For 13 years, Julie Davis’ Happy Catholic blog has been the place where Catholics could go to find positive, joyful, beautiful works of art, Catholic expressions of faith and hope, and more pithy, funny, thoughtful, insightful quotes (culled from the most diverse sources imaginable) than any one person — besides Davis herself — can collect and collate. Happy Catholic is like a giant, delicious bistro of mental and visual refreshment; a stop there can jumpstart a tired mind or soothe a frazzled one better than a cafe latte.
Davis put her penchant for collecting meaty quotes into her first book, Happy Catholic: Glimpses of God in Everyday Life, and now she is back with another, somewhat different collection entitled Seeking Jesus in Everyday Life: Prayers and Reflections for Getting Closer. The quotes are still there, but now Julie has used them as springboards for her own faith meditations, and she gives us her fast-take on it all, here.
1) What inspired the book?
My own prayer journals. True to form, I’d been jotting down quotes and scripture that I used daily to help me feel a closer connection with Jesus, which was something I’ve struggled with for a long time. As I gradually grew closer to Jesus I suddenly realized I had three full notebooks and that I might not be the only one having a “connection” problem.
2) If you could give this book another title, what would it be?
Who Do You Say I Am? I discovered several upcoming books had this title.
3) What person in this book do you most personally identify with?
I’ve always got to be reminded to be still and listen. I want to be the one talking and filling the silence! So when will God speak? How will I hear him? It’s why the book begins and ends with the prophet Habakkuk. I need his reminder for myself.
I will stand at my guard post, and station myself upon the rampart, I will keep watch to see what he will say to me… Habakkuk 2:1
4) Did writing this book teach you anything?
I realized the other day that it really has changed my relationship with Jesus. Thinking it over, in prayer I always tended to go to the Holy Spirit most of all (many times daily) and secondarily to God the Father. As I mention in the book’s intro, I did have encounters with Christ which were powerful. For one thing I have a real attachment to the Eucharist, which is probably why I tend to have a lot of moments of true connection during Mass. However, on a daily basis, I didn’t really pray to Jesus. The relationship was not like the way that the saints talked about him being their best and first friend. Over the last few years, and especially in the last year, I realize I now tend to talk to Jesus first. Our relationship has shifted, and he’s become my go-to guy in prayer. That was a wonderful surprise. He really snuck up on me!
5) If there is one person you want to reach with this book, who would that be?
This is for the person who, like me, longs for a regular, everyday friendship with Jesus. That is the heart’s desire of every Christian, after all. Whether a beginner or someone who’s somehow lost that connection, these prayers and reflections will help them get closer.
6) What is the ideal beverage to have in hand while reading your book?
A cafe latte — sippable and suitable for prayer and reflection.
And today we celebrate...