Practicing, Not Perfect

Of the three primary means to get to Heaven, we may be intimately familiar with only two of them.

We live in families and communities, so loving and serving (or the need for them) is often plainly evident. It’s the knowing God that is a challenge for most, for it is not entirely possible to know a mystery.

Some may come to know Him through prayer. Others may require another medium, such as good Catholic books. There are plenty of them.

We are grateful for and humbled by the many positive reviews, given in writing and in person, for “Think Hope,” the book I co-wrote with the parents of Maria Middleton, Brian and Susan.

Maria’s story did not place among the top three biographies recently published, but it was one of six finalists in the category for the 2026 Excellence in Publishing Awards by the Association of Catholic Publishers.

Only God knows the good that can come from reading one good Catholic book.

~ St. John Bosco

“Think Hope,” the story of Maria Middleton’s unyielding trust in God, is a finalist in the Excellence in Publishing Awards of the Association of Catholic Publishers.

The book I co-authored with Maria’s parents, Brian and Susan, is one of six finalists in the biography category. First, second and third place winners will be announced in June.

The competition for best biography is stiff, including two books about Pope Leo XIV. Maria’s story is already a success, however. Her life and death, in her words and actions, is an antidote to despair in our time and a glimpse of Heaven.

“Only God knows the good that can come from reading one good Catholic book,” St. John Bosco wrote.

We hope you find that Maria’s book is one good Catholic book.

Read more:

News release from Ascension Press, publisher of “Think Hope”

News release from Association of Catholic Publishers

These are the words of Pilate to Jesus moments before sentencing Christ to be scourged. Pilate then told Jesus’ accusers that he found “no crime in him.” (John 18:38)

So much for Pilate’s “truth.”

Journalists, apparently, have a similar question for us.

“How do we report the truth while minimizing harm?” is the leading question to encourage participation in a survey conducted by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Perhaps we see where this is headed.

We keep asking the same question, hoping for a more satisfactory answer.

Jesus provided the answer, however, and it the same for Pilate’s time as well as our own.

Listen to Him.

Dear Reader: “When Fish Rise” is the story of a friendship and discovery of faith, something we may not have been looking for at first. We became friends in the place where we first learned to flyfish, a point of reference throughout our 40 years. He became a master and I am still not very good at it. It didn’t matter in the end. We found something greater.

We were a small group, mostly unknown to each other and brought together by shared interest in a philosophy class and a professor with the magnetism of a favorite uncle. He was standing waist-deep and fly casting in a small Poconos stream.

It was 1972 and we were freshmen in a secular university. We were reading a few of the ancient Greek philosophers and discussing their observations on logic, reason and truth: all three in harmony and intrinsically recognizable by most people. I was surprised to find illumination of my Catholic faith in this setting, without reference to Christianity in the teaching. Twelve years of Catholic schooling had failed to imprint the tradition of the Greeks and their influence on my faith, or perhaps I hadn’t been paying attention. This professor awakened something buried deeply, but at first all he seemed to want was nothing more than for us to break the horns of a moral dilemma – when either one of two choices is perceived as equally bad – by proving one or the other horn false using logic, reason and truth rather than the slogans of the day.

Continue reading: https://erwatsonblog.com/when-fish-rise/

Tis the season when we ought to contemplate that the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. But that happened a long time ago.

The awesome event of the Savior’s birth – a correction in the course of human history – is often lost in what we actually celebrate this time of year.

This Christmas season, however, we have a reminder close to home, close to us, that God is still active in human affairs.

A process that could lead to naming Maria Middleton a “Servant of God” is just underway in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It may ultimately lead to her becoming a recognized Saint in the Catholic Church.

This could take a while. Or not. Few saints are declared soon after death, as in the case of Pope St. John Paul II. Some saints wait centuries for recognition, although in eternity a thousand years are like a day.

The first step is the appointment of a postulator to review the facts of Maria’s virtuous life and her lasting impact on those who knew her or her story. If, after study, a recommendation is made to the Archbishop of Philadelphia to open her cause for sainthood – and he agrees – she would be named Servant of God. The Vatican would then begin a more detailed examination of Maria’s life and miracles attributed to her intercession that could lead to sainthood.

Tis the season we can learn from Maria and her unyielding trust in God’s plan for her and for us in this moment of history.

Come, Emmanuel.

Maria blows bubbles for children she met in Uganda.