Resources


Resources are being added frequently. If you have a great source you would like to contribute to the list, please let us know!  Share your favorite resources with the 20-Somethings.  Contact Us

Abortion/Protecting Life
Adoration
Apologetics
Baptism
Bible
Blogs
Books
Confession
Courtship
Eucharist		 God
Lent
Marriage
Mary
Mass
Men
Music
News
Novenas
Prayers		 Purity/Chastity
Reflections/Retreats
Saints
Service
Sin
Young Adult Resources
Vatican
Voting
Witnesses
Miscellaneous

Abortion/Protecting Life | top

Adoration | top

Apologetics | top

  • Catholic Answers - Catholic answers for some of the best answers and apologetics to many Catholic questions.

Baptism | top

  • Baptism (pdf) - Great article about the history, purpose and meaning of Baptism
  • Baptism Is… (pdf) - Article about what Baptism is and how to live out our Baptism

Bible | top

Blogs | top

  • Alive and Young - A young adult’s perpective on issues affecting young Catholics today…often pretty funny!
  • Art of Manliness - An awesome blog about what it means to be a real man. Not specifically Catholic, but definitely encourages virtue and love and has great advice for guys on relationships, fitness, fashion, living a virtuous life, etc. also very funny
  • “Paper Clippings” - from the Crossroads Cultural Center - A collection of interesting articles about faith, politics, economics, global issues, ethics, etc
  • GetReligion

Books (recommended by other 20-Somethings) | top

Want to learn more about the current Holy Father - his life and his theological insights?

  • Salt of the Earth and God and the World
  • Introduction to Christianity
  • Jesus of Nazareth
  • Truth and Tolerance: Christianity and World Religions
  • In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of Creation and the Fall
  • Spe Salvi (his latest encyclical)
  • Deus Caritas Est (his first encyclical)
  • The Spirit of the Liturgy

Want to learn more about the basic beliefs of the Catholic Church?

  • The Catechism of the Catholic Church
  • The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults published by the USCCB
  • Why do Catholics do That? by Kevin Orlin Johnson
  • At the Origin of the Christian Claim by Fr. Luigi Giussani
  • Why the Church? by Fr. Luigi Giussani

Want to learn more about Scripture?

  • The Catholic Study Bible
  • In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of Creation and the Fall by Joseph Ratzinger
  • Jesus of Israel:Finding Christ in the Old Testament by Fr. Richard Veras

Want to learn more about the history of the Church?

  • The Spirit of Early Christianity by Robert Wilken
  • Holy People, Holy Land by Robert Wilken
  • The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert Wilken
  • Those Terrible Middle Ages! Debunking the Myths Regine Pernoud
  • How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas E. Woods
  • Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Church by Joseph Ratzinger
  • The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark

Recommended CS Lewis books:

  • The Screwtape Letters
  • The Great Divorce
  • Till We Have Faces
  • The Chronicles of Narnia
  • The Abolition of Man
  • Miracles
  • A Grief Observed
  • Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength (Lewis’ science fiction trilogy)

Miscellaneous Non-fiction by Catholic Authors:

  • Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton
  • 111 Questions on Islam by Fr. Samir Khalil Samir
  • The Religious Sense by Fr. Luigi Giussani
  • Jesus of Israel: Finding Christ in the Old Testament by Fr. Richard Veras
  • New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
  • The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

Fiction by Catholic Authors:

  • Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
  • Lost in the Cosmos by Walker Percy
  • The End of the Affair and The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
  • Silence by Shusaku Endo
  • Father Elijah by Michael O’Brien
  • The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien

Religious Poetry:

  • Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso by Dante
  • Anything by Gerard Manley Hopkins, George Herbert, John Donne, TS Eliot (ESPECIALLY The Four Quartets)

Good books on Love, Sex, and Marriage:

  • Love and Responsibility by John Paul II
  • Humanae Vitae (encyclical) by Pope Paul VI
  • Three to Get Married by Fulton Sheen
  • Love’s Sacred Order by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis
  • The Good News About Sex and Marriage by Christopher West
  • The Four Loves by CS Lewis

Writings of/about the Saints:

  • Confessions by St. Augustine
  • My Life by St. Teresa of Avila
  • The Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux
  • The Devout Life St. Francis de Sales
  • St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi by GK Chesterton
  • Mary: Mirror of the Church by Raniero Cantalamessa

Encyclicals:

  • Paul VI:
  1. Humanae Vitae: On the Regulation of Birth
  • John Paul II:
  1. Evangelium Vitae (”The Gospel of Life”)
  2. Ecclesia Eucharistia (”Eucharistic Church”)
  3. Fides et Ratio (”Faith and Reason”)
  4. Veritatis Splendor (”The Splendor of Truth”)
  5. Centessimus Annus (”One Hundred Years”–an encyclical written on the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, a social encyclical)
  • Benedict XVI:
  1. Deus Caritas Est (”God is Love”)
  2. Spe Salvi (”Saving Hope”)

Other books of interest to the 20-somethings:

  • Non-fiction:
  1. Why Us? How Science Rediscovered the Mystery of Ourselves by James le Fanu
  2. Modesty: The Last Taboo by Wendy Shalit
  • Fiction:
  1. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
  2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
  3. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  4. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  5. Letters to a Young Catholic by George Weigel

Confession | top

Courtship | top

  • Courtship Now - Great site with stories and Q&A about purity, chastity, relationships, marriage, etc
  • Revolution of Love.com - The RoL website is a collection of articles, reviews, testimonies and interviews about living your Catholic faith each day. It is an open-letter, serving as a tool to connect and share the Gospel message with others. We welcome those who are married, single, and consecrated as we fight the good fight as faithful Catholics!  There are lots of great articles about courtship and dating.

Eucharist | top

God | top

Lent | top

Marriage | top

  • For Engaged Couples (pdf) - How to live marriage in a way that brings maximal happiness
    to both husband and wife and in turn to the children
  • NFP - USCCB National Family Planning site
  • Retrouvaille Ministry - A ministry for struggling marriages, be this our own or those of friends/parents/relatives; it’s a great resource
  • Revolution of Love.com - The RoL website is a collection of articles, reviews, testimonies and interviews about living your Catholic faith each day. It is an open-letter, serving as a tool to connect and share the Gospel message with others. We welcome those who are married, single, and consecrated as we fight the good fight as faithful Catholics!  There are lots of great articles about marriage.

Mary | top

Mass | top

  • Daily readings - The day’s designated Scripture readings for daily Mass
  • MassTimes - A ministry for traveling Catholics that lists all of the Mass times at every parish throughout the world

Men | top

  • NFCM - Great Resources from the National Fellowship of Catholic Men

Music (recommended by other 20-Somethings) | top

  • Danielle Rose “Mysteries”
  • Third Day”Offerings II”

News | top

  • Catholic Education News - An excellent collection of articles on current events from a Catholic perspective. Lots of “hot topics” and stuff like that…it’s meant as a resource for teachers, but anyone can enjoy it
  • Catholic Spirit Newspaper - Monthly newspaper for the Diocese of Austin
  • The Friday E-pistle - A weekly e-mail newsletter geared toward informing parishioners about news and events happening within the Diocese of Austin
  • MyCatholic.com - Make this your homepage and get a feed of all of the latest news - Catholic and Secular - from websites like Yahoo!, the AP, Catholic News Agency, ZENIT, etc. You can customize it to give you just the news from sites you like. PLUS it gives you the daily readings, the saint of the day, a quote from the Catechism for each day, and a quotation from the Saints. It’s awesome!
  • Papal News from Zenit.com - Zenit aims “to view the modern world through the messages of the Pope and the Holy See; tell about the happenings of the Church; and inform about the topics, debates and events that are especially interesting to Christians worldwide”
  • Texas Catholic Conference - The statewide association of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Texas. A major function of the Conference is to be the public policy arm of the Conference’s Board of Directors, the bishops of Texas, before the Texas legislature, the Texas delegation in Congress, and state agencies. The public policy issues addressed by the Conference include institutional concerns of the Catholic Church as well as issues related to Catholic social teachings.
  • United States Conference of Catholic Bishops News - The latest Catholic news for U.S. Catholics

Novenas | top

Prayers | top

Purity/Chastity | top

  • Emotional Purity (pdf) - Great article about emotional purity in relationships. A must read for everyone, whether you are in a relationship or not (this article is pretty long, but very good)
  • Revolution of Love.com - The RoL website is a collection of articles, reviews, testimonies and interviews about living your Catholic faith each day. It is an open-letter, serving as a tool to connect and share the Gospel message with others. We welcome those who are married, single, and consecrated as we fight the good fight as faithful Catholics!  There are lots of great articles about chastity.
  • Staying Chaste While Waiting for Marriage - Great article about courtship with a real life example - it is all about protecting your purity, waiting for marriage,  and the reasons why staying chaste is so important and beautiful

Reflections/Retreats | top

  • Consoling Retreat (pdf) - A 110-page “Do-It-Yourself” Retreat Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
  • Spiritual Drought (pdf) - Fr. Mike Sis’ notes from Theology on Tap: Strategies for Spiritual Drought

Saints | top

  • EWTN - Eternal Word Television Network’s website has lots of Catholic prayers, info about saints, etc

Service | top

  • Catholic Charities of Central Texas - A catholic organization that works to strengthen individuals, families and communities through direct services, community collaboration and social justice advocacy

Sin | top

Young Adult Resources | top

  • BustedHalo.com - Source that “strives to reveal this spiritual dimension of our lives through feature stories, reviews, interviews, faith guides, commentaries, audio clips, discussions and connections to retreat, worship and service opportunities”
  • Sons and Daughters of the Light - Lots of great resources from the USCCB for Young Adults, including news, readings, information on peace and justice, World Youth Day and more!
  • Theology on Tap - An Austin ministry that organizes monthly events for those 21 to 35 who want to learn more about the Catholic faith at restaurants/pubs. E-mail davidjosman@yahoo.com to get on the e-mail list.

Vatican & The Church | top

Voting | top

  • Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics - A guide that will help you cast your vote in an informed manner consistent with Catholic moral teaching and fundamental human rights. This guide will help you tell the difference between candidates’ positions that are morally acceptable and ones that are so contrary to fundamental moral principles that they are inconsistent with public service.

Witnesses | top

  • Manuela’s Witness (pdf) - From a friend of the 20-Somethings who was in a car accident in Belize

Miscellaneous | top