Sarah Reinhard over at CatholicMom.com has a very nice review of my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew:

I’ll admit it: I let Eric Sammons’s new book gather dust before I picked it up to read it. I don’t like that I felt an aversion to a book that looked suspiciously like a Bible study that I either (a) would not understand or (b) would not enjoy.

When I finally did pick up Who Is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew, I found myself face-to-face with a book unlike any other I had read. It was a Bible study of sorts, but instead of approaching the Gospel of Matthew straight through, Sammons organized his approach based on the titles of Jesus found in the Gospel.

I had never thought to count the titles, and I certainly wouldn’t have thought you could write an entire book about them!

And WHAT a book! Hands down, this has earned the special honor of being a book I will lend very, very carefully, because I not only WANT to reread it, I PLAN to reread it!

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She is also giving away a free autographed copy of the book, so be sure to click over to the full review!

I am excited to announce the release of WIJC, the iPhone Companion App for my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew.

My book revolves around the titles given to Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, contemplating each one in the context of Matthew as well as all of Scripture and the Catholic Tradition. There are 25 different names or titles given to Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, and some are used over 20 different times. So, if you want to read all the Scriptural passages with each title while reading my book, you have a lot of flipping and searching to do.

That is where the WIJC App comes in. It contains the Biblical verse for each instance of every title, categorized by the chapters of the book. So if you are reading the chapter on the title “Son of Man”, you can simply select that title in the App and easily read all the relevant Scriptural passages.

Here are a couple of screen shots from the App:

The App also contains the Foreword and Introduction to my book, as well as the complete first chapter (which cannot be found anywhere else outside of the book). So if you haven’t yet purchased my book, download the App to get a taste for the book.

And the best part is that WIJC is free! I created this App to help readers to dive deeper into Scripture and encounter Christ there more fully, and I hope it helps to do that. But feel free to email me with any comments or suggestions for improvements for the App.

WIJC is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. You can download it from the Apple App Store or from here.

Frank Weathers over at Why I Am Catholic just reviewed my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew:

Yesterday I wrote about classic books in the packs and pockets of the saints and how reading them can help us too. For example, St. Francis de Sales (whose feast day is tomorrow) and his worn copy of Dom. Scupoli’s The Spiritual Combat. St. Teresa of Avila turned from reading trashy romance novels to reading books like Francisco de Osuna’s The Third Spiritual Alphabet.

Francisco himself constantly references the works of Jean Gerson, which were over 100 years old by the time he read them. I recommend Gerson to you as well.

When the saints above were picking up these volumes, however, they were written by their contemporaries. So just like them, I’m going to recommend a new book to you today: Who Is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew by Eric Sammons.

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As promised, here is my guest appearance on Fr. Benedict’s show:

This Sunday, January 9th, I’ll be on Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s Sunday Night Live TV show on EWTN. We’ll be discussing my book as well as the topic “Who is Jesus Christ?”

The show airs live at 7pm and then is repeated a few times later in the week. Check it out!

A reminder: if you donate at least $30 before Saturday to Little Flowers Foundation via their online donation page, then you will receive a free signed copy of my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew. It is a great way to make a year-end tax-deductible gift, help Catholic families trying to adopt children, and receive a free book all in one fell swoop.

Please donate now!

Brandon Vogt over at The Thin Veil has read over 100 books this year – 100! He has just posted a list of his favorite books of 2010 – not his favorite books published in 2010, but his favorite books he read in 2010. I’m honored that my book Who is Jesus Christ? ranked #5 on his list (and the four ranked above my book are pretty impressive).

Check out the whole list here. Also, you can see his review of my book here.

Next week I plan on listing some of my favorite books that I read in 2010. Stay tuned…

LFF grant family at their child's baptism

Over eight years ago I helped to found the non-profit organization Little Flowers Foundation. Our mission has been to help Catholic families with the cost of adoption, especially adoptions of children with special-needs. Often a family will be financially able to raise a child, but not to actually adopt one. An adoption can cost over $20,000, and for most families, that is a one-time expense that simply cannot be afforded. So LFF offers grants to these families so that their adoptions can take place. Over the past 8+ years, we have helped over 40 families, disbursing almost $200,000 in that time-frame. We have almost never had to turn down a qualified family for a grant.

Until recently.

Like most non-profits, our donations over the past year or so have dropped significantly. However, our requests for grants have risen even more dramatically. Just this month, our grant committee considered 12 grant applications totaling $63,000 in requests. Unfortunately, we only had $13,000 to disburse. For the first time in our history, we had to turn down very qualified families for grants because we simply didn’t have the funds. As a member of the grant committee, I can tell you that this was a very disappointing situation.

With that in mind, I would like to announce a special fund-raising appeal: from now until the end of the year, if you donate at least $30 to Little Flowers Foundation through our online donation page*, we will send you a free copy of my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew. This is a perfect opportunity to make a year-end tax-deductible gift, help Catholic families bring an orphaned child into their home, and get a free book in the process!

Thank you for your generosity!

* Note: this offer only applies to online donations made between now and 1/1/11, and you must mark “My full contact information” under Privacy Preferences when donating or else we can’t send you your book!

A reminder: I have a book signing scheduled for tomorrow, 12/14, at the Catholic Information Center in downtown DC at 5:30pm 6:00pm. Stop by if you can!

And while we are speaking about my book, might I mention that it would make a great Christmas gift? I noticed that Amazon currently has it at its lowest price yet! (Speaking of Amazon, they just started showing authors their geographic sales statistics – thanks to the Cedar Rapids/Dubuque region for being my highest-selling region in the country).

Yesterday I had a book signing at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and I was pleased that another OSV author, Greg Jeffrey, who wrote Why Enough Is Never Enough: Overcoming Worries About Money –A Catholic Perspective, shared a table with me:

Greg Jeffrey and me at the National Shrine

I highly recommend Greg’s book. When I first heard about it, I thought it was another financial planning book, but instead it is more of a spiritual look at finances: how money makes us anxious (no matter how much – or how little – we have), and how our attitude – and our anxiety – towards money affects our entire lives. I have often realized that it is amazing how much energy we spend on thinking about money – not actually spending and using money – but just thinking about it. This book is a great resource to put that part of our lives in proper perspective.

Also, we both start our books with stories that take place on a subway – but his is far more hair-raising!

A few more reviews of my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew have recently been posted.

First, Jennifer Fitz over at Riparians at the Gate gives 7 Reasons You Should Buy “Who is Jesus Christ? by Eric Sammons:

This is a top notch, can’t-go-wrong book .   I had a hard time writing a review because everything I had to say sounded so trite and trivial and fluffy, and this book is none of those.  I finally just decided to gush away in a nice neat top-7 list (no biblical allusions intended).  So here you go:

Jen’s Top 7 Reasons You Should Buy This Book

1. It is interesting! When I picked this book for my Catholic Company book review item, I thought it would be boring-but-good-for-you. I was so wrong. Not boring. Not at all. The book is packed with interesting perspectives on Jesus – how he was seen by his contemporaries, how Jesus fits into the Old Testament prophecies of a messiah, and how the Gospel impacts our lives today. Loaded with details, and never slow and belaboring. (But I was right about the good-for-you.)

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Next, Marcel over at Aggie Catholics says I’m in big trouble:

Eric Sammons, the author of the new book Who Is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew, is in big trouble. Why? Because I have a bad habit of reading anywhere from 4-15 books at a time. I generally pick one up and read it for a while. The next time I read, I pick up a different book from the book pile. Once in a while, esp. when reading fiction, I read a book cover-to-cover and can’t put it down. Eric’s new book has been one that I can’t put down and this means the stack of other books has been neglected since I starting reading Who Is Jesus Christ?

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Julie over at Happy Catholic recommends my book for Advent reading in her “pre-review”:

Today, I bring you a book that I haven’t yet finished because I am finding myself almost forced to read it slowly and meditatively in order to consider the wealth of information.

Who is Jesus Christ? by Eric Sammons takes an interesting tack in answering the question that Jesus him self put to the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” We all have our favorite and comfortable concepts about Jesus. They are not necessarily wrong but they also are not all that Jesus Christ is. It is in contemplating those areas outside our comfort zones that we most often meet God. Or so it seems in my experience.

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And finally, Jeff Miller, a.k.a. “The Curt Jester,” happily recommends my book:

Catholic blogger Eric Sammons of The Divine Life has written a book now released titled Who Is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew.  Eric was kind enough to send me a copy.

This book uses the Gospel of Matthew as a guide, but it is not a sequential reading of themes and passages from this Gospel.  The book is arranged into groups of  major themes  which included incomplete perceptions of Jesus as shaped in the Old Testament, major roles Jesus fulfilled, fulfillment of Old Testament types, and finally his role as Son.

Eric is quite a capable writer who presents information in a way that is easily readable while also passing more technical information in that same easily accessible manner.

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Thanks everyone for the kind words!

As Julie mentioned, my book would make great Advent reading, as you could read one chapter every day in the month of December leading up to Christmas. Also, the Sunday readings for the upcoming liturgical year come from the Gospel of Matthew, and Who is Jesus Christ? can prepare you to encounter our Lord in Matthew’s Gospel during the next year.

Attention my fellow Washington, DC-area residents! I have two book signings scheduled in the coming weeks here in DC.

First I will be at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception bookstore on November 28th from 11:30am to 3pm. That day the Shrine is hosting a thanksgiving Mass for Cardinal-designate Wuerl’s appointment to the college of Cardinals, so you don’t want to miss it!

On December 14th at 5:30pm I will be holding a signing at the Catholic Information Center bookstore in downtown DC. This event will also include a short presentation before the signing.

If you live in the DC-area, please stop by to say hi (and get your copy of my book signed)!

Cam Wollner, who writes the blog A Woman’s Place…, has written a flattering review of my book Who is Jesus Christ?

“Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew” by Eric Sammons is one of the best books that I’ve read in a very long time. At the moment I’m alternating between not letting my copy, which I’ve just finished but already want to read again, out of my sight, and thinking of people who I know who would really enjoy reading it…

Sammons book helps us to take a closer look at our Savior and leads us learn something about Him that we had (very likely) missed when reading the Gospel through on our own. Familiar verses take on new life when the actual meaning of the names, which I had read on my own many times over the years, are studied within the context of the Gospel.

As you can probably guess, I would strongly recommend this book for anyone! From Mom’s like me to theology students like my husband you are bound to learn something new about our Lord and Savior as he is revealed in the Gospel of Matthew.

I hope there are three more books like this one based on the other Gospels being written!

Read entire review

Thanks Cam!

Today at CatholicExchange.com you will find an abridged version of the chapter “Lord of the Sabbath” from my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew. You can click the image of my book on their home page, or click this link directly.

And if you would rather just read the whole chapter and every other chapter in the book, buy it now!

As I mentioned last week, I was on the Catholic Answers Live radio show last Friday discussing my book Who is Jesus Christ? and it was a blast! Patrick Coffin and Darin DeLozier are extremely welcoming hosts and I pray that we were able to help people draw closer to our Lord during the hour I was on.

If you missed the program, you can download it at the Catholic Answers Live show calendar (I am listed on November 5th), or directly from my website.