Most of us at one time have said, or thought, something like: "So I procrastinate, it's not like it's hurting anyone!" - "Enough about you, back to me." - "I deserve this, so I'm treating myself!" - "If I can't have it, she shouldn't either." - "I'll get around to it... or not." - "It's not really gossip if it's all true, right?" - (And the granddaddy of them all) "But that doesn't make me a bad person!" Are these really sins, you ask? After all, they're not murder, theft, or violence. Don't they just mean we're human? Writer, speaker, and blogger Elizabeth Scalia takes a look at thirteen of these "little sins" that, if left unexamined and unconfessed, can have a serious impact on our spiritual lives and relationship with Christ. Through her honest (and sometimes funny) examination of these same sins in her own life, as well as Church teaching on each one, she helps us ask ourselves the tough questions, and the tools to kick these bad habits before they kick us. Sarah Reinhard, Blogger National Catholic Register “Little Sins Mean a Lot: A Book You’ll Dog-Ear and Appreciate” 8-31-16 “…Though a few nonfiction titles slipped into my summer reading, one in particular slapped me upside the head. This is the second book I’ve read by Scalia…and it isn’t about Confession; it’s about the ‘little things’ we should be working on that lead us to Confession…This book speaks to my life…It’s a book that looks deep inside and puts all the dust bunnies in the light.” Sr. Theresa Alethia Noble, Blogger – former atheist who returned to the Catholic Church and is now a religious sister with The Daughters of St. Paul National Catholic Register “Are ‘Little Sins’ No Big Deal?” 5-29-16 “…Now I am a nun…but it’s so easy to become complacent about little sins. ‘I am good enough,’ we say. ‘Look at those people! I certainly am better than they.’ …I finally got the courage to read this book, and am glad I did. After putting it down, I have a strong desire to go to Confession and really work on the little sins that have crept into my life…I kept reading each chapter and hoping that at least one would not apply to me – no luck. But Elizabeth Scalia has a way of bringing our ‘little sins’ to light with humor and lightheartedness. When we get a joke, we get the point… This is why, I think, God likes to use humor in our spiritual lives.” Rick Steroni, blogger BrutallyHonest.org 5-21-16 “…We're all familiar, or should be, with deadly sin. Pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth are the biggies, the soul-killers, the transgressions fatal to spiritual progress. But what about their younger cousins, their adolescents, their mini-mes? In Little Sins Mean A Lot, Elizabeth dives, over 13 chapters, into a variety of mole-hill sins, to include such things as procrastination, self-neglect, gossip, spite, self-recrimination. In each of her chapters, she includes sections that detail what Catholicism has to say about those sins, and what the faithful Catholic might do to deal with them. Tom Zampino, blogger Patheos.com – Grace Pending: Observations On A Faith In Progress (blog) 4-23-16 “By the time I reached Chapter 12 in this book (“Sins of Omission”), I had compiled quite an impressive mental list of all the little things (yes, “sins”) that are already killing me softly. Sure enough, I began to realize that there are days when I’m so busy engaging in office politics – read: “Gossip” (Chapter 5) – that I don’t even notice I’ve been “Half-Assing” my way through the day (Chapter 10). Or other days when I’m indulging, again, in my favorite way of dealing with anger and hurt: distracting with my “Mr. Nice Guy” persona as I launch some clumsy, passive-aggressive response (Chapter 8). There are so many things that we actively do everyday that we know are, simply, wrong: undue judging of others when we ourselves obviously fall short (Chapter 6 “Judgement and Suspicion”); cheating on taxes or stealing money/ things, services (however rarely) or shorting time from our employer (Chapter 11)…You need this excellent, thoughtful book as much as I do.” Monique Ocampo Patheos.com – Monique Ocampo Writes 6/15/16 “…the bad habits we have, our venial sins, can add up to a lot of damage if we’re not careful. I read this book in one day, finding bits of myself in most chapters. … Procrastination: like a lot of other writers, I struggle with procrastination… Indulgences: those who know me best will tell you that I love to treat myself whenever I get the opportunity. Usually, it comes in the form of food. Way too many people cling onto their “victim narratives” in order to justify why they act a certain way. I think the biggest lesson that can be learned from this book is that it completely and totally destroys the lie that “as long as you’re not doing harm to anyone, you’re a good person.” Most of us at one time have said, or thought, something like: "So I procrastinate, it's not lik