Book Club Time: Spiritual Reading

For as many sentences that start with “I saw this thing on Pinterest…” There may be equal number of sentences that begin with, “Before the internet…” And here’s mine, “Before the internet, I read more books.” Reading less books since the internet, well, that hasn’t stopped me from buying more books though. Wham, there’s a double confession! So each week here on The Littlest Way, I’m going to share some of my favorite books I’ve read.  The accountability of posting  on my Book Club Time Page will make me read more, theoretically.  Why the sudden enthusiasm, St Josemaria Escriva and his writings in The Way.  As I read bits and pieces of it the other night, I thought of sharing our favorites in a Book Club Time: Spiritual Reading post.

And the quotation that follows…“By reading,” you wrote me, “I build up a store of fuel. It seems a lifeless pile, but I often find that my mind spontaneously draws from it material which fills my prayer with life and inflames my thanksgiving after communion.” The Way–St Josemaria Escriva

For me, it is so easy to read a snippet here or there on the internet and feel as if I’ve actually “read.” An inspiring article here that quotes from a saint, an encouraging blog post there with a beautiful pinnable scripture and once I’ve gathered enough of those pieces, I may feel I’ve had a full meal of good, true and beautiful reading…but I have not. There are no blog posts or interesting articles that should take the place of my actual spiritual reading–and that spiritual reading should always include a portion of the Bible.

 

 

So what should we read during our spiritual reading book club time?

 

First, the Scriptures. Find yourself a Bible and get into it. If you are a note taker, highlighter or doodler…but don’t want to mark up a nice Bible, go to the Goodwill and grab a Bible there for a few dollars. Then you won’t feel so bad highlighting or writing notes in the margins.

Find a Bible reading plan and start reading through it. Or choose one book of the Bible to spend some time with.  This summer I spent four weeks reading Philippians.  Paul’s Letter of Joy is always, always a good month long Bible reading plan because there are four chapters–spend one week reading each chapter.  The book of Proverbs is also another good book of the Bible.  There are 31 chapters in Proverbs so you could read one chapter a day.  And of course I’m going to recommend reading spending some time in the book of Sirach; I just spent 31 days reading and blogging through it and I have a Bible Study and Journal for the Bok of Sirach.

Second, a good devotional book.  There are many great devotionals out there.  You could even change them up based on season, spiritual or physical.  I will be re-releasing my Advent Devotional for Women ebook the end of this month to my email subscribers.  (If you haven’t signed up yet to receive The Littlest Way in your email inbox, now would be a great time –>> Click Here to subscribe.)  The devotional is to be read December first through thirty-first.

Elizabeth Foss and Danielle Bean’s Small Steps for Catholic Moms is a lovely devotional for all mom’s, not just Catholic ones.  A couple of other good daily devotionals I have used are Divine Intimacy and Commentary for Benedictine Oblates: On the Rule of St. Benedict. Both of these are longer in length than Small Steps, so sometimes I’ll read from them at night before bed, when the house is asleep. And my daughters have read His Princess: Love Letters from Your King at different times and enjoyed it.

Third, an autobiography, biography or writings from the saints or other holy, virtuous people.  These books will teach and inspire us to learn more of Christ and then share that love.  One of my all time favorite authors is Jacques Philippe.  There are the classics: The Imitation of Christ , Introduction to the Devout Life, and Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. And there are newer “classics” like Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul.

Here’s a follow-up post where I talk more about some of my favorite prayer books, My Favorite Catholic Prayer Books.

I would love to know what some of your favorite spiritual reading books are and why.  And if you have a favorite daily devotional.  Please share in the comments.