The Queue

Last week, Holy Redeemer hosted a parish mission, "The Encounter" presented by Deacon Ralph Poyo, an itinerant preacher, a very gifted speaker who is fairly bursting with the Holy Spirit. Pick Up Your Cross and Follow Me is more of a pamphlet than a proper book, a brief summation & reminder of "The Encounter." Deacon Poyo is a more powerful speaker than he is a writer, which is not to say there's anything particularly amiss about Pick Up Your Cross and Follow Me.

As I strive to improve my prayer life, daily reading of Scripture—especially the Gospels—can only help. After Mark I intend to read Matthew & then Luke, though I'm not sure if after Luke I'll read the Acts of the Apostles or the Gospel according to John. Acts is by the same author as Luke, but John is the last account of Christ's earthly ministry. Joyfully Living the Gospel Day by Day is a small devotional containing a daily verse or two of Scripture, a reflection, & a short prayer. I've had it since spring of last year, but only in the last six months have I been able to read it on a consistent daily basis. To Save a Thousand Souls is a study guide; I'm already halfway through what I need to have read by the first of November.

Recently
Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Swords of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Synthetic Men of Mars
Deacon Ralph Poyo, Pick Up Your Cross and Follow Me: Catholic Discipleship—Becoming a Disciple of Jesus Christ

Currently
Matthew Kelly, Rediscover Catholicism: A Spiritual Guide to Living with Passion & Purpose
the Gospel according to Mark ***daily***
Fr. John Catoir, Joyfully Living the Gospel Day by Day ***daily***
Fr. Brett A. Brannen, To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide to Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood ***study guide***

Presently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Llana of Gathol
Edgar Rice Burroughs, John Carter of Mars
Rice Broocks, God's Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty
Sir Ernest Shackleton, South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
Richard Price, Clockers
Sir Richard Francis Burton, translator, "Sinbad the Sailor" from The Arabian Nights
Ted Morgan, Valley of Death: The Tragedy at Dien Bien Phu That Led America into the Vietnam War
Norman Stone, The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A Personal History of the Cold War

Lately Neglected
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill
Edmund Burke, The Evils of Revolution
F. J. Sheed, Theology for Beginners