Therese teach you perfect trust. Learn how Therese of Lisieux trusted God through tragedy, scruples, spiritual darkness, and physical suffering. Connie Rossini pairs episodic stories from the saint’s life with memories of her own quest to trust. With Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and insights from psychology, Rossini leads readers to surrender their lives completely to Jesus.Practical and accessible, Trusting God with St. Therese includes questions for reflection that make it perfect for book clubs and faith-sharing groups.

    Using simple illustrations and the same clear, conversational style that characterized his earlier book, Bergsma introduces four of the most important writers in the New Testament: Matthew, Luke, Paul, and John.With humor and simple illustrations, theology professor John Bergsma focuses on Matthew, Luke, Paul, and John, whose writings comprise about 90 percent of the New Testament. The gospel of Matthew, written for Jewish Christians, illuminates the life and teachings of Christ as the long-promised Messiah. In Luke's gospel, readers will delve into the infancy and Triduum narratives, as well as the Acts of the Apostles and the life of the early Church. This leads the reader to discover St. Paul and his first and arguably greatest theological treatise: Romans. Finally, "the beloved apostle" St. John draws us in to the unsurpassed beauty of the fourth gospel, as well as the most mysterious book of the New Testament: the book of Revelation. A concluding chapter offers suggestions for further study.Intended as an introductory work for those who are new to scripture study, this New Testament book does not aspire to be a comprehensive guide to all twenty-seven books of the New Testament, but is intended to lay the foundation for a lifetime of scripture reading.

    This new book takes another approach, another angle: why Lino is on his way to sainthood. Often hilarious, but always with a point, Saint focuses on God’s grace in Lino’s life and shows how even a sinner like him can look forward to being a saint. As Lino himself puts it: “Instead of stories of small triumphs and many failures, this is a book to encourage you in your own triumphs. To realize you might not be as big a sinner as you think. And that with God's help, you might just become a saint.” Picking up where Sinner left off, Saint points the way to our end goal—holiness and sainthood—and does so in a way that entertains as well as inspires.The audio edition of this book can be downloaded via Audible.

    Tossed on a ship bearing him to the icy northern reaches of Britannia, Jurian dreams of a mysterious woman and a sword driven into a stone. Kneeling in the candlelight in Cyrene, Sabra hears the whisper of the dragon in the depths of the earth. Taking the mantle from her gravely ill father, Aikaterina rules her fragile city under the threat of imperial disfavor. As the fourth century dawns over Rome, Jurian seeks to regain his honor along the Empire’s brutal northern frontier. When Casca brings back word from the oracle of Apollo, the Emperor decides that the only way to save the Empire is to solve the “Christian problem” once and for all. He needs only one spark to set the world ablaze. As the storm of fire and blood sweeps across the Empire, Jurian relinquishes his sword and the honor he most desires to fulfill the prophecy along with his destiny. Saints aren’t born. They are forged.

    But she was a woman with a will whose strength has been matched by few souls in history. Mother Teresa broke death’s stranglehold on the poor of Calcutta, and she showed us how to conquer the sin and darkness in what she called the “slums of the hearts of modern man.” Part biography and part spiritual reading, these pages bring to light little-known stories from Mother Teresa’s life that will help you to grow in your love of God. You will learn her approach to reading Scripture, what enabled her to persevere through agonizing nights, and the remarkable — some would say mystical — events that led her to start the Missionaries of Charity. In considering Mother Teresa, her private visions, and her secret sufferings, David Scott has discovered scores of early episodes and chance encounters that point to later, larger meanings. These remarkable patterns, he suggests, show that Mother Teresa’s life was choreographed from above, as if a divine script had been written for her from before her birth. In these pages, you will meet for the first time the Mother Teresa who challenged the ancient Goddess of Death and became the first saint of our global village. You will read as she describes, in long-secret letters, the dark night of her soul. The woman you will meet is one that God himself sent to you as a clear sign that despite pain and suffering in our lives and in our world, God’s good love will prevail . . . beginning in the slums of our hearts. We are all called to holiness, and the saints are sent to us as “real life” examples of God’s love. With Mother Teresa as your guide, you’ll learn how to follow God’s call and find holiness in a world marked by the shadow of death and growing indifference to God. Indeed, you’ll learn how to be an everyday missionary of Christ’s love in the ordinary activities of your daily life.

    In The Smoke of Satan, veteran Catholic journalist Philip Lawler explains why the crisis is even more severe than when it first commanded headlines in 2002, and how the failure of Church leaders goes all the way to the Vatican. In this unflinching look at the crisis threatening the Church and her members, Lawler: --Shows how the sex-abuse scandal is not a question of pedophilia, but of homosexual activity within the clergy. --Explains how Catholic bishops have developed a habit of covering up serious problems, to avoid the serious divisions that have developed within the faith since Vatican II. --Demonstrates a catastrophic rupture in Church unity, causing a breakdown in morale and discipline among priests, bishops, and laity, paving the way for the current crisis. --Reveals the growth of a faction within the Vatican that is ready to make peace with secularism. --Details the charges in the explosive “Vigano testimony,”— and the efforts by Vatican officials including Pope Francis himself to ward off a thorough investigation. --Concludes with a program for reform, led by faithful lay Catholics, demanding a new policy of candor and a forthright proclamation of Church teaching. This crisis, brought about by the failures of corrupt and cowardly bishops and clerics, has been allowed to fester long enough. It is well past time for serious action to be taken at every level before more lives are ruined, more souls are lost, and more fractures divide the Church. In these pages, Lawler details the problems besetting the Church…and lays out a clear plan to overcome them in order that the Church and Her members may once again thrive and bring souls to Christ.

    Designed to help expectant mothers embrace pregnancy as an opportunity for spiritual growth, A Catholic Mother's Companion to Pregnancy prepares mothers for the trials and joys of pregnancy, childbirth, baptism, and, ultimately, motherhood.

    The Laus apparitions, approved in 2008, were the first Marian apparitions approved by the Church in the 21st century.Let Mary's prophetic messages bring comfort and hope to your life in this thorough and compelling presentation of the extraordinary visits of the Mother of God to her children around the world.

    Through his Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II unveiled the beauty of God’s plan for human love. In 60 minutes, discover how the human body—in its masculinity and femininity—reveals who we are and how we are called to live.

    In this fast-paced world in which we live, things are set up for maximum speed and efficiency. Technology is now moving faster than ever before. Smartphones are so cutting edge that they allow news events to arrive seconds after they actually occur. We are so used to everything moving at lightning speed, that we have a very hard time adjusting to the slower pace that God likes to work things out. Dazed and confused we look for answers in all the wrong places. Our life becomes directed by fear instead of faith. We grow disheartened. Our faith can weaken. If you watch a seed grow you will not see much change from one day to the next. Although without water and care it will die. Faith is no different. There are perfect times in your future. When your life will blossom. All that God asks is for you to wait for them to be revealed. Thing is, we do not like to wait. Many times when life is not going as we like, we force things to happen. God's timing is not good enough for us. Pushing life is like digging up a seed to check if it has germinated, this may sound crazy but this is exactly what people do when they don't wait for Gods timing. We pray. We have faith. But, we lack an essential ingredient? Often we need to be reminded of the fruits that come from waiting. If you learn to wait for God’s timing, your life will overflow with grace. Surely that is not for me? Yes, it can be. Within these pages, I will share with you what scripture says about waiting for Gods timing. Powerful. Stories of those that listened and also those that did not. Enlightening. It is so easy to get carried away with life. Forgetting what is important. Casting the truth to one side. I welcome you to take this journey with me and leave your stressful life behind. Surrender. Trust Gods perfect timing, and you will be given the desires of your heart.

    And that's just in ordinary matter, which makes up only 4.9% of the universe, the rest being dark matter and dark energy.Each of my reasons is an independent point, so I have not organized this book by a succession of chapters or headings. After all, most readers only remember a few big ideas or separate points after reading a book. (I've never heard anyone say "Oh, that was a good continuous-process-of-logically-ordered-argumentation" but I've often heard people say, "Oh, that was a good point."Which takes me back to my main point: "Why are you a Catholic" is a good question.A good question deserves a good answer.Here are forty of mine.

    Often, though, we go through the motions at Mass without an appreciation for what has really happened. Popular speaker and author Mark Hart helps Catholics move beyond the repetition and ritual to see the Mass for what it really is: a heavenly banquet, a wedding feast, in which heaven and earth meet. In his engaging style, Hart guides readers toward a deeper understanding of the Massits roots in the Jewish Sabbath, its sacrificial character, and its signs and symbols. As we are told to go in peace, he inspires us to see the Mass as a place to be nourished so that we can further Christs mission in the world. In the last part of the book, Hart provides pithy answers to frequently asked questions, such as Why cant I leave right after Communion? or Why did the words change? Finally, Hart offers ten things we can do to get more out of Mass.

    Provides a detailed examination and encouraging explanation of faith, hope, humility, love and chastity, human formation, patience, penance, joy, and obedience.

    He then describes the Church's developing self-awareness of its dual elements of the human and divine. Concerned with verifying the Church's claim to embody Christ, Giussani situates the locus of verification in human experience, arguing that a different type of life is born in those who try to live the life of the Church. Why the Church? is a seminal study that will engage both the scholar and the general reader.