Starla Hester

Christmas Gift Guide For Catholics

Christmas is approaching soon, and what better way to keep Christ in Christmas than to give your loved one’s a gift that inspires hope in them. I have compiled a list of my top five favorite religious articles this year. I am sure you will love them too!

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Fatima - The Apparition that Changed the World Book Review

This book on the miracles of Fatima gives a clear timeline as to the apparitions three children experienced while living there. The book begins with a timeline to prepare you for the story that happened 100 years ago. The incredible life and death of the three children are thoughtfully written out

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The Catholic Hipster Handbook

When I first read the title to this book, I was taken back. I thought how is the author, Tommy Tighe, going to make Catholic’s look hip? Catholic are usually construed as boring and dull. How is he going to show our Catholic cool side? History! We have tons of saints that have passed through this world and Tighe, along with his friends who helped him write this book, has pulled out the coolest

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Love and Salt - Book Review

There is something raw and beautiful about reading letters that takes the soul back in time. Reading a collection of letters feels like you are peeking into someone else’s life; personal life of confessions, doubts, fear, and even love. The art of letter writing is much lost in today’s world but not for Amy and Jessica (Jess).

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Operating on Faith - Book Review

The author, Matt Weber, tells us the personal story of how he was living a normal and somewhat charmed life, getting married, and buying a new home when, out of the blue, he was rushed to the emergency room with excruciating pain not long after his honeymoon

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Giving Up Facebook for Lent

The most known vices that Catholics give up are sweets, caffeine, and beer. Although these can bring you to your knees in prayer (I thought I was going to die one year abstaining from caffeine), the greatest vice of this day and age is social media, particularly for me, Facebook.

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Under the Influence of Jesus - Book Review

The first chapter of this book, Under the Influence of Jesus: The Transforming Experience of Encountering Christ by Joe Paprocki, opens with Mark 1:15, “The kingdom of God is at hand.”

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Baptist to Catholic - A Conversion Story

My parents divorced at a young age so my spiritual journey was a little confusing. My mother did not attend church very often, but my dad was extremely dedicated to his religion. As a child, I spent my school years with my mother in Alabama, and attended a small Pentecostal church with my Grandmother.

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Station to Station - Book Review

Station to Station: An Ignatian Journey through the Stations of the Cross is the most inspiring book to read before the beginning of Lent or even during Lent. Whether you decide to go to the Stations of the Cross four times, two times, or just once, this book will help you get the most out of your experience with Christ’s Passion.

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Mercy In The City - Book Review

When preparing for Lent we often think about what we could give up for that forty days. The most popular is sweets, such as candy and cake. But have you ever thought about what you could do for Lent besides only giving up something?

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Dear Pope Francis - Book Review

What would it be like to have your letter answered by Pope Francis? That is what many children from all over the world got to experience in this book. There were 259 letters received from 26 countries and 30 of those letters were picked and answered by the Pope himself.

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Marie's Story - Movie Review

This movie is a true story of a 14-year-old girl named Marie, who is both deaf and blind living in late 19th century France. Her part is played by Ariana Rivoire who is not blind but she is deaf. The film is in French with English subtitles.

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St. Agnes - Joyful Bride of Christ

St. Agnes is the patron saint of young girls, rape victims, virgins, engaged couples, and chastity. Although she did not live long on earth, she is one of the most well-known and famous martyrs in Rome. Her life is inspiring to those who seek purity, or who wish to feel clean again after being raped.

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Saint Anthony the Great - Feast Day

Saint Anthony was a Christian monk from Egypt. He was known as the “Father of All Monks”. Anthony’s parents both died when he was only eight-teen years old. They were wealthy and left all their money and possessions to Anthony. Not long after they died Anthony heard a reading from the book of Matthew that changed his life.

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An Open Letter To The Child I Never Had

You would be about 8 years old or maybe even older if God would have willed us to have children naturally. You may have even had a sibling by now. I had names picked out for you. Emmalyn Grace, if you were a girl and John Paul or Samuel Dean if you were a boy. I imagined you with your dad's dominant traits of brown hair and brown eyes, but with my pudgy nose

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