As part of the Lent Build-Up Fun (and yes, it is fun!) today's podcast episode is about the joys and benefits of Spiritual Reading. Some people around here are total rock stars when it comes to reading about Catholic Saints, Catholic Teaching or just Moral Living...but if you are like me you need a bit of encouragement to get back into spiritual reading from time to time. I love reading about the Saints and reading Catholic books on Moral Living...but I can sometimes go MONTHS without cracking a book. Just too many other things to take up my time. Too many great shows to binge watch on Netflix.... But, spiritual reading really should be a priority for you and for me. I have made the decision to set aside dedicated time each day for some spiritual reading, even if it is only 15 minutes. There are 3 main reasons why I have decided to really make spiritual reading a priority in my life: We are all called to be saints. As St. Thomas Aquinas said, "Nothing is in the intellect that did not first come to us through the senses." We aren't going to just miraculously know the faith or have wonderful saints to pattern our lives after. To get these aids to our faith we have to dedicate some time and study in that direction. They are great stories. Seriously, the stories of the saints and the early church are some of the most exciting stories their are, and they are all true! I also love reading the stories of saints to see how God really was working in history. He was there in revolutions and wars and concentration camps. He was there! My Continual Education By engaging in Spiritual Reading I better understand my faith so that I can practice it better AND instruct my children in the faith better. Now, I know that adding spiritual reading to your life might seem like a bit of a big task, but here are a few tips to get you off on the right foot. Pick a Good Book. Sure, there are lots of boring Catholic books out there--but there are also LOTS of awesome, gripping, well written Catholic books out there. Pick a good one on a topic you are interested in. In fact, I have put in a lot of work compiling a book list for Catholic women (see spreadsheet below). On the Book List books are broken down into 3 categories: Books on the Catholic Faith, Books about Catholic Saints, and Books about the Catholic Life. Other Tips: Consider replacing some of your phone time with reading time. Share what you read with your spouse or with a friend reading the same book. And finally, don't allow your "spiritual reading" to be just bouncing from one article to another on your phone. It is best to read a book, and the WHOLE book. These, of course, are just suggestions. All the very best and happy reading! Your sister in Christ,