Open Book ~ April '20

As I have for the last few years I chose to give-up fiction for Lent again and found a few treasures.

Live Big ~ Love Bigger by Kathryn Whitaker is a wonderful tell it like it is memoir. Whitaker shares about her faith journey and how in the early days of her marriage she and her husband set about creating a home culture based in service and seeking God's will. She is honest about mistakes made and how the premature birth of her youngest son rocked her world.  It is a wonderful visit with a Catholic mom of many where she shares what she has learned along way in the hope of making your journey a bit better; best enjoyed with a glass of Dr Pepper perhaps.

Holy Women by Pope Benedict is lovely little book based on a series of talks Pope Benedict gave in 2010-11.  The seventeen women profiled was a nice balance of saints I knew and others I was 'meeting' for the first time.  Each chapter is part biography and part reflection of the saints contribution to Church history; and I felt like I learned from each one.

Holy Women was a late addition to my Lenten plans when I decided to join an online book club, but it paired beautifully with a book I was already planning on reading.

Accidental Theologians by Elizabeth Dreyer is a fascinating look at the four women named Doctors of the Church.  Dreyer does a wonderful job of sharing each women's faith journey and their understanding of matters of faith, both as it applied in their time and in ours. Dreyer also explores how the definition of scholarly theology used to determine eligibility to be considered worthy of the title was broaden to include those who given the customs of the times would never be given the opportunity to attend university but whose contributions have profoundly added to our understanding of theology.

Please head over to Carolyn's for more Open Book!