MSI Press Blog

  Literary Titan interviewed Sula. well, her amanuensis. You can read the interview HERE: Her Works Have Indeed Helped . Awards Literary Titan gold medal ( Surviving Cancer, Healing People ) For more posts about Sula and her books, click  HERE . Purchase the paperback at discount from the  MSI Press webstore . Use Coupon Code FF25 for 25% off. Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our  author au pair  services will mentor you through the process. Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders

  The following guest post was buried in the Christmas mail, but it is still worth reading: ONE BIG BREATH “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” --Luke 1: 35   I just started participating in yoga classes. I wanted to breathe a little more life into my old, slow, stiff body. The instructor from India invites us to assume many seemingly unnatural positions with our bodies, which I think of as “pretzel poses.” We stretch like rubber bands, hoping not to snap. She asks us to hold those poses for several minutes and breathe slowly and deeply. She instructs us to be aware of our bodies and breathe into the physical sensations we experience. I experience mostly pain, which she tells me is “just discomfort.” She says, “Just follow your breath. It is your life energy,” which she assures us will bring relief. Each session ends with one big breath and the exchange of a solemn greeting, “Namaste” (Bow to you.). The classes have chang

  Excerpt from Dia de Muertos by Sula -  ¿Dónde se celebra Día de Muertos? El Día de Muertos se celebró por primera vez en México, y todavía se celebra allí. Es una fiesta importante. Hoy se celebra en ·        toda América Latina, ·        Europa, ·        Estados Unidos y ·        otros lugares. No conozco todos los países donde se celebra, pero sí sé que se celebra en muchos países, especialmente en los lugares donde hay muchas poblaciones originarias de México.   Y, por supuesto, lo celebramos aquí en la Antigua Misión de San Juan Bautista y en mi ciudad, San Juan Bautista. For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . Father's day is coming up -- yikes, tomorrow already!  Now, there are kid dads, and that is a long tradition of honoring them.  But, what about cat dads? Should they not be honored, too? This link provides a wide range of ideas for gifts for Father's Day. And here is another idea -- find the best picture of "Dad" with "Cat(s)" an

   Christmas at the Mission came after other Sula books were written, the first being Surviving Cancer, Healing People, which won a Literary Titan gold award. The first Sula story was told in Guideposts Magazine  (and repeated two years later as the lead Christmas story in All God's Creatures Magazine ) as the lead story in the Christmas 2015 issue. So, it seemed a natural that one of the books in what become a 7-book series should be a book about Christmas. Not only did Sula photogenically place herself in just the right Christmas spots (the local newspaper got some of those shots, too), but it became clear that not all parishioners were familiar with all the concepts associated with the Catholic observation of Christmas. Sula's books have always tried to strike a balance between informing and entertaining. For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE . For more book back stories, click HERE . (And yes, we know the timing is a bit odd -- Christmas as four months ago an

  Blest Atheist is the perfect book story to tell on Easter. After all, it opens and ends with an Easter scene. The story behind the book is actually told within the pages of the book. Dr. Mahlou sspent her life as an atheist; Blest Atheist is the story of that life and of her conversion to Catholicism.  Here is the book description: As a young child, outraged by the hypocrisy she finds in a church that does nothing to alleviate the physical and sexual abuse she experiences on a regular basis, Beth delivers an accusatory youth sermon and gets her family expelled from the church. Having locked the door on God, Beth goes on to raise a family of seven children, learn 17 languages, and enjoy a career that takes her to NASA, Washington, and 24 countries. All the time, however, God keeps knocking at the door, protecting and blessing her, which she realizes only decades later. Ultimately, Beth finds God in a very simple yet most unusual way. A very human story, Blest Atheist encompasses the

  Excerpt from Tale of a Mission Catt (Sula)  The Mass The Mass is where the community of believers gather to worship in obedience to Jesus’s words at the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Mass has several parts, and, depending on my assignment for the day, I may be expected to take part in one or more of them. The introductory rites include the entrance of the priest and the ministers, who join the already gathered people of God. I may walk down the aisle at the end of the line. I rarely do that, but sometimes I need to. If not, I may watch from the altar, seeking out the special parishioner, who is my mission for the Mass. Sometimes, I can just wait patiently in a pew or on the lap of a parishioner. After the procession, the priest leads the people in the sign of the cross. This reminds all of us of how Jesus conquered death. Then the priest reminds us that the Jesus is present among us, and all the people are led to think about their sins, asking God and Jesus to have

  Excerpt from Sula and the Franciscan Sisters - The Sisters, Their Convent Home and Work, and Our Mission A long time ago, the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, as an order, were not Catholic; they were Anglican. Then, they became Catholic. As Franciscans, they found their way to Old Mission San Juan Bautista, a Franciscan Mission established by St. Junipero Serra and Franciscan friars from Mexico in 1797. The Franciscan sisters came later. Once here, they helped the parishioners, other people, the cats who came to visit them at the convent, like my friend Julius, and, of course, me. The Franciscans are a mendicant order. That means that they work. Some orders are cloistered—they spend their time inside all the time, praying. Some orders teach; the Jesuits like to teach. The Franciscans teach, too. The Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement at San Juan Bautista have taught at the St. Benedict School in nearby Hollister. They also have taught catechism, Rite of Christian Initiation

  Today's excerpt comes from A Believer-in-Waiting's Encounters with God by Elizabeth Mahlou Silent Running Just when I begin to think that I understand perhaps a small slice of God’s grace, I find myself back at the beginning. Physical things happen to me that I do not understand. Mystical things happen to me that I do not understand. Where are these experiences supposed to lead me? Or, am I supposed to sit tight and let their transforming power alone affect me? I just don’t know. So, confusion reigns. While I am grateful to God for the unexpected and unexplainable healings, I have received, they, too, have left me in a state of confusion. Why would God intervene in my fate in this way? Am I supposed to be doing something in response? When it comes to mystical experiences, I find myself even more confused. Are these personal, intimate gifts for maintaining in a private relationship or are they joy and knowledge to be shared with others? If the latter, then I do such a poor jo