book, with its simple and cheerful illustrations, shines a light on the truth we need to share with all the children in our lives: each of us is uniquely gifted by God and has something special to share with the world — and all our gifts are important! Lindsay also stresses that not all gifts are as obvious as skill at a particular sport, art, or music. Share this book with a young girl you know, and help her identify her own gifts and those of the people special to her! (Review copy received from publisher)
Theresa Linden’s Jumping into Joy cleverly integrates some of my favorite characters from Theresa’s West Brothers series in a chapter book for young readers. Caitlin encourages her friend Peter to use his imagination during the family Rosary to keep from falling asleep; as she demonstrates this, the children pass through a portal into the ancient town of Nazareth and seek to discover the virtues attached to the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. This book would make a great classroom read-aloud for children in first through third grades.
Links to books in this post are Amazon affiliate links. Your purchases made through these links support Franciscanmom.com. Thank you!
Where noted, books are review copies. If that is not indicated, I either purchased the book myself or borrowed it from the library.
Visit today’s #OpenBook post to join the linkup or just get some great ideas about what to read! You’ll find it at Carolyn Astfalk’s A Scribbler’s Heart and at CatholicMom.com!
Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Images copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz, all rights reserved; Carolyn Astfalk, all rights reserved, used with permission
Unless it involves the grill, I’m the cook in the family.
Unless it involves Costco, I’m the grocery shopper.
This means that normally the meal planning is left to me. Except on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
On those two days, my husband has always requested that I serve the dinner his mom always served on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soup.
I’ve got nothing against grilled cheese. If I can find a good tomato (good luck finding a good tomato at this time of year), so much the better. And just the other day I had a little bit of caramelized onions left over from the previous night’s burgers, and I added those into a grilled Swiss on pumpernickel with Koszkiusko mustard … heavenly.
But we’re talking Campbell’s tomato soup (made with milk, in my husband’s ideal world) or Chunky New England clam chowder. Those are the only soup options allowed. Usually I skip the soup and just have a sandwich for dinner.
The Penitential Meal During Lent
If you want to make a meal penitential for me, lock me into a recipe routine. For me, all the fun is in the variety. I’ve been sharing meatless recipes on CatholicMom.com for 12 years now, at least eight times a year … that’s a lot of recipes. Trying new recipes or finding new spins on old favorites makes cooking fun for me, in a way that flipping grilled cheeses and heating up canned soup is … not.
My family, however, thinks this is the Best Dinner Ever.
One Lent, I decided my penance would be serving up soup and grilled cheese every single Friday. I was the Hero of Lent in my house. Everyone looked forward to Friday dinner.
That was humbling. I’m spending an hour in the kitchen every other day of the week and all they want is canned soup and a sandwich?
That Lent was super penitential for me, and I would have done well to pray the Litany of Humility every Friday before getting the griddle out.
What’s for Dinner this Ash Wednesday?
Last night at dinner, the subject of Ash Wednesday came up, and the dinner expectations were made clear.
“Ash Wednesday is next week?! Best dinner! Let’s gooooooooooooooo!”
What’s for dinner this Ash Wednesday? Grilled cheese and canned soup all around, and a slice of humble pie for the cook.
Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Photo copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz, all rights reserved.
Father Edward Looney’s new book of daily Lenten meditations is inspired by the Collect (the Opening Prayer at Mass, also used during the Liturgy of the Hours). In Praying with the Church Through Lent, Father Looney shares reflections on the Collect for each day of the season.
Reflections Based on a Prayer We Often Miss
Between music ministry every Sunday and lectoring at daily Mass twice a week, I’m often a little bit distracted when the Collect is prayed during Mass. I admit to being focused on my next cue, so I’ll do (or sing) what I need to at the right time. Before I know it, the Collect has gone by and all I hear is, “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.”
The Collect is a beautiful prayer, though, and I don’t want to miss it! Just as we are encouraged to read and reflect on the Mass readings ahead of time (or even after Mass, if that’s what your schedule permits), we can reflect on the Collect as well and make it part of our personal prayer, whether or not we pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
A Format for Daily Prayer
Father Looney opens each day’s entry with the Collect, which is printed on a page by itself. I found that using a large card as a bookmark allowed me to cover the facing page, so I can focus completely on the Collect for a few moments before moving forward.
Next, each day there is a two-page reflection. Father Looney is excellent at offering clear explanations that help the reader make a connection between prayer, Lenten disciplines, and living the Christian life. Finally, three reflection questions close each day’s entry. There is generous space to write your answers in the book beneath each question.
This book is undated, with each entry referred to only as the day within the liturgical year: for example, Ash Wednesday, Friday of the First Week of Lent, Third Sunday in Lent. That means it can be used year after year (especially if you write your responses to the questions in a journal rather than the book).
The reflections in Praying with the Church Through Lent span the full season and include Easter Sunday as a bonus. I’m hoping that in the future, Father Looney will write Praying with the Church Through Easter. That would be a beautiful companion volume to this excellent book.
Ask for Praying with the Church Through Lent at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Sophia Institute Press.
Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Amazon affiliate links included in this article. Your purchases through these links support FranciscanMom.com at no cost to you. I received a review copy of this book from the publisher in consideration of my honest review.
When I looked inside Simply Scripture for Lent and Easter, I was excited to see a prayer format that seems to fit me just right. Each day’s entries contain prayer inspiration from the Liturgy of the Hours and the daily Scripture readings, both of which are already part of my prayer routine. Colleen Reiss Vermeulen has taken prayer elements I’m already familiar with and invited me to go deeper.
If you don’t pray the Liturgy of the Hours, you can still use this book — and perhaps it will spark your interest in learning more about this beautiful way to pray. The psalm verses from the Liturgy of the Hours open the door to prayerful reflection on the Scripture readings (passages from Mark’s Gospel during Lent and the Acts of the Apostles for the Easter season).
This book is designed to be used one, two, or three times per day. In the section called “How to Use This Book,” the author shares strategies for adapting the prayers into separate sessions or praying all at once, whichever best fits your schedule and your inclination. It’s not so important when you pray … as long as you pray! There are even ways to incorporate these elements into your family prayer time.
What you’ll find in each day’s prayers
Each day’s prayer entries include:
A Psalm verse from Morning Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours)
A sentence or two based on this verse, to aid in your contemplation, followed by a brief prayer
Introduction to the day’s Scripture reading
Scripture reference for that day’s reading (bring your own Bible)
A Scripture verse each week to memorize, from Evening Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours)
Invitation to respond to God’s word, with questions to ponder
Closing prayer
This looks like a lot, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming. You can use as much or as little of this material as you like, and what works for you on some days of the week might not be the same as what works on other days!
An invitation to fruitful prayer
Ahead of Lent (which begins March 5), treat yourself to a copy of Simply Scripture for Lent and Easter — and a new journal to go along with it. Then, resolve to spend some time each day in prayer with this excellent resource as your guide.
Ask for Simply Scripture for Lent and Easter at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Ave Maria Press.
Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Image: Canva
Links to books in this post are Amazon affiliate links. Your purchases made through these links support Franciscanmom.com. Thank you!
The first Wednesday of each month, Carolyn Astfalk hosts #OpenBook, where bloggers link posts about books they’ve read recently. Here’s a taste of what I’ve been reading:
Christmas (which deserves its own category at this time of year)
This brand-new Christmas novel has it all: a couple who broke up but never fell out of love, a beautiful and talented villain who wants to break them up for good, and a small town with enough Christmas festivals on the calendar to leave Santa too tired to make his Christmas-Eve rounds. And it’s all tied up in a ribbon of faith. This short, sweet romance is the perfect accompaniment to fireside cookies and hot chocolate. (Advance copy provided for review)
Set on a Christmas tree farm, this grumpy/sunshine novel brings together childhood crushes Liam and Olive, who were separated in middle school when Liam’s family moved to the tree farm. Now the farm is to be sold, and Olive’s been hired to help make the last Christmas at the farm a magical one — but Liam has never felt the magic and definitely doesn’t want to. Instead, he focuses on the beautiful artwork Olive had created but hadn’t been able to sell when she opened a small business.
by Jaycee Weaver, Cathe Swanson, Chautona Hauvig, and Teresa Tisinger
So far I’ve only read the first book in this box set, and I don’t believe the novellas are connected. Cooking up Christmas by Jaycee Weaver. I lost track of the number of coincidences in this story, but that was part of its charm rather than being an annoyance. This delightful novella features an overwhelmed restauranteur and a young woman who’d left town years before after failing to live up to her parents’ high expectations. The two fall for each other but try to keep it platonic while planning an anniversary party for a couple who owns a tree farm and do everything Christmas-related in the most over-the-top way possible. I look forward to the other stories in this set. (UPDATED to add: these are Christian novellas, and I’m up to the fourth one now. One of the stories had an unnecessary slam on Catholics, which was not appreciated.)
This story was extra fun because it includes hilarious 12-year-old twins. Their single mom, Melody has a crush on Jonathan, the school principal, and even though she can’t cook a thing and doesn’t have the time for this, she takes over a series of baking-themed events as a school fundraiser after the local Queen Bee Mom bails out. This soon becomes a bake-off between Melody and Jonathan, even as events are sabotaged and it looks like one of Melody’s sons is involved. I got a big kick out of the kids.
I don’t think I’d every read a book set in a pizza shop before. Ezra has been running a pizza shop for years, but the absentee owner has just delegated his niece to take over … and that doesn’t sit well with someone who’s happy keeping things just the way they are. As Lacey seeks to innovate to improve business at Loveless Pizza, Ezra digs in his heels because he’s afraid of hurting the business. Maddie Evans writes some of the best banter out there, and this story is no exception. Warning: you will want pizza while reading this book.
I don’t usually read speculative fiction, but how could I resist a novel set in one of my favorite kinds of places: a library? This is a beautifully written book that immediately drew me in despite my hesitancy about the genre. Adelina and Leon live in a world of magic, but not everyone in that world has magical gifts. Adelina does not, but she works in a library that houses all the spells in the world. Leon is a student at the university and must come up with an original final project that incorporates his magical gifts. When Adelina steps into the forbidden magical section of the library to return a misshelved spell, she encounters mysterious creatures who seek to protect the library and its visitors from dangerous magic. Leon begins to act as a go-between to keep a power-hungry king and his followers from accessing magic that could imperil the whole nation. If you’ve never read a novel in this genre before, don’t let that stop you! (Advance review copy provided by the publisher)
There’s nothing I enjoy more than a nice 350-page novel, but Katie Fitzgerald has a real way with short stories, including really short stories, and I admire her ability to set a scene in a small space. There are six short stories in this collection, all library themed. Grab this one for your Kindle, and enjoy these fun episodes when you have only a few free moments to read.
(Full disclosure: I edited this book, as well as two others in the series.) Hillary Ibarra is an exceptional storyteller and makes the reader feel as if they’re right there with the family of six in 1970s rural Tennessee. As autumn comes to Johnson Creek, the family prepares for winter and hardworking parents Jack and Karen agree to help a neighbor and find themselves trying to broker a reunion among estranged members of the neighbor’s family, unwittingly becoming separated from their own children as a storm threatens to keep them apart for Thanksgiving. This book is the last in a series, but you can read it as a standalone.
YA/Children’s
The Devil’s Ransom (Harwood Mysteries Book 6)
by Antony Barone Kolenc
The stakes couldn’t get higher in The Devil’s Ransom, the final book in the Harwood Mysteries series by Antony Barone Kolenc: Xan is now a married man, on a dangerous journey and responsible for not only his wife, but his friend Lucy and her hapless brother. His objective is to rescue his uncle, who’s been captured by the Moors, and return to England to reboot his uncle’s merchant trade. This time, he’s not going to be rescued by his uncle, Lucy’s father, or one of the monks who raised him after he was orphaned. This time, he’s on his own. (Advance review copy received from author.)Read my full review.
Links to books in this post are Amazon affiliate links. Your purchases made through these links support Franciscanmom.com. Thank you!
Where noted, books are review copies. If that is not indicated, I either purchased the book myself or borrowed it from the library.
Visit today’s #OpenBook post to join the linkup or just get some great ideas about what to read! You’ll find it at Carolyn Astfalk’s A Scribbler’s Heart and at CatholicMom.com!
Copyright 2024 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Images copyright 2023 Carolyn Astfalk, all rights reserved, used with permission
