Little has been written about President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s faith journey. Those who wrote about Ike’s faith generally characterized it as something that was politically expedient. He was accused of using his religious faith only as a means to stir up patriotic fervor during the Cold War. In The Soul of an American President: The…
The Rev. James V. Schall’s “Docilitas: On Teaching and Being Taught” is an antidote to what has evolved on today’s college campuses with the suppression of dialogue among students, faculty and administrators. In this book, the late Fr. Schall, a Professor Emeritus from Georgetown University, reminds us about the ‘sacred’ search for Truth, the importance…
For author Patrick McCaskey, Worthwhile Struggle is the fourth book of his “Sports and Faith Series” and his best effort yet. As with past books, McCaskey draws heavily from his experience with the Chicago Bears as the grandson of George Halas*, his passion for his Catholic Faith, his commitment to family, and his formative years…
William Buckley, Jr. is considered to be the “undisputed godfather of modern American conservativism.” He was on the national stage for 50 years as the founder and publisher of the National Review, which is published semi-monthly; and also as the TV host who had the longest-running public affairs show in television history, Firing Line (33…
After going through his own “Road to Emmaus” experience, Catholic businessman John Abbate wanted to encourage business leaders at all levels to stay true to their faith-driven, ethical compass. To that end, and as a successful central California owner-operator of 37 McDonald’s outlets and one of central California’s largest employers, Abbate was inspired to author…
Review of Sam Zell’s Am I Being Too Subtle? — I enjoyed reading Sam Zell’s Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight talk from a business rebel . Zell, a Chicagoan, is a self-made billionaire who founded Equity Group Investments and helped create today’s $1 trillion public real estate industry. While a distinct personality, he shares…
The double life of Emmy Award-winning journalist Spencer Christian and the saving grace of an intact family, great teachers and concerned mentors is an inspiring story worth telling, and reading. In his book, You Bet Your Life, author Spencer Christian shares his dual journey to national fame as an Emmy-winning journalist on Good Morning America,…
A Review of August Turak’s Brother John: A monk, a pilgrim and the purpose of life. Author August Turak, a successful entrepreneur in the software business, endured a personal crisis that led him to a Trappist Monastery in Charleston, South Carolina. While there, he began a decades-long journey to find the secrets to a life…
In this 10th Anniversary Edition of No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy, the Very Reverend Donald Calloway, MIC, provides a compelling account of his journey from darkness to light. His struggles with severe drug and alcohol abuse, “free” sex, gangs, deception and theft take him down a road that seemingly has no return. By…
What started as a modest effort to recruit has become a Collector’s item; a review of “The Vatican Cookbook: Presented by the Pontifical Swiss Guards.” My good friend, Andreas Widmer, a former Swiss Guard and now Director of the Entrepreneurship program at the Catholic University of America, provided my first behind-the-curtain glimpse of the Vatican’s…
Life is short. Time is crunched. We each juggle abundant obligations, time-constraints and important demands. As readers of the Catholic Business Journal, we aim to manage it all while well-anchored in Christ and Christ-infused priorities. It isn’t easy. It’s never perfect. Yet even amid the sometimes-messy realities of earthly existence, it is beyond-words important to…
A review of Sam and Gifford Keen’s Prodigal Father Wayward Son: A Roadmap to Reconciliation — Best-selling author, Sam Keen (Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man), and his son, Gifford (Gif), were estranged for many years. Sam’s story is the all too common account of a father working hard, gaining fame and then cashing…
Unstructured time is an under-appreciated and wasted gift in today’s modern industrialized world. We are driven by activity and fill moments of silence with busyness. We are conditioned to equate “work” with virtue and are uneasy with solitude. Authors Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin in “Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude” challenge this modern…
A Review of Rev Joseph Roesch MIC’s “Fatima: A Pilgrimage with Mary” — “Fatima: A Pilgrimage with Mary” author Father Joseph Roesch, MIC, is the Vicar General of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a fraternal community of consecrated life in the Roman Catholic Church. He worked as an…
February 12, 2018 A Warning to Aspiring Entrepreneurs and Society at Large: The Abuse of the Justice System to Advance Political Aspirations. Howard Root was an accomplished lawyer when he gambled his career on becoming a medical device entrepreneur.
November 27, 2016 Special to the Catholic Business Journal, writen by grandson of Chicago Times founder. Much of the mainstream media has disgraced itself in recent years. It has been focused on manipulation by engaging in tactics to “normalize” those who disagree with their points of view by targeting, freezing, personalizing, and polarizing. And most recently, we observed…
March 22, 2016 “It’s Not Useful to Spend Time Thinking About the Future – that is, Beyond Lunch” Paul Kalanithi, M.D., was the neurosurgical chief resident at Stanford when, in May 2013, he was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic lung cancer. His New York Times best-selling book When Breath Becomes Air is a memoir about his life and…
September 15, 2015 Sports and Faith: More Stories of the Devoted and the Devout is the third Pat McCaskey authored book I have reviewed.
June 2, 2015 In the course of six weeks, author Sonia Choquette’s father and brother died unexpectedly, then she concluded she did not like her husband of 30 years. What was happening?
May 5, 2015 Alex Epstein’s book, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, begins to provide balance to the global debate on climate change, the use of fossil fuels, and the use of alternative sources of energy.