The Weekly Catholic Toilet Reading Awards No. 4

Over the last few weeks in our Catholic Weekend Previews, the most fun segment was the toilet awards: Catholic blogs that provided good reading while sitting on the toilet. And who else in Catholic media is providing you with such a thing? Oh certainly there are blogging awards, but those awards tell you great blogs to read while sitting at a computer.

Me? I'm giving you quality blog reading from your iPhone or Android while perched on a porcelain throne! Here are this week's three picks, based upon their ease of bathroom reading, and how good their posts for the past week were (meaning if it hasn't been updated in two months, I'm skipping it).

Beginning to Pray
www.beginningtopray.com
Follow on Twitter: @anthonylilles

This blog by DOCTOR Anthony Lilles (proof that not all bloggers live in their father's basement) could almost double as a daily devotional. His post on Oct. 18 about Contemplation blew me away: I had no idea that mental prayer could be anything more than "God this person in front of me has bloody gums please get them away from me." He definitely brought a brand new perspective to my prayer life, and for that, I salute the good doctor.

Snoring Scholar
www.snoringscholar.com
Follow on Twitter: @peerybingle

There was one point where I set out to pray a rosary each day. "It's so easy!" I told Fr. Jim Chern on the phone one day. "I could do this each day!" And that was the last time I prayed the Rosary that month. It's hard to do from a mental standpoint, something that Sarah Reinhold blogged about this week. She agreed to do it by accident! It was a great read in which she learned a few things about her own self during the "forced" prayers.

Journey of a Mercedarian Monk
www.monk2be.com
Follow on Twitter: @monk2be

One of the best lines I've read in a blog lately came from Michael, a former Mercaderian Monk in training in Philadelphia (Mike has since left religious life, which will have serious repercussions on his Twitter handle), who wrote the following: While watching a movie, my little niece laid her head on my chest and then looked up at me quizzically and asked “Uncle Mike, why is there a clock in your chest."


Mike writes about the pain of leaving the religious life, but realizes that there is hope in his life through God's amazing work. The way he combines the lessons from his heart troubles and the lessons he's learned from leaving the religious life are woven together very well. Might have been the best thing I've read all week.