Amazing Catechists

Teaching and learning the faith together

“The Antidote to #50Shades of Degradation: TOB Fiction!”

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onthedockMHThere’s nothing I like better than to curl up on a comfy chair (or the end of a dock) with a good book. I’ve been an avid reader since I was seven years old. I remember the first time my father took me to the library to get a library card. “You mean I can take any book I want?”

“Sure,” he said, “you can take up to four, but we’re just borrowing them. You have to bring them back in three weeks.”

I remember the joy I felt upon returning home to spend hours reading those four books.

By the time I was a teen, before my re-version, I devoured trashy, explicit romance novels (all available at the public library) like they were candy.

The 50 Shades books are quite popular and the movie is coming out just in time for Valentine’s Day. Women and men of all ages are devouring these books that promote illicit lifestyles, domination and abuse of women. It’s sad, really, but not surprising given our current culture of death and “anything goes” secular society.

Like anyone, I love a good story, but I especially enjoy a compelling romance or suspense novel. As I grew in my faith, I no longer wanted to read fiction with explicit sex scenes or novels that promoted abuse of women. So I began seeking out Christian fiction. However, I yearned to read good, compelling fiction with Catholic themes.

In response to this desire, I started writing my first novel, Emily’s Hope, in 2001. Not only did I want to write a compelling story, I also wanted to include information on the Theology of the Body and Natural Family Planning. If I was going to write a novel, I wanted to write one that had the potential of evangelizing. Admittedly, this book’s target audience is small (NFP teachers love it), so I decided to widen my audience, improve my writing and include the Catholic/Theology of the Body themes in a less overt way.

Since then, I’ve written four more books and each one has been on various Amazon bestseller lists. My newest novel, A Subtle Grace, just hit #1 in Christian Historical Fiction, Christian Historical Romance and Christian Romance. And my publishing company now publishes other authors’ novels.

St. John Paul II said we can “overcome evil with good.” Here is a list of contemporary Catholic novels with Theology of the Body themes that can uplift, inspire and serve as an antidote to ALL the secular, trashy novels that promote illicit lifestyles. These novels encourage virtue rather than vice, respect rather than domination and love rather than lust.

Emily’s Hope (Ellen Gable, 2005, FQP)

Passport (Christopher Blunt, 2008, Pelican Crossing Press)

Midnight Dancers (Regina Doman, 2008, Chesterton Press)

In Name Only (Ellen Gable, 2009, FQP)

Stealing Jenny (Ellen Gable, 2011, FQP)

Finding Grace (Laura Pearl, 2012, Bezalel Books)

Angela’s Song (AnnMarie Creedon, 2012, FQP)

Rapunzel Let Down (Regina Doman, 2013, Chesterton Press)

Vingede (Friar Tobe #2) (Krisi Keley, 2013, S & H Publishing)

Don’t You Forget About Me (Erin McCole Cupp, 2013, FQP)

A Subtle Grace (Ellen Gable, 2014, FQP)

The Lion’s Heart (Dena Hunt, 2014, FQP)

A World Such as Heaven Intended (Amanda Lauer, 2014, FQP)

Working Mother (Erin McCole Cupp, 2014, FQ Publishing)

Do you have a favorite Catholic novel that is uplifting and edifying? Please feel free to comment below.

Copyright 2015 Ellen Gable Hrkach

Image: Tim Baklinski (Two Trees Photography)

Not A Harmless Activity

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Many years ago, pornography was delivered to a house in a brown package. Now, it often makes its way into our homes through the internet and television. Many children younger than six or seven are being exposed to hardcore pornography. Some Catholic and Christians are becoming addicted to internet porn.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2354, condemns pornography saying “it perverts the conjugal act…offends against chastity…is a grave offense…and immerses all who are involved in the illusion of fantasy world.”

A few years ago, while at a Catholic function, I overheard someone say “Pornography use is fine within marriage, there’s nothing wrong with it.” A priest I know once said that watching pornography is like putting a sewage pipe to your brain.

Another time, an acquaintance of ours tried to downplay the evils of pornography and told us that “evil is a pretty strong word to describe a victimless crime.” Evil is an accurate word to describe pornography, which nowadays has become so rampant that it can invade your computer (and your eyes) without invitation. And, contrary to popular opinion, pornography is not a victimless crime. The families and spouses of those addicted are victims, not to mention the actors and others who might be forced to appear in such movies.

According to Robert Borys, author of Love, Marriage and Pornography, “68 percent of divorce cases involved one party meeting a new lover on the Internet. 56 percent involved one party having an obsessive interest in pornographic websites; 62 percent of attendees at the annual conference of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, said the internet had been a significant factor in the divorces they’d handled during the last year.”

Sex is meant to be the private renewal of a couple’s marriage vows, to create life, to bond and unite a couple and to signify selfless love. Sex is neither meant to fulfill lustful passions nor to be a public display.

I recently read that pornography has the same effect on the brain as crack cocaine, which explains why so many men (and some women) are addicted. For those who have become addicted, there are aids to overcoming this widespread addiction. Porn filters, like Covenant Eyes (https://www.covenanteyes.com/) and Wise Choice (https://www.wisechoice.net/) are just two of the many pornography filters available which can not only assist in keeping pornography from our children, it can help those who are addicted and drawn to the images.

I don’t necessarily endorse all the ideologies of the following organizations, but some of these could be helpful:

Christian Alliance for Sexual Recovery
Sexaholics Anonymous
Focus on the Family
www.pureintimacy.org

Pornography is not just a “harmless activity.” It perverts the mind, it destroys innocence, it can become addictive and it can lead to marital breakups.

Copyright July 2010 Ellen Gable Hrkach