Holy hacks

The book cover of Patti Maguire Armstrong’s new book asks, “Are you looking for a more practical way to live your faith in the midst of a busy life?”
 
Most of us would answer a resounding, “Yes!”
 
The Bismarck author’s book, “Holy Hacks: Everyday Ways to Live Your Faith & Get to Heaven,” is an easy read with about 500 simple and sensible ways to grow in holiness. In this busy world, it’s common to occasionally neglect our faith life. This handy book won’t let you do that—at least for very long, anyway!
 
Bishop Kagan offered his thoughts, “This little book is a great read for anyone seeking to live better our beautiful Catholic faith. It is equally good for personal use or in a Catholic prayer or study group setting. Holy Hacks will definitely challenge you.”
 
But, it’s a challenge you won’t dread. No need to add another thing to your “to-do” list. The 10-chapters offer functional and doable tasks to add to your life when the moment presents itself such as having short, memorized prayers ready when you’re waiting in line, in traffic or for the microwave to finish. The book also reminds us of life lessons that tend to get forgotten such as forgiveness (both giving and asking for), compassion and counting your blessings.
 
In the book’s introduction, Patti explains the inspiration for her book—her father—and his quiet, unassuming, rock-solid Catholic faith. She also writes that the “holy hacks” idea was born from the wildly popular life hacks trend of simple strategies to manage or enrich life and daily activities in a more efficient way.
 
Karl Keating, prominent Catholic apologist, author and founder and former president of Catholic Answers, offered a review of Patti’s book on Amazon.com.
 
He wrote, “This at once is a delightful and a practical book. Each of its ten chapters gives down-to-earth advice about how to sharpen your spiritual life and your relationships with others, from improving your evangelization efforts to being less of a boor on social media (two things that ought to go hand in hand, of course).

I found two chapters particularly useful to me. (I won't say which ones, not wanting to advertise my problem areas!)

The hacks are terse--usually only a sentence or two--but, having been inspired by the best spiritual writings of the past and good ol' common sense, they pack a punch. Most of them are easy to do, taking almost no effort and no time.

They're things you know you already should be doing and should have been doing all along. Patti Maguire Armstrong provides the nudge you need to get back on track.”
 
Patti’s book is available online at AveMariaPress.com and locally at Mayo Pharmacy and Rainbow Shop – Parable Christian Store in Bismarck.
 
—Staff report