Time to clean out the emailbox. Apologies to those who have sent me links over the past weeks without seeing them linked. But here goes, in no particular order. Perhaps there is something here that will interest you:

Aimee Milburn writes:

I wrote an entire paper on Habermas’ new thought for a class this term, “Jurgen Habermas: A Secular Atheist Changes His Mind on Religion on the Public Sphere,” and just posted it on my blog as I think other people out there need to know about Habermas’ proposals. His thought boils down to what I describe in the paper as a “simultaneous assertion of the need for and right of religious discourse in the public sphere, and his criticism of the insufficient use of reason in the public sphere by the secular realm because of its refusal to grant validity to the religious perspective.”

A new book from Juli Loesch Wiley, published by Rhonda Chervin:

The story of an activist’s journey from living as a lay woman in a community of radical sisters to founding a movement combining peace and pro-life conviction. In the process she wrestles with conflict, friendship, suffering, sexuality, grace, pain and love and finds – eventually – her heart’s home.

Emma’s Journal is the first in a series of Christian witness stories that Ronda is bringing out under the title of EN ROUTE BOOKS.

You can order by sending $12 to Ronda Chervin at 2998 Lake Drive, Morganton, NC 28655 OR order direct using PayPal.

Frederica Mathewes-Green writes:

I think EMMA’S JOURNAL is *wonderful.* The writing is consistently top-notch: charmingly real and authentic.   It has an unforced poetry that is flat-out impressive, over and over again.  It’s so delightful to read, that I think people would buy it not just for themselves but for others.  The very very end, the concluding poem, brought tears to my eyes. Excellent.

—————————————————————-

Ronda Chervin writes:

How often do you read something that opens a window on a world that is  new?  How often do you read something where you get to love the heroine so much that you want to pray for her, cheer her on, admonish her, laugh and cry with her?

EMMA’s JOURNAL is this kind of  book.

Written by one of the most original thinkers in the Catholic Church, this fictionalized journal dramatizes parts of the conflicts of the last part of the 20th century in a unique manner. The weighty topics are interwoven  with  brilliant descriptions of the struggles of a deeply emotional, sensual and spiritual woman – honest, poetic, and ultimately, by the grace of God, victorious, I highly recommend EMMA’S JOURNAL for seekers, finders, heart  people and thinkers. Read it!

–Ronda Chervin, PhD, philosopher, author, teacher

Nate Wildermuth on his struggles to claim conscientious objector status and his view of the attitude of the Military Archdiocese

Ack! Three more days on this one – Clare writes in:

Some of your readership may be interested to know that Elgar’s Choral
treatment of Venerable John Henry Newman’s poem Dream of Gerontius was
featured on Sunday’s Through the Night on Radio 3, available for 7 days
online:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/throughthenight/pip/ibare/
(starts 1 hr 28 minutes into the episode).
Wikipedia [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_of_Gerontius ] has
this to say:
"As has been noted, Elgar was a Roman Catholic </wiki/Roman_Catholic>
at
a time when the Church of England  was
socially
and politically dominant, and the work is Catholic in its dogma. This
gave rise to objections in some influential quarters; some clerics
expressed the wish that Elgar would modify the text to remove the word
"masses"  and other Catholic references.
Fortunately Elgar was able to resist the suggested bowdlerization

Lines like these
"And I hold in veneration,
     For the love of Him alone,
Holy Church, as His creation,
     And her teachings, as His own."
might be considered quite un-PC in polite company even today! Text of
poem here:
    http://www.newmanreader.org/works/verses/gerontius.html
More on the composer and his composition at:
    http://www.elgar.org/3gerontt.htm
(note role of Catholic Birmingham in life of Tolkein also, interesting
things happen in the provinces …)

(Forgive that formatting – I don’t have time to fix it for the post.)

Jeff Cavins has a blog!

Check out Dave Hartline’s book – The Tide is Turning Toward Catholicism. Dave is an Ohio resident, former Catholic high school, and I believe diocesan adminstrator, who does some great reporting over at his Catholic Report, and has very graciously hosted us for talks over Columbus way. Do check out his book!