National Bible Week 2016 Contest

As we are in National Bible Week, it would only seem appropriate to have a contest.  So, I am happy to offer the following two brand-new item to you, my beloved readers, in celebration of this week:

1) RSV-NT Pocket (Simulated Red Leather)

2) On Englishing the Bible by Msgr. Ronald Knox


Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog or an active Facebook\Twitter account, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post. I (or my wife) will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday November 20th at 11:59 PM.  The winner will receive both books, which I will send out to you.

 3) I will announce the winners on Monday November 21st. The winner must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

 4) One entry per person.

 5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States.

Thank you to Scepter Publishers and Baronius Press for supplying the books for the contest.  

Leap Day Contest

In honor of this being a leap year, I am happy to offer this Leap Day contest to you, my wonderful readers.  Thanks to the fine people at Oxford University Press and Image Catholic Books, I will be offering two fantastic books which will certainly provide spiritual nourishment for the remainer of the Lenten season.  The two prizes for this contest are:

1) Dr. Brant Pitre's Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist (newly released paperback edition w/ study guide)

2) The Catholic Study Bible Third Edition (NABRE) paperback

Rules for the contest:

1) If you have an active Facebook or Twitter account, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post. I (or my wife) will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday March 6th at 11:59 PM.

 3) I will announce the winner on Monday March 7th. The winner must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.  I will ship the the books free of charge.

 4) One entry per person.

 5) Contest is only available to those who live in North America.

Advent Contest

The fine folks at Now You Know Media have given me three fantastic CD sets from Fr. Felix Just S.J. for this special Advent Contest.  These three, brand new, recrodings are retreats with the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John.  I have a number of different audio courses from Now You Know Media, and I have always been impressed by their content and the quality of the audio recordings.  

Fr. Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, California. After receiving his Doctorate in New Testament Studies from Yale University, he taught at Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles), the University of San Francisco, and Santa Clara University. He was also director of the Center for Religion and Spirituality at LMU, and dean of the Lay Ecclesial Ministry and Deacon Formation Programs for the Diocese of Las Vegas. He regularly teaches courses, gives public lectures, and leads biblically-based days of prayer, parish missions, and weekend or weeklong retreats. He maintains a large internationally recognized website of “Catholic Resources”.  Fr. Felix is also on the board of editors for the upcoming revision of the NABRE New Testament.  


Rules for the contest:

1) If you have an active Facebook or Twitter account, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post. I (or my wife) will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday December 6th at 11:59 PM.

 3) I will announce the winner on Monday December 7th. The winner must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.  I will ship the the books free of charge.

 4) One entry per person.

 5) Contest is only available to those who live in North America.

The Message Contest

I would like to thank the wonderful people at ACTA Publications for providing me the following new books for this contest.  The theme for this contest is The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition.  The winner will receive a paper back edition of The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition, along with Great Men of the Bible by Martin Pable and Faith, Friends, and Other Flotation Devices by Michele Howe, both of which utilize The Message.  These two books are great resources that can be used for private reading or devotional use, along with being excellent for men's and women's fellowship groups.

Rules for the contest:

1) If you have an active Facebook or Twitter account, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post. I (or my wife) will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday October 18th at 11:59 PM.

 3) I will announce the winner on Monday October 19th. The winner must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.  I will ship the the books free of charge.

 4) One entry per person.

 5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States.

Back to School Contest

It is back to school time for almost everyone.  I have been back for almost a month at this point.  So, in celebration of this, I am going to offer a special Benedict XVI giveaway.  The winner will receive the following books, all of which are in excellent condition.

The Books are:
Come Meet Jesus by Amy Welborn
New Outpourings of the Spirit (Ignatius)
God's Word (Ignatius)
Europe: Today and Tomorrow (Ignatius)
Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith (Ignatius)
Great Christian Thinkers (Fortress)

Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog or an active Facebook account, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post. I (or my wife) will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday September 13th at 11:59 PM.

 3) I will announce the winners on Monday September 14th. The winner must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

 4) One entry per person.

 5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States.

A Leonard's Fix-Up: RSV-CE (Oxford)

A number of years back, I highlighted the thinline qualities of an Oxford RSV-CE readers edition, which is now out-of-print.  Because it didn't have cross-references, I copied a page of the "Old Testament references in the New Testament" chart and adhered it to the back end pages.  I ended up using it for a few months but discovered that there was a problem with it.  The binding, around the Pastoral Letters, was beginning to come loose.  I was disappointed by this and simply put this Bible away.  After the flood we had last August, I found it in a box that had miraculously survived.  I remembered the issue I had with it, so again I put it a side.  A month or two back, I decided to have it fixed up by the fine folks at Leonard's.  I have had two bibles rebound them, including my beloved Knox, so I thought about seeing what they could do with this one.  I wanted to keep the pacific duvelle cover, which I always enjoyed, but there were a series of other things I wanted done: 1) Tighten the sewing in the back, located primarily around the Pastorals; 2) Remove all glossy pages in the front; 3) Recast the book in the same cover; 4) Remove ribbon and add 3 navy ribbon markers.

Here are the before pictures:

And here are some pictures of what Leonard's did:

In the end, they did a great job at a reasonable price.  Again, if you are looking to have a bible rebound or fixed, go to Leonard's.

Now, if you made it all the way down here, I would like to offer you an opportunity to have this great Bible.  The is available for anyone in Canada or the United States.  You have until this Sunday, July 10th, at 11:59 PM to enter.  You must answer this question in the comments of this blog: What one passage of Scripture describes your faith and why?  One entry per person.  Please make sure to put a name at the end of your answer, particularly if you post anonymously.  I will announce the winner on Monday.  The winner has one week to contact me.

Knox Contest

As we are about to enter the season of Advent, now is a good time as any to have a contest.  This one, which will likely be the last one for 2014, is focused around the great Cathoic convert, translator, detective novelist, and apologist Msgr. Ronald A. Knox.  I have made no secret on this blog my admiration for this man.  I find his writings to be both enriching and entertaining, which I think is a truly rare thing.  Although he may not receive the same attention as some of his other more famous contemporaries, I actually prefer his writings to those of Chesterton, Belloc, and Lewis.  (Please don't throw any stones!)

So, what will the winning entry receive in this Knox Contest?  The following brand new books and CD will prove a wonderful introduction to this great man:

1) The Wine of Certitude: A Literary Biography of Ronald Knox by David Rooney (Ignatius Press)

2) On Englishing the Bible by Ronald Knox (Baronius Press).  The winner will receive two brand new copies, one for themselves and another to give to a friend.  Thank you to the fine people at Baronius Press for providing this amazing book for this contest.  I "literally" read this all the time.

3) Ronald Knox Collection CD from Old Time Radio Catalogue.  This contains four presentations by Knox, himself, with a run time of one hour and eleven minutes.  Included in this collection are reflections by Knox on Christmas, Chesterton, Newman, and translating the Bible.  Hear the man in his own voice.


Rules for the contest:
 1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post. I (or my wife) will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday November 30th at 11:59 PM.

3) I will announce the winner on Monday December 1st. The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

 4) One entry per person.

 5) Contest is only available to those who live in North America.

International Contest

I have been promising an international-only contest, well here it is! The winner will receive the following four books:

1) USCCB's Pocket NAB Gospels and Acts
2) Jesus Shock by Peter Kreeft
3) Spirituality of the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann
4) Wrap Yourself in Scripture by Karen Kangas Dwyer

Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name and country in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday September 7th 11:59 PM.

 3) I will announce the winner on Monday September 8th. The winner must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

 4) One entry per person.

5) This contest is open to anyone outside of North America.

End of Summer Contest

Thanks to a generous gift from my friend Louis at Baker Book House (Grand Rapids) I am happy to offer this contest to all my (North American) readers.  I have one more week of summer recess before I head back to school to prepare for the upcoming academic year, so why not go out with a bang!  So, for this contest I will be offering three brand new volumes of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture.  The editions include the ones for 1 Corinthians, First and Second Peter & Jude, and Philippians, Colossians, & Philemon.  


Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post. I (or my wife) will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday August 10th at 11:59 PM.

 3) I will announce the winner on Monday August 11th. The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

 4) One entry per person.

 5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States. (Fear Not! There will be an international-only contest hopefully in the coming month or so.)

Summer Blowout Contest

I am finally about to settle into my summer vacation.  The school year has been over for a couple of weeks now, but I have had the privilege to attend a fantastic conference as well as teach a Vacation Bible School for Adults.  So, to celebrate some free time finally, I want to offer this contest to you.

The winner of this contest will receive the following items:

1) Compact New African Bible (NABRE)
2) Compact RSV-2CE Ignatius NT and Psalms
3) Compact Confraternity New Testament
4) Catholic Courses CD Set of The Christ: A Faithful Picture of Jesus from the Gospels by FR. Alfred McBride
5) A lot of CD's from Lighthouse Catholic Media, including talks by Scott Hahn, Peter Kreeft, Steve Ray, Patrick Madrid, Fr. Robert Barron, and others.


Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest. If you don't, that is OK. You can still enter the contest.

 2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post. I (or my wife) will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday July 6th at 11:59 PM.

 3) I will announce the winners on Monday July 7th. The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

 4) One entry per person.

 5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States. (Fear Not! There will be an international-only contest in the coming weeks.)

Easter Contest

A blessed Easter to all of you!  In celebration of Easter, and the upcoming canonizations of John XXIII and JPII, I am happy to offer this contest.  The winner will receive the deluxe edition of The Catholic Prayer Bible: Lection Divina Edition from Paulist Press, a copy of Peter Kreeft's Jesus Shock!, and Cardinal Ratzinger's Daughter Zion.


The rules:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest.   If you don't, that is OK.  You can still enter the contest. 

2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday April 27th at 11:59 PM.   

3) I will announce the winners on Monday April 28th.  The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

4) One entry per person.

5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States

Lenten Contest

Let's have a Lenten contest!  Being in Michigan, this Lent seems to have become an extension of the long, cold winter of the past few months.  So, although we our assured of our Lord's rising at Easter, Spring weather is not a guarantee at this point.  Why not, then, spend the next few weeks of Lent reading the Word of God and reflecting on the glories of the Church with Fr. Robert Barron? 


The winner of the contest will receive the following:
Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith 

The New American Bible, Compact, Black Duradera with Zipper, Revised Edition 

The rules:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest.   If you don't, that is OK.  You can still enter the contest. 

2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday March 30th at 11:59 PM.   

3) I will announce the winners on Monday March 31.  The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

4) One entry per person.

5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States

February Contest: Catholic Men's Bible

It is time for another contest.  The winner will receive a brand new copy of the Catholic Men's Bible from OSV.  This paperback edition includes the NABRE Catholic Bible combined with the teachings and instruction of Fr. Larry Richards.  For more on this new Bible, you can check out an audio interview I did with Fr. Larry here.



The rules:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest.   If you don't, that is OK.  You can still enter the contest. 

2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday February 23rd at 11:59 PM.   

3) I will announce the winners on Monday February 24th.  The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

4) One entry per person.

5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States

Contest for a New Year

A Happy New Year to you all.  To welcome in the new year, I am offering a contest where the winner will receive all three volumes of Susan Sink's The Art of The Saint John's Bible and a new copy of HarperOne's The Life With God Bible with the Deuterocanonical Books (NRSV).  

Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest.   If you don't, that is OK.  You can still enter the contest. 

2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday January 12th at 11:59 PM.   

3) I will announce the winners on Monday January 13th.  The winner must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

4) One entry per person.

5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States and Canada

Advent Contest 2013

Happy Advent everyone!  I am really excited to offer a contest for the this Advent season which is connected to the post from yesterday.  So here it is: The winner will receive a brand new copy of Mary Sperry's Scripture in the Parish: A Guide for Catholic Ministry and the compact edition of the New African Bible (NABRE).  I think these make a fine pair!

Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog or are active on Facebook, please announce this contest.   If you don't, that is OK.  You can still enter the contest. 

2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw one winner at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday December 8th at 11:59 PM.   

3) I will announce the winners on Monday December 9th.  The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address.

4) One entry per person. 

5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States

The Message Contest

The fine people at ACTA Publications have been gracious enough to offer a free copy of The Message Catholic/Ecumenical Edition to one of my readers.  I received a review copy of one a week ago and am very pleased with the overall quality of the volume.  

Eugene Peterson's The Message® is a fresh, compelling, insightful, challenging, faith-filled paraphrase of the Bible into contemporary idiomatic American English and is first and foremost a reader's Bible. The Message®: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition features the deuteroncanonical books paraphrased by William Griffin, including the books of Judith, Tobit, Sirach, Wisdom, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel, will make the Scriptures come alive again.

So here are the rules:

1) If you have a blog, please advertise this contest on your site or mention this contest on Facebook (If you don't, you can still enter the contest.)

2) This contest is only for people who are in the USA.

3) To enter, please select your favorite rendering from The Message and explain in 1-3 sentences why you selected it.  You can submit your entry in the comment section of this blog.  (You can search The Message, minus the Deuterocanonicals here.)

4) The contest ends on Sunday, November 17th, at 11:59 PM. I'll announce the winner on Monday morning.  At that time, the winner must contact me, via email, with their address within one week to receive their prize.   I will then forward your contact information to ACTA who will send along your prize.

5) One entry per person. If you post anonymously, you must leave a name at the end of your comment entry.

October Contest

For this month's contest I am going to be offering a copy of the beautiful

Revised Standard Version, Burgundy, Zipper Duradera Readers Edition from Oxford/Ignatius.  This is not the compact edition, but the standard sized one.  I believe it is now out of print. It contains the RSV-CE text, with presentation pages, Dei Verbum, and a section of Catholic prayers and devotionals. Along with the Bible, I will include a copy of my favorite Peter Kreeft book Jesus Shock.  The self test at the beginning is worth the price on its own.  I use it at the beginning of my classes each semester.    

So here are the rules:
1) If you have a blog, please advertise this contest on your site. (If you don't, you can still enter the contest.)

2) This contest is only for people who are in the North America. (Overseas shipping costs remain too high for me right now. Sorry.)

3) To enter, please put your name in the comment section of this post.  Winner will be drawn randomly.

4) The contest ends on Sunday, October 20th, at 11:59 PM. I'll announce the winner on Monday morning.  At that time, the winner must contact me, via email, with their address within one week to receive their prize.

5) One entry per person. If you post anonymously, you must leave a name at the end of your comment entry.

Walking with Mary Contest

I am very excited to be the second stop on the Walking with Mary Virtual Blog Tour in celebration of the release of Walking with Mary: A Biblical Journey from Nazareth to the Cross by Edward Sri.  I am also thrilled that the fine folks at Image are offering, via the Catholic Bibles Blog, three copies of Sri's new book.  Walking with Mary is a wonderfully helpful work that looks at all the essential moments in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary as found in the New Testament.  As Sri explains: "This book is the fruit of my personal journey of studying Mary, from her initial calling in Nazareth to her painful experience at the cross.  It is intended to be a highly readable, accessible work, that draws on the wisdom from the Catholic tradition, recent Popes, and biblical scholars from a variety of perspectives and traditions." You can read more about Walking with Mary, including an excerpt, at the Image website.  If you have any friends or family members who are Protestant and wary of anything concerning Mary, I think this book would be a great introduction since it is so grounded in Scripture.  Walking with Mary is available in hardbound and eBook editions.

Dr. Edward Sri is a nationally known Catholic speaker who appears regularly on EWTN and is the author of several well-loved Catholic books. He is a founding leader, with Curtis Martin, of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), and he currently serves as vice president of mission and outreach and professor of theology and scripture at the Augustine Institute master's program in Denver, Colorado. Sri holds a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He resides with his wife, Elizabeth, and their six children in Littleton, Colorado. 

Rules for the contest:

1) If you have a website or blog, please announce this contest on your blog.  If you don't, that is OK.  You can still enter the contest. 

2) Please enter your name in the comment section of this blog post.  I will randomly draw three winners at the conclusion of the contest, which will be on Sunday September 15th at 11:59 PM.   

3) I will announce the winners on Monday September 16th.  The winners must contact me, via email, within a week with their full name and address and I will submit it to Image who will send you a brand new copy of the book.

4) One entry per person. 

5) Contest is only available to those who live in the United States.

Thank you to Image for providing three copies of Walking with Mary for the contest.

Back-to-School Contest

To celebrate back to school, at least for me, I am going to offer a contest a new hardcover for the Navarre Bible: Minor Prophets volume.

This volume of the Navarre Bible commentaries sheds light on the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The Psalms aside, the books of the prophets are the Old Testament sources most often referred to in the New. Their message covers all aspects of Israelite and Christian faith - belief in One God, his chosen people, the Messiah and the path to salvation. Like all the books in the Navarre series, this edition will help to deepen your understanding of these sacred texts. This book completes the Navarre Bible Old Testament series.

This edition includes the RSV-CE and Nova Vulgata.

So here are the rules:

1) If you have a blog, please advertise this contest on your site. (If you don't, you can still enter the contest.)

2) This contest is only for people who are in the North America. (Overseas shipping costs remain too high for me right now. Sorry.)

3) To enter, please put your name in the comment section of this post.  Winner will be drawn randomly.

4) The contest ends on Sunday, September 1st, at 11:59 PM. I'll announce the winner on Monday morning.  At that time, the winner must contact me, via email, with their address within one week to receive their prize.

5) One entry per person. If you post anonymously, you must leave a name at the end of your comment entry

Hahn Duo Contest

In honor of our summer reading, I am going to have a contest for two brand new editions of Scott Hahn's The Kingdom of God as Liturgical Empire: A Theological Commentary on 1-2 Chronicles and Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI.  Both books are outstanding and more academic than his other popular works.  

So here are the rules:

1) If you have a blog, please advertise this contest on your site. (If you don't, you can still enter the contest.)

2) This contest is only for people who are in the North America.

3) To enter, please put your name in the comment section of this post.  Winner will be drawn randomly.

4) The contest ends on Sunday, July 7th @ 11:59 PM EST. I'll announce the winner on Monday morning.  At that time, the winner must contact me, via email, with their address within one week to receive their prize.

5) One entry per person. If you post anonymously, you must leave a name at the end of your comment entry

Thank you to my friend Louis of Baker Book House for providing me the Hahn books for this contest!