Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life [Paperback]

Mike Aquilina (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2007

God stoops down to lift up our homes, to make them outposts of his paradise...no matter how cold the winds may blow on a winter day.
--From the Introduction



Paradise? Family life? Really? Yes--and one filled with laughter. If that doesn't sound like your family but you wish it did, or if you're just looking for a book to lighten your spirit, Love in the Little Things is for you.

Love involves sacrifice, Mike Aquilina notes, but as he spins humorous stories from his own family, it is evident that moms, dads and kids are happier when they lay down their lives for one another. Love in the Little Things nudges the reader toward a more satisfying family life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MIKE AQUILINA is husband to Terri and father to six children. He is vice president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and former editor of New Covenant magazine. Mike has written more than a dozen books, including Talking to Youth About Sexuality: A Parent's Guide and The Mass of the Early Christians.

Product Details

• Paperback: 130 pages
• Publisher: St. Anthony Messenger Press (March 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867168145
• ISBN-13: 978-0867168143
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #854,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Aquilina is author or editor of more than thirty books, including The Fathers of the Church, The Mass of the Early Christians, and A Year with the Church Fathers. He has co-hosted eight series that air on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). He has co-authored books with Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and theologian Scott Hahn. He is past editor of New Covenant magazine and The Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper. He appears weekly on Sirius Radio's "Sonrise Morning Show." Mike and his wife, Terri, have six children, who are the subject of his book Love in the Little Things.

In 2011 Mike was a featured presenter of the U.S. Bishops' Diocesan Educational/Catechetical Leadership Institute. He also wrote the USCCB's theological reflection for Catechetical Sunday in 2011.

His reviews, essays and journalism have appeared in many journals, including First Things, Touchstone, Crisis, Our Sunday Visitor, National Catholic Register, and Catholic Heritage. He contributed work on early Christianity to the Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought.

Mike is a also poet whose works have appeared in U.S. literary journals and have been translated into Polish and Spanish. He shared songwriting credits with Grammy Award-winner Dion DiMucci on the forthcoming album "Tank Full of Blues."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Family Read Aloud, August 10, 2007

By 

Maureen Wittmann (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life (Paperback)

I love a great story.

The greatest storyteller was, of course, Jesus. He showed us how to live through parables, stories. Mike Aquilina follows in Jesus' footsteps.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should let you all know the Aquilinas are friends. I've had the pleasure of personally hearing some of Mike's stories before he put them into a book for the rest of the world. Yet, there was a special pleasure in reading them. In fact, I read them aloud for my husband and children. They loved hearing Mike's stories before bedtime! They made us laugh, cry, and think seriously about how we are to live as Christians.

A good story goes beyond teaching, rather it "shows." It shows us how to live. It shows us the truth we should already know in our hearts (natural order, morality, respect, love) and brings those truths to the forefront of our minds. They show us so that we may imitate and live them out.

A good story is pleasing to the ear and to heart, just as Christ's parables are pleasing. They show us the path to eternal life in a way we never forget. They burn in our souls. Mike carries on this storytelling tradition with Love in the Little Things!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great, big "little" book, June 13, 2007

By 

Karen Edmisten - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life (Paperback)

This is a "little book." You know what I mean: you take a look, think you can knock this book off by lunch time, and that'll be that.

But, Love in the Little Things is bigger than that. Yes, the reading is quick and easy, but the ideas loom larger than their appearance. Hmmm ... kind of like Jesus of Nazareth ... growing up in a non-descript way, living a quiet family life, full of hidden things beyond this earthly realm, beyond our imagining.

And that's what Mike Aquilina shows us: that family life is a very real reflection of the Trinity. It's the path to holiness for those of us who are called to this vocation.

But, these little vignettes aren't heavy-handed lectures. They are charming tales about Mike (often self-deprecating), his wife, Terri (adoring), and their delightful children (abundant fatherly love abounds.)

In "It's Verse than I Imagined" (and yes, many of the titles are punny, as are Mike's blog post titles), Mike takes a look at his daughter Mary Agnes's growing awareness of the unrelenting ways in which life will break our hearts. He inserts a line from one of my favorite Gerard Manley Hopkins poems at the perfect moment -- and every parent will face a version of this moment -- and in doing so, elevates this essay from sweet and charming to profound.

And, he keeps doing that. In short pieces about his wife, his children and his parents, he shows us, time and again, that family life is bursting with opportunities to grow in holiness. Bishop Thomas Tobin, of Providence, called this book "a domestic catechism for the domestic church," and it is that, indeed.

I'm starting to sound like a broken record -- every time I read a writer I love, I say I want that writer to live next door to me, and come over for copious amounts of coffee (I think Mike would approve the beverage choice ... one of the essays is entitled, "For the Love of Coffee" ....)

I'm afraid it's true again. It's no secret that I love Mike Aquilina, and I would love for Mike and Terri to move in next door. I'd love to meet their poetic Mary Agnes and their blunt Isabella (who, in "The Truth About Butterfly Princess" told her father, "That's OK, though. I'll bet you were really handsome back when Mommy married you.") I'd love to talk to Rosemary, the "great and cute saint," to meet sneaker-wearing Michael, who pays as much attention to what's on his feet as does my Anne-with-an-e, and to hug their little Gracie, whose encounter with beloved Papa John Paul II was as sweet as it was enviable.

In other words, I'd love to meet the whole crew. You will, too, after reading Love in the Little Things. And, while you're being charmed by these tales of family life, you just might pick up some tips and inspiration for that long and winding road to heaven along the way.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasure to Read, March 30, 2007

By 

Stephen D. Galvanek (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life (Paperback)

What a wonderful little book! It was truly a pleasure to read, laugh, and even shed a tear a time or two. More importantly this slim volume managed to really challenge me to look at where and how I can continue to work on my spiritual life in the midst of my own family.