And what if it could actually make you happy?Sounds too good to be true, right? Yet every woman can experience this makeover with the gift of motherhood. Along with your new bundle of joy, there are real rewards just waiting to be claimed.Motherhood is difficult--there's no getting around it. And yet, the challenges a woman faces when she becomes a mother don't have to be in vain. Instead of a series of frustrating, exhausting, or exasperating experiences, author Carrie Gress (a mother of four young children) sees daily life as an opportunity to grow gracefully as a woman, mother, wife, and friend.

    Delves into the historical background of virtually everything people find hard to understand about our Religion, such as priestly celibacy, sacred images, the Church and the Bible, the primacy of Peter, Communion under one kind, invocation of the Saints, etc. First published in 1876, when there was much anti-Catholic sentiment in the U.S., it sold 1.4 million copies in 40 years and has been reprinted many times since.

    He decided to send an email to all of these Ambassadors, asking for their answers to three questions:Why do you love being Catholic?What is your favorite memory as a Catholic?As a Catholic, what are your hopes for the future?The response was overwhelming.Why I Love Being Catholic is the result of that rallying call. Compiled from thousands of answers, this collection of insights, stories, hopes, and dreams is both inspirational and motivational.The authors are people just like you they've laughed, cried, suffered, and celebrated their way through all the ups and downs of life. Some have been Catholic all their lives; others have taken a longer route home. All, however, can speak to the amazing gift that the Catholic faith has been in their lives.These days, it's challenging to be a Catholic. The collection of entries in Why I Love Being Catholic celebrates the best of the Catholic faith, highlights the everyday miracles taking place all around us, and reminds us that there are thousands of everyday heroes out there who dare to have big dreams for the Church. Even amidst the challenges of our times, holiness is possible, grace abounds, and there is every reason to live our lives with hope!

    Each story is accompanied by scripture, prayer, and discussion exercises designed to remind readers of Mary of Medjugorje's intercession on their behalf and God's personal love for them. Watkins gives nationwide talks and workshops and works as a spiritual director in the Bay Area, in addition to maintaining an active website and e-mail newsletter.

    Among these questions the most important one of all sometimes gets lost: Is Islam true? With his new book author Peter Townsend invites you to accompany him on a journey through the foundational texts of the Muslim religion. In the process the truth-claims of Islam will be respectfully, honestly and impartially evaluated. Along the way the following questions will be asked: - Can the traditional Islamic historical accounts be trusted? - Is the Qur'an a 'Perfect Book, Perfectly Preserved'? - Was Muhammad indeed a 'Beautiful Pattern of Conduct'? The answers to these questions will not be sought from modern commentaries on Islam. Instead Questioning Islam goes straight to the classic sources of Islam namely the Qur'an, hadiths (traditions) and biographies of Muhammad. Questioning Islam is not an attempt to promote any other belief system or ideology. Its focus is simply on asking the hard questions about Islam that are all too often ignored or swept under the carpet. Simply put, if you have ever wondered whether the truth-claims of Islam can withstand critical scrutiny then this book is for you!

    He has been hailed as a pioneer in helping ordinary Christians find God in their daily lives. Moved as a teenager by footprints of a barefoot Carmelite priest in the snow, Josemara felt called to greater generosity in the priesthood and in his struggles to build up Opus Dei during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. This latest biography is the most extensively researched work on his family history, childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. The reader benefits from an enormous wealth of details in extensive notes and appendices. Accompanying them are excerpts from his correspondence, spiritual writings and testimonials from dozens of friends and acquaintances. The remarkable story continues in volumes II and III.

    But I am more thankful for the hours of absorbing interest spent in the study of his portraiture as given in the Gospels. I know of nothing that makes so pleasant a respite from the pressure of life's fret and strain, as to bathe mind and spirit in the translucent waters of Scripture biography. As the clasp between the Old Testament and the New - the close of the one and the beginning of the other; as among the greatest of those born of women; as the porter who opened the door to the True Shepherd; as the fearless rebuker of royal and shameless sin - the Baptist must ever compel the homage and admiration of mankind. In many respects, such a life cannot be repeated. But the spirit of humility and courage; of devotion to God, and uncompromising loyalty to truth, which was so conspicuous in him, may animate us. We, also, may be filled with the spirit and power of Elijah, as he was; and may point, with lip and life, to the Saviour of the world, crying, "Behold the Lamb of God."

    Ronald Rolheiser’s most beloved books, leads us to a deeper experience of the beauty and poetry of Christian spirituality.

    Michael White and lay associate Tom Corcoran present the compelling and inspiring story to how they brought their parish back to life.Rebuilt is a story of stopping everything and changing focus. When their parish reached a breaking point, Fr. Michael White and lay associate Tom Corcoran asked themselves how they could make the Church matter to Catholics, and they realized the answer was at the heart of the Gospel. Their faithful response not only tripled their weekend mass attendance, but also yielded increased giving, flourishing ministries, and a vibrant, solidly Catholic spiritual revival. White and Corcoran invite all Catholic leaders to share the vision, borrow their strategies, and rebuild their own parishes. They offer a wealth of guidance for anyone with the courage to hear them.

    It is in this framework that we need to consider our present economic plight and the charting of our path forward.In his penetrating analysis of contemporary society, author John Horvat focuses on the present crisis with great insight and clarity. He claims modern economy has become cold, impersonal, and out of balance. Gone are the human elements of honor and trust so essential to our daily lives. Society has discarded the natural restraining influence of the human institutions and values that should temper our economic activities.Return to Order is a clarion call that invites us to reconnect with those institutions and values by applying the timeless principles of an organic Christian order. Horvat presents a refreshing picture of this order, so wonderfully adapted to our human nature. He describes the calming influence of those natural regulating institutions such as custom, family, community, the Christian State, and the Church.A return to order is not only possible but crucial. Horvat shows us how to make it happen.Based on nearly twenty years of ground-breaking research, this book is being recognized as one of the most important and influential on the subject to be published in the past ten years. Its original insight into both the present crisis and remedies for the future thrust Return to Order into the center of the raging debate over how to restore America to prominence as a proud and great nation.

    The book burst upon the scene in the early seventies, and was swiftly acknowledged as a pioneering and prophetic approach to theology which famously made an option for the poor, placing the exploited, the alienated, and the economically wretched at the centre of a programme where "the oppressed and maimed and blind and lame" were prioritized at the expense of those who either maintained the status quo or who abused the structures of power for their own ends. This powerful, compassionate and radical book attracted criticism for daring to mix politics and religion in so explicit a manner, but was also welcomed by those who had the capacity to see that its agenda was nothing more nor less than to give "good news to the poor", and redeem God's people from bondage.

    He has shown us in His Word how to do it, and spiritual maturity can be attained in no other way than God's way. This book includes outstandin

    The Practice of Saying No will appeal to anyone seeking more meaning and spirituality in their everyday lives. Barbara Brown Taylor, acclaimed author of Leaving Church and An Altar in the World (from which this eSelect is taken), writes with the honesty of Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) and the spiritual depth of Anne Lamott (Grace, Eventually) and reveals how to encounter the sacred as a natural part of everyday life.

    This is the most accurate definition,” Pope Francis told Antonio Spadaro, S.J., who conducted the interview on behalf of Jesuit journals around the world. “It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”In a remarkably wide-ranging and candid conversation, Pope Francis speaks about his years as a Jesuit superior, where “my authoritarian way of making decisions…created problems”; the role of eight cardinals who will soon release a report on church reform (“I do not want token consultations, but real consultations”); and what it means to “think with the church” (“We should not even think…that ‘thinking with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy of the church). Father Spadaro, the editor of Civiltà Cattolica, the Jesuit journal edited in Rome, spoke to Pope Francis in person in August 2013. Questions were submitted by Jesuit journals from around the world. “Organizations as old as America rarely do anything completely unprecedented,” writes America editor in chief Matt Malone, S.J., in his introduction to the pope’s interview. “This issue of America, however, is truly a first.”

    Along the way you'll experience intrigue, alarm, challenge, insight, and hope. You'll get a fresh and provocative vision of Jesus and his teachings. And you'll see how his core message can infuse us with purpose and passion to address the economic, environmental, military, political, and social dysfunctions that have overtaken our world.Jesus' message is more than a ticket to heaven or a formula for personal prosperity. It is an invitation to personal and global transformation. It is a radical challenge to the underlying stories that drive our suicidal systems-social, economic, and political. It invites us to imagine what would happen-if people of faith moved beyond political polarization and a few hot-button issues to the deeper questions nobody is asking.-if the world's leading nations spent less on weapons and more on peace-making, poverty-alleviation, and creation-care.-if a renewed understanding of Jesus and his message sparked a profound spiritual awakening in a global movement of faith, hope, and love.-if we believed that God's will really could be done on earth and not just in heaven.If you are hungry for a fresh vision of what it means to be a person of faith, "Everything Must Change "applies the good news of Jesus to a world in need, igniting a revolution of hope that can change everything. Beginning with you. Beginning now."