
Rekindling Wonder: Touching Heaven in a Screen Saturated World
by Fr. Chris Seith
Our screens are not morally neutral. The devices that we are so attached to affect our perception of the world. Unless we use them in a way contrary to the way in which they are intended to be used, we will find ourselves imprisoned in our own minds and living in a boring and lifeless world. In this book, Fr. Chris Seith exposes the spiritual apathy consuming our lives and, more importantly, God’s response to our imprisonment. In Jesus Christ, God has set us free from our spiritual malaise and rekindles in us a sense of wonder at the beauty of reality.
$14.95 Paperback | $9.99 Kindle
REVIEW
By Sister Marysia Weber, RSM, author of Screen Addiction: Why You Can’t Put That Phone Down
Smartphone use outside of work related activity preoccupies the average American for 5.4 hours each day. In his book, Rekindling Wonder: Touching Heaven in a Screen Saturated World, Father Christopher Seith argues that deleting apps or reducing screentime isn’t enough to rehabilitate a generation dependent on digital stimulants. Constantly irradiated by screens, our culture is sick with what the desert fathers called “the noonday devil”—acedia. He vividly highlights how ever increasing hours spent captivated by screens isolates persons and threatens to precipitate an existential crisis. Acedia’s daughter vices—despair, distaste for the sacred, and distraction– dispose us to estrangement.
Without condemning technology, Father Seith observes that dependence on the digital makes life more convenient and less painful, but not more human. Father Seith poignantly describes how a community could devolve into a network of individuals programmed to escape misery and anxiety through virtual algorithms.
Father Seith articulates that with attachment to digital devices, we have forgotten the value of human life and our ontological end to make God’s love present in the world. He reiterates that the primordial and sacred Church has something liberating to offer in the midst of a dehumanizing world.
Father Seith seeks not to offer practical solutions but to provoke thought. I highly recommend Father Seith’s book as it invites a world eclipsed by the modern noonday devil into the Light of Truth.
Testimonials
“Father Seith’s book Rekindling Wonder: Touching Heaven in a Screen Saturated World is a thought-provoking exposé about the necessity of exposing our modern noonday devil—digital devices—to the Light of Truth.” – Sr. Marysia Weber, RSM, author of Screen Addiction: Why You Can’t Put That iPhone Down
“Put down your devices and read Rekindling Wonder. This is a most important work for our time. Fr. Seith has diagnosed a silent, omnipresent and deadly spiritual condition. Gratefully, in this engaging book he leads the reader on a journey to healing through trust and joy with Jesus Christ.” – Most Reverend William D. Byrne, Bishop of Springfield, MA
“In Rekindling Wonder: Touching Heaven in a Screen Saturated World, Fr. Christopher J. Seith lays bare the true nature of acedia, showing us how to find stability within an inconstant, digitally-mediated world by grounding ourselves in the truth of Jesus Christ.” – Matt Fradd, author of Does God Exist? A Socratic Dialogue on the Five Ways of Thomas Aquinas
“Do you worry that you are too tied to a smartphone? Do you worry about the consequences? Have you found nothing that resolves the problem? Then turn with author Father Chris Seith to the age-old Christian wisdom about acedia. A new Christ-centered understanding of your experience will set you free.” – Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher, OMV, author of The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide to Everyday Living
“This book, written with deep spiritual insight and theological wisdom, deftly applies ancient Christian wisdom to the ever-expanding reach of our current technology.” – John S. Grabowski, Ph.D., Professor of Moral Theology/Ethics, School of Theology and Religious Studies, The Catholic University of America
“Father Seith has accurately diagnosed acedia as the condition of contemporary Man. Such a condition will not be disarmed by more data or information provided by the internet. It will only be wrestled to the ground by the in-breaking of the presence of Christ. It is Presence that heals the boring self-enclosed, self-imposed world we inhabit. A world of our making, a world built up through our patterned and addictive relationship to technology. Here in these pages we find a way out of boredom and obsessive control seeking. But the way out is a way of intimate healing, a way of welcoming the Divine Presence IN. Only the harrowing of ‘our’ hell by the Christ will set us free. This beautifully written and erudite book will give us the courage to say YES to this in-breaking, this rescue mission born of God’s love.” – Deacon Jim Keating, Professor of Spiritual Theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
“Rekindling Wonder engages the reader with a vision of living a more authentic relationship with God and man.” – Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, author of Teaching and Learning in the Age of COVID19: Faith-Based — Online and Emergency Remote
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fr. Christopher J. Seith was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 2014. After serving as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mercy parish in Potomac, MD, he began his doctoral studies at The Catholic University of America while living at St. John Paul II Seminary.
In the Spring of 2020, he successfully defended his dissertation in which he examined Josef Pieper’s thought to argue that digital devices, unless they are used in a way contrary to their intended use, will imprison their users within a workaday world and damage their ability to joyfully celebrate the sacred mysteries.
He is currently the Director of Spiritual Formation at St. John Paul II Seminary.
OTHER CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY BOOKS
Franciscanism: The Answer to Modernism
Franciscanism: The Answer to Modernism By Bob Sizemore In a culture of death, St. Francis restores us to life. This book invites the reader into Franciscanism as the answer to Modernism. Paperback $7.99 | Kindle $2.99 TESTIMONIALS "As a Lay Dominican, I found in...
His Spoken Words
His Spoken Words by Richard Ruesch This book includes a complete compilation of the spoken words of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are contained in the verses of the New Testament, chronologically arranged from the time when His parents found Him in the temple, sitting...
The Divinized Person
The Divinized Person by Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R. Scripture tells us that man was created in the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:26). This book explores the meaning of this statement, describing each of us as a living, flesh-and-blood icon, a visible representation...
Lord, do you mean me? A father-Catechist?
Lord, Do You Mean Me? A father-Catechist! by Francis Etheredge Reflecting on the reality of childhood, Francis Etheredge explores what is entailed in being a parent who wants to take up the vocation, as widely and as specifically as possible, of helping to found the...
Walking Humbly with God: How Friendships Build Confidence, Support the Church, and are the Key to the New Evangelization
Walking Humbly with God: How Friendships Build Confidence, Support the Church, and are the Key to the New Evangelization by Deacon Gerard-Marie Anthony This book speaks to the importance of the virtue of friendship/relationship to carrying out the New Evangelization...
La Sainteté de la Féminité par Mary Kloska
Below is a spiritual talk that Mary gave to a group of Polish youth at a retreat center in Babliniec, Poland about the Love that God has for them. It was on September 3, 2005 and is translated by Hania Przybylo. You can listen to this both in my English and Hania's...
Imagine the Joy! Reveries on Divine Revelation
Imagine the Joy! Reveries on Divine Revelation by Freddie Stewart, Jr. Compelled by his rich evangelical experience of searching the Scriptures alongside Christian brethren seeking spiritual inspiration and practical wisdom, Freddie has sought to share his enthusiasm...
The Word in Your Heart: Mary, Youth and Mental Health
The Word in Your Heart: Mary, Youth and Mental Health by Francis Etheredge Running away at 14. Attempting suicide. Pill prescriptions for almost every mental health condition: Marketing or medicine? The exponential rise of the medicalization of children. Personal...
Awake with Christ: Living the Catholic Holy Hour in Your Home
Published on the Feast of St. Rose of Lima, a third order Dominican, and Patron of Gardeners. Image courtesy of Joni Seith, author of Cloud of Witnesses.Awake with Christ: Living the Catholic Holy Hour in Your Home by Annabelle Moseley We are about to undertake an...
Из Тьмы… Мэри Клоска
Out of the Darkness by Mary Kloska Данная работа - собрание сокровищ, с которыми Иисус поделился с сердцем Мэри Клоска. Представляя эту книгу для читателя, Мэри надеется засвидетельствовать о Великой Силе, которая находится в Кресте Иисуса. Её сердце застывает при...
Cloud of Witnesses – 25th Anniversary Edition
Published on the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin MaryWomen of Grace with Johnette Benkovic (September 11 & 12, 2023) - When God Offers Us the Cross: Steps to Mining the Treasure, Part 1 and Part 2Cloud of Witnesses by Joni J. Seith This 25th...
Out of the Lips of Infants, Wisdom Comes: Retelling the Bible Stories
Out of the Lips of Infants, Wisdom Comes: Retelling the Bible Stories by Sr. Adaku Helen Ogbuji, CCVI, PhD This book is the fruit of Sr. Helen's years of learning how to reflect on the Word of God, both as a child and as an adult; and how each stage of learning,...
Into the Heart of St. Joseph
Into the Heart of Saint Joseph by Jason Schreder Into the Heart of Saint Joseph immerses the reader through prayerful reflection, Scripture, and art, into Saint Joseph's interior life as the Husband of Mary and Zealous Defender of Christ. Saint Joseph is known to be a...
The Eucharistic Revival Project – Missio Dei
The Eucharistic Revival Project Edited by Phillip Hadden & Jonathon Fessenden Foreword by Rev. Dennis J. Billy, C.Ss.R. The Eucharist Revival Project is Missio Dei’s response to Pope Francis’ call to rediscover "the real and loving presence of the Lord” in the...
“That They May Have Life” (John 10:10): 35 Meditations
"That They May Have Life" (John 10:10): 35 Meditations by Fr. Julius D. Leloczky, O.Cist. This collection of meditations is a rich anthology of writings very much in the spirit and vein of the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and of the ideas represented by...
Consumed by Love: A Missionary Handbook for Priestly and Lay Formation by Mary Kloska
Consumed by Love: A Missionary Handbook for Priestly and Lay Formation by Mary Elizabeth Anne Kloska, Fiat+ “Here I am, Lord, I have come to do your will.” (Hebrews 10:7,9) This should be the heartbeat of every missionary. One is never a missionary for himself or...
“My Darling Joe”: A Reflection on a Personal Relationship with Saint Joseph
"My Darling Joe": A Reflection on a Personal Relationship with Saint Joseph by Sr. Adaku Helen Ogbuji, CCVI, PhD Prayer to St. Joseph Hail Sweet and Darling Joe!Your love for your Son, Jesus and your spouse, Mary is so efficacious!Teach me to love them!Help me to...
77 Soundbytes of Love
The Interactive Blog is not yet in working order. Please email Ronda directly if you have any thoughts. chervinronda@gmail.com77 Soundbytes of Love: The Philosophical Spirituality of Ronda Chervin By Ronda Chervin This book is an anthology of soundbytes -- 77 to be...
Talkaholics: Fate or Work-in-Process?
Talkaholics: Fate or Work-in-Progress By Ronda Chervin Why would I ever think I talk too much? Here are some tiny stories to show you why: “Ronda,” asked my spiritual director, “what would it be like if you joined a table (at the seminary where I was teaching and took...
Charles Rich: Give Me Your Heart–Preparing for Eternal Life by Charles Rich
Charles Rich: Give Me Your Heart--Preparing for Eternal Life Ed. by Ronda Chervin How about a book for the elderly by a sage who was still making disciples in his nineties? Who was this Charles Rich, anyhow? One of the most fascinating Hebrew-Catholics of all times...
Purgatory in the Words of Jesus
Purgatory in the Words of Jesus by Roger Skrenes In this book, Roger Skrenes explains how the teaching that only two possible realms exist after death, that of Heaven and Hell, as argued by many non-Catholic Christians, is not correct. Christ actually spoke of a third...
The Sea Lord’s Bookshelf by Vincent Salamoni, M.S.A.
All profits go to the Missionaries of the Holy Apostles (M.S.A.) LORD, HAVE MERCY. The oceans are big; our boat is small.The Sea Lord's Bookshelf by Reverend Vincent A. Salamoni, M.S.A. This book is a catalyst, of a beginning voyage. Here it is a short one, yet a long...
For the Love of God: The Sacred Heart and the Divine Mercy
For the Love of God: The Sacred Heart and the Divine Mercy Kristina R. Olsen The purpose of this book is to invite you into the Sacred Heart of Jesus to experience his love, and to introduce you to the Divine Mercy devotion to encounter God's limitless forgiveness. We...
The Book of Love: Brief Meditations
Cover design by Sophia ClementsWhen given the chance to submit cover designs, four out of five of Richard Clements' children submitted drawings. The one selected is from among those four submissions. The other three submissions are featured here above.The Book of...
Les deux principales sources de la prière de Marie de l’Incarnation
Les deux principales sources de la prière de Marie de l'Incarnation par Fr. Michel Legault, MSA Le 28 octobre 1999, l'Église catholique a célébré le 400e anniversaire de la naissance de Marie Guyard, connue aujourd'hui sous le nom de Sainte Marie de l'Incarnation,...
Target Heaven: What You Didn’t Know about Father Benedict Groeschel
Originally published as Father Benedict Groeschel: A Conversational Biography, © Good Counsel Homes, 2014.Target Heaven: What You Didn't Know About Father Benedict Groeschel by Good Counsel, Inc. Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV, opens this book by proclaiming Fr....
Devociones Diarias de LIFE Runners
Devociones Diarias de LIFE Runners Editado por Dr. Patrick Castle and Bernadette Costello ¡DIOS primero, VIDA siempre, EQUIPO para siempre! Corredores de VIDA es el equipo Pro-Vida más grande del mundo, correr es opcional, se requiere camiseta y se necesita fe. Nos...
Nuggets of Wisdom
Nuggets of Wisdom By Bob Sizemore with Ronda Chervin In this handy volume, Bob Sizemore and Ronda Chervin engage in a dialogue intended to deliver nuggets of life's wisdom, offering both specific and general insights on navigating one's way through this world and into...
Rosary Consecration: Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary and Her Most Holy Rosary, authored by TJ Burdick
Rosary Consecration: Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary and Her Most Holy Rosary by T.J. Burdick What if you knew what God’s will was for your life right now? What if you had the ability to destroy vice, decrease sin, and cause good works and...
No Longer I: Sharing Christ’s Gospel Narrative
No Longer I: Sharing Christ's Gospel Narrative by Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R. Christ entered our world and gave himself completely to us to the point of dying for us, to become nourishment for us and a source of hope. In this book, Fr. Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R., demonstrates...
His Divine Presence
His Divine Presence by Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R. Poetry of praise for the grace that God freely provides at every moment of our lives. Paperback: $9.99 | Kindle: $9.99 TESTIMONIALS "A dancer took off her makeup and costume and asked, "What more is there to life?" A woman...
The Blessings of the Beatitudes
The Blessings of the Beatitudes by Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R. This book is about the vision Jesus sets before his hearers of a world ruled by justice and love. The eight beatitudes provide hope to all who listen to and follow the call of the kingdom in their hearts....
Jesus Christ: A Man of Prayer by Fr. Paul Ezinando
Jesus Christ: A Man of Prayer by Fr. Paul Ezinando In this work, Fr. Paul Ezinando demonstrates that though we have knowledge of Jesus Christ from various perspectives, we cannot know Him enough. To help us come to a better knowledge of Jesus Christ, Fr Ezinando...
Such Common Stories by Lawrence Hopperton
Such Common Stories by Lawrence Hopperton There is one story only. It’s woven out of personal experiences and memories, the worlds that we have actually known and loved. The poems in Such Common Stories connect to our individual stories, so that the experiences they...
A Spiritual Plan for Families by Fr. Jacob Dankasa
A Spiritual Plan for Families: Preparing your Home for a Life of Faith following the Examples of Saints who Raised Families by Fr. Jacob Dankasa Considering the challenges that many Christian families face today in building faith-based homes, it’s essential that every...
Dear Mr Putin: An Epistolary Inquiry by Peter Breen
Dear Mr Putin: An Epistolary Inquiry | Уважаемый господин Путин! by Peter Breen An epistolary exhortation in monthly installments to Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, that asks: "Are you sure about waging war and brandishing a cross against the woman who...
House of Gold by Mary Elizabeth Anne Kloska, Fiat+
House of Gold by Mary Elizabeth Anne Kloska, Fiat+ Our Lady has spent my entire lifetime blessing me with Her friendship –and so I rejoice today to offer Her this little gift of a book, which I hope brings many more souls into Her humble, Motherly embrace. Paperback:...
Faith, Not Convenience: 17 Reflections for Spiritual Consistency
Faith, Not Convenience: 17 Reflections for Spiritual Consistency by Fr. Jacob Dankasa It’s difficult to remain a committed Christian in our today’s society where social, moral and political views are often in conflict with the standards of the teachings of Christ. The...
Living as Long as I Can as Well as I Can by James Pomeroy
Living as Long as I Can as Well as I Can by James Pomeroy This is a book that will be helpful to health care providers, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, chaplains, and their patients, because it offers a spiritual foundation for living well,...
A La Sombra de Nuestra Señora
Mary Kloska speaks to a 'Seven Sisters' Group about her book In Our Lady's Shadow (May 21, 2021)A La Sombra de Nuestra Señora: La Espiritualidad de la Oración por los Sacerdotes by Mary Kloska A la Sombra de Nuestra Señora: ‘La Espiritualidad de Rezar por los...
Voices from the Upper Room
Voices from the Upper Room by Father Dominic Lenk, O.S.B. Just who were those people gathered together in the Upper Room during those three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection? Imagine with the author all those people gathered in the Upper Room during...
The Holy Heart
The Holy Heart by Holly Garman “My Father will love you so deeply that We willcome to you and make you Our dwelling place.”~ Jesus (Jn. 14:32, TPT) The Scriptural truths of The Holy Heart help us to let God become fully at home in us, as we become fully at home in...
Raising ‘Children of the Cross’ (the Spiritual Formation of Children)
Raising 'Children of the Cross' (the Spiritual Formation of Children) by Mary Kloska Each human soul is knitted together in his or her mother's womb and given the breath of life for one single purpose: to be who God created him or her to be (the saint that God created...
Mornings with Mary (A Rosary Prayer Book)
Mornings with Mary (A Rosary Prayer Book) by Mary Kloska Sometimes gathering as few as a few hundred people, sometimes as many as 100,000 people a day, Mary Kloska has led spiritual warriors each morning on social media in prayer for myriads of intentions. Following...
The Mercy Ocean
All profits go to the Missionaries of the Holy Apostles (M.S.A.)LORD, HAVE MERCY. The oceans are big; our boat is small.The Mercy Ocean by Reverend Vincent A. Salamoni, M.S.A. Simply described as a collection of information, which perhaps will be USEFUL TO YOU AND/OR...
Shared Miracle Stories
Shared Miracle Stories of the Dominican Community of Mary Mother of Dominic and Friends of Cedaredge Ed. by Mrs. Helen R. Hawkins, OP This is a book that invites us to share our miracles with one another. Why does God use or allow miracles? First, a miracle is an...
The Fourteen Holy Helpers
The Fourteen Holy Helpers Authored by Allison Lunsford and Illustrated by Joan Bennett Saint Acacius, Saint Barbara, Saint Blaise, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Christopher, Saint Cyriacus, Saint Denis, Saint Erasmus, Saint Eustace, Saint George, Saint Giles,...
Led by the Spirit
Led by the Spirit: Into the Consciousness of Christ by Dennis J. Billy, C.Ss.R. Following Jesus means being open to and led by his Spirit. This book explores the meaning of this phrase by looking at the larger picture of why God entered our world and became one of us...
Manning Up! Lessons from St. Joseph and Jesus by Fr. Michael Nixon
Manning Up! Lessons from St. Joseph and Jesus by Fr. Michael Nixon Today's world is encountering a profound crisis of manhood with confusion being sown about what it means to be a man, about what it means to be masculine, and about what it means to live as a male....
Experiencing God: Thoughts and Testimonies
Experiencing God: Thoughts and Testimonies by Robin Arthur In this thoughtful reflection, Robin Arthur presents his perspectives on the God experience, addressing the conundrum of faith in Christ crucified, which St. Paul has told us is "a stumbling block to Jews and...