MSI Press Blog

  (photo by Lisa Lavignano) THE ALTAR The altar is the most important part of the church. The altar is where the priest celebrates the Mass, offering the Sacrifice (body and blood of Christ). Without an altar, there cannot be a Mass.  What happens at the altar is mysterious and highly spiritual. The priest consecrates the host (bread) and the wine, blessing it by prayer and asking the Holy Spirit to descend upon it to change it into the body and body of Christ. This change is called transubstantion.  Altars have been used in worshipping God for a very long time. At first, they had to be made of stone, but that is not the case today. If you read the Old Testament, you will read that God’s chosen people, the Jews, in the old days, San Juan Bautista Mission long before the time of Jesus, used altars to offer to God sacrifices like lambs, or, yikes!, (almost) Isaac, Abraham’s son. That’s a story of incredible trust, the kind of trust that helped Abraham to be the progenitor (t

  Excerpt from the review: Rainstorm of Tomorrow  is an thought-provoking book written in a way that’s accessible to average people. It serves as a guide to help humanity understand what will possibly be best for us in the future. It traces a line that covers our past and makes us think about the evolution that we will have to maintain to guarantee that the world will continue to grow and become a better place for the future generations.  Rainstorm of Tomorrow  is an enthralling and brief history of the evolution of humanity that will give you a better appreciation of the human world as it centers around our individual and collective search for truth, ethics and beauty. To read the full review, click HERE . To read more posts about Renyuan Dong and his award-winning book, click HERE .

Colette McNeil published a helpful article on apps and other tools for parents of children with autism in the September issue of Autism Parenting Magazine . The title is "Personal Communication Supports for Nonverbal Children with Autism." The article focuses on specific tools and support for communicating with nonverbal children. To ready the article, you will need to subscribe to Autism Parenting Magazine , but if you have a child with autism (or are a teacher of one), it should be worth it. Colette is the author of two books on autism that have been published by MSI Press.  For more information about this book, click HERE . For more information about this book, click HERE . For more posts on Colette, click HERE . For more posts on autism, click HERE .

  Readers' Favorite recently reviewed Julie Potter's book, Harnessing the Power of Grief . Here are some excerpts:  - informative and inspiring  - I loved the format.  - If you are grieving from any kind of loss, like a family member's death or a divorce, then I highly recommend this book.   Read the full review HERE . To see more posts about Julie Potter and this book, click HERE .

  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic derives from a series of enote correspondences with a self-possessed, pumped-up-on-his-own-greatness self-published author, simply names James (will leave off the last name to stave off any embarrassment, should he even feel any). The initial note, like many others I receive (no James is not unique), said essentially, I published the greatest book ever, everyone says so, it got some attention from my professional organization, and it has a wonderful review from Kirkus. It just needs a publisher to market it because I am not a marketer; I am an author. When I get those kinds of communications, here is wha

  Giving care to cancer patients or to anyone with a chronic, life-threatening, terminal illness is highly stressful. This includes hospice situations as well since hospice nurses and aides are only there for a few hours (if that) a week. Meanwhile, the loved one receiving the care may be experiencing deteriorations that are hard to understand (either as patient or caregiver).  While the medical professional generally does a good job, focusing on the needs of the patient, few in the profession give much thought to the caregiver (although some church programs [support groups] exist that do help).  As the patient deteriorates, the stress on the caregiver generally increases -- from a pending sense of doom, from escalating demands on time and knowledge (often inferior to the need), and decreasing lack of time for self-renewal. If you are a caregiver, find some help. Live-in assistance with care provides the most relief, but respite care can help as well. Don't wait until it is too lat

  In a post on her blog that she shared today, Marti Wells-Smith ( Lamentations of the Heart ) relates a dream about her late son that was experienced by a friend.  Here is the beginning of the post: I want to share a dream with you that a dear friend had, following the passing of my son in 2019. She said that Grant appeared in what looked like a hologram, with a radiant smile, and impressed upon her what seemed to be a telepathic message. He told her that we shouldn't be sad, because there is no sadness in heaven - and that everyone there is connected heart to heart - with a universal language...I think of this often, and rejoice for the beautiful signs I've received, and for a dream such as this. My son is blissfully happy now, forever. But my sadness? It still comes and goes, as time moves along and life continues. Yet it's not a hopeless sorrow - I have great hope for our futures. Can you feel your loved ones gone on? Do you also wait to be reunited with great ex