Miracles, Everywhere!

It amazes me when I hear people complain that God has abandoned us, how there are no miracles. Are they serious?

If they went into any Catholic Church to celebrate the Mass they would actually witness and participate in a miracle. During Mass the priest, by virtue of the sacramental power of ordination Jesus gave to Peter 2000 years ago, consecrates the bread and wine and in so doing opens up the space between Heaven and earth as the species become the actual body and blood of our Lord!

The Last Supper by Salvador Dali

And this isn't a one-time-only event! This miracle happens at every Mass, in every Catholic Church around the world, every day of the week, not just on Sundays! That being said, there are literally too many miracles to count.

Also, outside of Mass, people can always visit with the real presence of the Lord, either in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during exposition, or by locating the Tabernacle which always houses a consecrated Host - the Living God.

The Blessed Sacrament

The Tabernacle (from the Hebrew's Holy of Holies) is found in every Catholic Church around the world, and can usually be located near the lit red candle called the Sanctuary Lamp.

Sanctuary Lamp and Tabernacle

The Catholic Faith overflows with miracles, and the Universal Church is eager to share our miracle-giving God with everyone!

Blessings,

~JT~

Review: How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice: Civil Responses to Catholic Hot-Button Issues

How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice: Civil Responses to Catholic Hot-Button Issues by Austen Ivereigh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The only reason I'm not giving this book five stars is because of the limitations, which are not a fault of the book or of its author, but of this reviewer.

I am a Canadian, and How to Defend the Faith is primarilly an American way of addressing the social issues that critics bring to the Church. Not a problem, unless one isn't an American citizen.

Of course, it makes sense that hot-button issues such as abortion, euthanasia, AIDS care, women and the Church, gay-rights, clerical sex abuse, etc, should be addressed with some recourse to contemporary and current legislation. Admitedly, the principles behind the arguments and the counter-arguments should be universally applicable, but sometimes the issue can only be addressed in its cultural/legislative context.

Having said that, this is an important book for all Catholics (and non-Catholics who want to know how Catholics will respond to their criticisms). The last couple of pages also explain how we can all discuss these hot-button issues without losing our tempers - something that doesn't help anyone on either side of the debate.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the Catholic Church's position on many/most social issues. The book is at times technical, in the sense that Ivereigh knows his Catechism and both Canon and legislative law. This may rile some readers who find it unfair that a defender of the faith relies on the Catholic Catechism, but since the issues criticise the Catholic Church's perceived position on these topics, it is the author's prerogative to explain the Church's actual position - which has often been misunderstood in the first place.




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I'm Finally Writing Something New! Doctor Farkas III

Happy 2015!

After two years of editing works from my catalog (with still four novels to go!), I'm taking a break and am actually beginning a new project. Or, should I say, continuing a new project?

I'm currently writing the third installment in my Dr. Farkas paranormal romance series for Fine Form Press. This one is titled King's Daughter and it is steeped in history. The fun in writing about vampires is that they just don't die (at least not easily) and their lives span eras.

In this third part, my narrator changes from doomed/rescued/doomed and rescued again phlebotomist Abigail Andrews to Dieudonnée, her nemesis and mortal enemy (especially after all that brouhaha in Blood Work: Dr. Farkas II. King's Daughter is Dieudonnée's autobiography. So, anyone familiar with the mean-bordering-on-psychotic vampire knows that this is going to be quite a tale!

To recap the Dr. Farkas series so far:

Dr. Farkas by JT Therrien

Dr. Farkas

Blurb

Abigail Andrews is a phlebotomist who has terminal leukemia. The good news is that her oncologist, Dr. Jakob Farkas, might be able to heal her, since he claims to be a vampire. But there's one small hitch, tired of his lonely existence, Farkas has not fed in over 100 years and needs to be brought back to health before he can help Abigail, with whom he has fallen madly in love.

Abigail doesn't believe the crazy doctor's story, but she doesn't have much else going on at the moment besides dying. So she leaves her boring life behind in order to join Jakob Farkas on his travels around the world in search of a mystical cure.

As they await the arrival of the Spring Equinox in the legendary caves in Lascaux France, Abigail wonders if she can overcome the greatest obstacle to her cure: her mortality.

Blood Work: Dr. Farkas II by JT Therrien

Blood Work: Dr. Farkas Part II

Blurb:

Newlyweds Jakob and Abigail lead an active social life: they party late into the night in after-hours dance clubs, devour tasty amuse bouches, and travel the world seeking fun and adventure. Life is good, until one day when Abigail starts throwing up. Not a life-threatening event, unless you're a vampire. When Abigail's illness spreads to Jakob, and then threatens an entire lineage of vampires, the couple is summoned to old Quebec City to meet with Jakob's maker. Abigail is introduced to Dieudonnée and quickly finds herself caught between a lethal illness and a jealous, vicious vampire whose solution to the problem is to kill Abigail.

In King's Daughter: Dr. Farkas Part III, Dieudonnée recounts her incredible adventure which begins in 1636 France and continues in New France.

I look forward to sharing King's Daughter with readers in the spring of 2015. Meanwhile, this will give new readers a chance to catch up on the series. You can get your copy of either part one or two for Kindle here, or for any other format such as iBook, Book Nook, Kobo, etc. either on their sites or at Smashwords.

As always, thank you for reading.

~JT~ 

Gratitude

As a follow-up to my earlier post on Fear and Despair, I was grateful to be part of the St. Vincent de Paul food bank in Crystal Beach this December. Through the generosity of countless goodwill donations we were able to bring Christmas joy to almost 200 families-in-need by sharing with them Christmas Baskets chock full of turkey/ham, potatoes, carrots, canned fruit and vegetables, stuffing, candies/chocolates, toiletteries, and yes, TOYS... everything needed for sharing a home-cooked meal with friends and loved ones.

We had a joy-filled day meeting up with old and new clients, everyone coming together to help and share God's bounty.

Once again I witnessed our multi-faith community united in the sharing and distribution of this amazing multiplication of gifts!

St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Baskets

Merry Chistmas, and a blessed, happy New Year!

~ JT ~

Review: Thomas Merton: Faithful Visionary

Thomas Merton: Faithful Visionary by Michael W. Higgins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was a well-written, seemingly well-researched book on Thomas Merton.

Although this short biography presents a sympathetic view of the famous monk's life, work and influences, surprisingly, I came away with a very bad taste in my mouth.

From the first instance of Merton's hearing God's call to enter the Our Lady of Gethsemany Trappist Monastery soon after being conscripted for service in 1941, to his constant bickering with the Abbott in charge of the monestary, to his willfulness in continuing to be a celebrity writer while supposedly being a sequestered monk, to his secretely falling in love with a young nurse, I felt Merton's responses to all of these events and situations quite insincere.

What Higgins ultimately presents the reader with is a picture of Merton as a brilliant literary man yearning to be many things, to be the voice of anti-nuclear/pacifism for his generation, to experience a monk's solitary life of devotion to the Church, etc., but only on his own terms. Ultimately he wanted, and always remained, a writer, from his days as a student at Columbia to the questionable circumstances of his death as suicide/accidental death/assination in Japan, Merton wrote.

It seems that everything else in his life only served as material for his writings.



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Inspiration strikes! New Release of St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas by JT Therrien

Yes, inspiration struck some time around December 6, the Feast Day of St. Nicholas in the Catholic Church. When I read up on his incredible achievements, inspiration directed me to share some of my new-found knowledge.

So, between stints at the local food bank, I researched and wrote a short story on Bishop Nicholas of Myra. There was so much material to write about, but I chose to limit the scope of my interest to his preserving the virtues of three young girls on the cusp of womanhood. This also seemed like a natural way to further explore St. Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body.

In retelling this sweet story, I also alluded to some of the bishop's other (miraculous) works and I added some historical tidbits as well. I found him to be an endearing, sharp-witted fellow with a big heart filled with compassion, grace, conviction and faith.

Obviously, the most significant aspects of Nicholas' life were the actions that have come down through history which have shaped our modern-day version of Santa Claus.

You can find St. Nicholas at all the usual e-book retailers, including Amazon, Smashwords, iBooks, and Kobo.

God bless you. Merry Christmas.

~JT~

Advent is Here!

Finally, the Christmas season is underway: Sunday November 30 is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent consists of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Then we (Catholics) celebrate the Octave of Christmas, which consists of the eight days following December 25.

Advent wreath

I love the season of Advent for the simple reason that it prepares us spiritually for Christmas and the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. For the first two Sundays we witness the lighting of royalty-purple candles at Mass (and at home). The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent. The last Sunday before Christmas the last purple candle is lit.

Why a Wreath?

From Catholic.org:

The wreath's symbolism of the advent (coming) of Light into the world is clear. The gradual lighting of the four candles, one on each Sunday of the Advent season, combined with the liturgical colors of the candles (purple is the penitential color used during Advent and Lent; rose is a liturgical color used only on Gaudete Sunday in Advent and Laetare Sunday in Lent) help to symbolize not only our expectation and hope in Our Savior's first coming into the world, but also in his Second Coming as Judge at the end of the world.

The wreath itself is also symbolic. The circle of evergreen in which the candles are placed represents everlasting life. The seedpods, nuts and cones used to decorate the wreath are symbolic of resurrection, and fruits represent the nourishing fruitfulness of the Christian life.

Purple, Pink. What's in A Color?

From Catholicculture.org 
The rose or pink candle is lit for the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday. The name is taken from the entrance antiphon or Introit "Rejoice (gaudete) in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice." It is reminding us that the end of Advent is almost here, and we can hardly contain our joy.

Blessings for this Season of Advent. I hope that you will find it to be a time of deep contemplation and renewal of faith.

~JT~