MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from  Anxiety Anonymous  by  Dr. Dennis Ortman  --  Introduction (continued from earlier post)  A Personal Note  Many strands of my life tie together in writing this book.  I have been working as a psychologist in private practice for over twenty years. Each day I sit and listen to my patients tell me stories of their suffering and their efforts to find happiness. Their stories are always unique, heart-breaking and heart-warming. Over the years, I observed how many of my patients suffer a variety of addictions, some acknowledged and others overlooked. Most come for relief from emotional and mental pain and hardly recognize the many ways they self-medicate with drugs and activities. I also noticed the increasing number of patients who complain of being in the grip of intolerable anxiety. Since 9/11 it seems fear has taken hold of our society and found residence in many of my patients. That fear possesses many like an addiction...

  What is a  book jewel ? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Each month, we share near-daily, or as often as possible, reviews of the monthly book jewel - short, succinct reviews that can be read in 1-2 minutes with links to the reviewer by reviewers whose words are worthy of being heard and whose opinions are worthy of being considered. Sometimes a couple of minutes contains more impressive thought than ten times that many. We will let you decide that. This month's book jewel is  Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Car's Story , an award-winning book beloved by many.  Description: A cat with a divine mission, Sula has an uncanny ability to sense which parishioners at Old Mission San Juan Bautista (California) need her attention at any given Mass. But...is it really uncanny, or does St. Francis give Sula tasks during her daily conversations with him? Or is she led by God?Sula has developed a special bond with cancer surv...

Whether you call it Anointing of the sick, Sacrament of Extreme Unction, or Last Rites, the ceremony of a priest spending time at the end of a dying (from cancer or anything else) parishioner's life can bring peace to family and friends. I am pretty certain that Carl held on until that happened. He was mostly in some other world, not comatose but not present to those around him either, during his last couple of days. He had all the signs of being in the last hours (not days) of life but seemed to hold on. He knew our priest would come on Sunday morning.  On Sunday morning, I alerted the priest to the near-comatose state of Carl. He responded, "We will take him as he is."  However, the minute he spoke Carl's name, Carl's eyes flew open, and he smiled, responding with cheer and apparent happiness, "Oh, hi!" Carl surprisingly followed the rite although it was clearly difficult for him at times to fight to stay in the present. However, that is clearly where ...

  (photo by Stacy Gentry) About Me and This Book I love Christmas! Who doesn’t? Everyone I know loves Christmas, but then they are all people. I am a cat, but I enjoy celebrating Christmas with my people friends and with my Boss.  Christmas is a special time for my Boss. He is the One and Only, you know, the One who brought His plan to life that first Christmas—except no one knew then it was Christmas.  As for me, if you have read either of my other books (if not, please do), you know as much about me as it is possible to know. For those who have not read them yet, I can tell you my tale in a nutshell. It is pretty simple, partly because the beginning is rather cloudy, and I only know what the people at the Mission Gift Shop remember about me some 12 years ago. Yes, I am getting to be quite a big girl now with my own set of life experiences.  It seems that I was always in San Juan Bautista, a beautiful Mission town in the Mexican tradition. Lots of Spanish spoken her...

" My favorite part of Easter at the Mission by Sula Parish Cat at Old Mission is the humor." Read the full review at Readers' Favorite . 

Released yesterday! El Día de Muertos es una celebración muy importante, popular y solemne en San Juan Bautista, California, y en la Antigua Misión de San Juan Bautista, una de las misiones establecidas por los frailes franciscanos cuando se fundó California, y hogar de la gata parroquial, Sula. La comida, la oración y el recuerdo son parte de la celebración, al igual que las procesiones al cementerio. Sula es la gata muy querida de la Antigua Misión de San Juan Bautista, California, donde ministra a los feligreses y visitantes diariamente, una labor divina. Este libro es su sexto. Meet Sula on her Face Book page HERE . Book is available on line and at our webstore . Code FF25 gets a 25% discount at MSI Press webstore. 

What is Palm Sunday? Palm Sunday is the Sixth Sunday of Lent and the Sunday before Easter. It is a moveable feast because the date changes every year, just like the moveable feast of Easter. Palm Sunday starts Holy Week, the last week of Lent. On Palm Sunday, the priest is allowed to wear a color other than purple—but can wear purple if he wishes to. Palm Sunday is a joyous interlude in the somber season of Lent. I can almost always feel the joy of the parishioners, the priest, and those who serve for the Mass—the cantors, lectors, and altar servers. I get much petting on Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus’s triumphant ride on a donkey into Jerusalem. Jesus sent his disciplines into town to bring to him a donkey and a colt, and to tell the owner of the animals that the Lord needed them. A large crowd followed Jesus into Jerusalem, and they laid palm branches in front of him along the way. Some even laid their cloaks in front of him, making a special path for him to follo...