Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth


Richard John Neuhaus - 2006
    Looking beyond these troubles to “the splendor of truth” that constitutes the Church, he proposes a forward-thinking way of being Catholic in America. Drawing on his personal encounters with the late John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, Neuhaus describes their hope for a springtime of world evangelization, Christian unity, and Catholic renewal. Catholic Matters reveals a vibrant Church, strengthened and unified by hardship and on the cusp of a great revival in spiritual vitality and an even greater contribution to our common life.

Bernadette Speaks


René Laurentin - 1999
    The culmination of his work is contained within this masterpiece factual account that reads like a novel. Translated from French to English for the first time, this fascinating biography covers the entire life of the visionary and messenger of the Immaculate Conception, accompanied by over 100 photographs.

Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis


Robert Barron - 2019
     It's been a diabolical masterpiece, one that has compromised the work of the Church in every way and has left countless lives in ruin. Many Catholics are understandably asking, “Why should I stay? Why not abandon this sinking ship before it drags me or my children under?" In this stirring manifesto, Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, explains why this is not the time to leave, but the time to stay and fight. Reading the current crisis through the lenses of Scripture and Church history, Bishop Barron shows that we have faced such egregious scandals before; that the spiritual treasures of the Church were preserved by holy men and women who recommitted themselves to fighting evil; and that there is a clear path forward for us today. For Catholics questioning their faith, searching desperately for encouragement and hope, this book will offer reasons to stay and fight for the Body of Christ.

By What Authority?


Robert Hugh Benson - 1904
    This he achieved without the use of the stereotypes that characterized virtually all such productions in his day to the detriment of both sides of the question.Sir Nicholas is the rock-solid head of his household and a devout Catholic who helps renegade priests hide from her Majestys men; but across the way lives a Protestant minister with a suspicious eye.The reader will find himself traveling across the English countryside hunting for priests; the next minute witnessing the happenings at the Queens court. In the midst of all this exists the relationship between a young man and a young lady; one a Catholic, the other a Protestant.During the Protestant Reformation, Catholic families suffered persecutions of various types. Families were divided; fathers and sons were thrown into jail; priests were hunted down and killed; neighbor turned against neighbor. But through it all, the few priests that remained were able to sustain and convert many.The tale told in this book is one of suspense, deceit, loyalty, martyrdom, truth and conversion a perfect companion to Come Rack, Come Rope!

Joseph the Silent


Michel Gasnier - 1961
    Joseph, yet his life is full of spiritual treasures. Michel Gasnier O.P., here shows you where to find them and how they can enrich your own relationship with God. In this series of brief meditations he explores St. Joseph's work as a carpenter, his marriage, his character, the flight into Egypt, his return to Nazareth, Simeon's prophecy, and more. He gives you an enlightening portrait of this man who remains one of the Church's most extraordinary saints and intercessors.

Revival Starts Here: A Short Conversation on Prayer, Fasting, and Revival for Beginners Like Me


Dave Clayton - 2019
    WILL YOU JOIN WHAT GOD IS DOING? Revival Starts Here is a short and pointed conversation about the way in which biblical prayer and fasting can prepare the way for fresh revival in our churches, our cities, our nation—and beyond. In this book, Dave Clayton lights a signal fire as he calls the 21st-century church to return to the Lord through prayer and fasting. If you long to experience revival, then this conversation is for you. Will you join what God is doing? “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” —2 CHRONICLES 7:14

Therese


Dorothy Day - 1960
    At the time when Dorothy wrote about her, she was already known to the world as the Saint of the Little Way; in the April 1952 CW Dorothy also called her "the saint of the responsible." Dorothy reflected in her book that while Therese's popularity was great, the "social implications of her teachings are yet to be written." Since the time that Dorothy wrote about her, St. Therese has become even better known and is now a Doctor of the Church. --Houston Catholic Worker-- full article http://www.cjd.org/paper/roots/rdespa...

My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live


Maria Morera Johnson - 2015
    Through humorous, empowering, and touching portraits of twenty-four spiritual mentors who inspired her, Johnson shows how their bravery, integrity, selflessness, perseverance, and hope helped her and can help others have courage to reach for a closer connection to God.She presents remarkable holy women and saints—including the gun-toting Servant of God Sr. Blandina Segal, who tried to turn the heart of Billy the Kid; and Nazi resister Irena Sendler, who helped smuggle children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II—in a way that brings their vivid personalities to life and helps readers live out the challenges of their lives with virtue and conviction.

The Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary


Margaret Mary Alacoque - 1698
    Written under obedience to her superiors, St. Margaret reveals the intimate spiritual life of a magnificent saint to whom Our Lord gave the famous revelations regarding the love of His Sacred Heart. Our Lord guided her from her earliest childhood and indicated to her how He cannot tolerate the slightest fault. He revealed to her the absolute sanctity of His love, and urged her not to resist His Holy Will in any way. She writes how God gave her a supernatural desire for great and continual suffering and love of the Cross. She tells us of angels appearing to her and how on another occasion she was given a mystical crown of thorns which caused her intense pain for the rest of her life. In sum, this is a powerful antidote to our natural tendency to reduce, in our own thinking, the Divine Majesty to strictly human dimensions. A spiritual jewel!

The Contemplative Rosary: With St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Avila


Dan Burke - 2017
    John Paul II and St. Teresa of Avila as your guides, these pages will show you how to transform the rote recitation of prayer into a profound worship of Christ, drawing your hearts to bow in awe before the Triune God whom the Rosary reveals to us. You’ll learn how to place every moment of your life before His throne, seeing in them the mystery of the Incarnation.You’ll learn the difference between contemplation and meditation, and how these great saints approached the reading of sacred writings not as a mere intellectual exercise, but as a prayer. You’ll learn how to enrich your vocal prayer, and how the Rosary can unite vocal prayer and mental prayer in a way that can lift your heart to the heights of contemplation.To look upon the face of Christ is the task of every follower of Christ, and there is no better way to contemplate life of Christ than through the Rosary. Read these pages, and you’ll soon follow in the footsteps of St. Teresa of Ávila and Pope St. John Paul II, finding in the Rosary a meeting point with God that becomes your first taste of a deeper union with Him.

This Present Paradise: A Spiritual Journey with St. Elizabeth of the Trinity


Claire Dwyer - 2021
    Elizabeth of the Trinity prophetically claimed that holiness is not exclusively the domain of priests and nuns but is truly for everyone.God created the human soul to be a special channel of His grace on earth and to serve as a unique image of His love. Few saints have spoken to hearts as acutely as St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, who has helped even the busiest, weariest, and most distracted of us create an inner chamber within our souls where we can rest in God’s peace and love.In this tender yet powerful book, author Claire Dwyer takes you on a spiritual journey with this little-known but fast-ascending saint. She shows you how to overcome aridity in prayer and discover ways to bring peace to familial relationships. You will learn how to identify and fulfill the specific mission God has for you and how to draw courage and meaning from the inevitable sufferings you will face.Best of all, you will learn how to encounter and live in union with God, which opens up a sanctuary of peace within your soul.The purpose of your life is not something to discover in the remote future. You can begin to live your ultimate end — union with the Trinity — right now in the secret center of your heart, where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit already dwell.St. Elizabeth of the Trinity has revealed the way. Read this book, and you will see with new eyes that your eternal destiny is already living within you, in this present paradise.

Boring: Finding an Extraordinary God in an Ordinary Life


Michael Kelley - 2013
    Today we live with a false separation between sacred and secular that was never meant to be. Work, paying bills, changing diapers . . . when Jesus enters any situation He makes even the most mundane things extraordinary.Bored enlivens this truth as author Michael Kelley uses the narrative of Saul's rise to kingship in the Old Testament to make his fine point: we can give ourselves to ordinary life -- parenting, marriage, work, etc. -- because we fully believe in God's presence and power within those situations. They are no longer boring but important.See every relationship, every act of kindness, and every moment for what it is: a part of God's exciting plan for your life.

Fully Human, Fully Alive: A New Life Through a New Vision


John Joseph Powell - 1976
    The rewarding results will be new self-confidence, healed relationships, and a heightened sensitivity to others' needs and feelings.

The Creed in Slow Motion


Ronald Knox - 1949
    When his existing homilies were exhausted, Knox began to write new ones for his students based on the Apostles' Creed. The homilies were so well-received that they were later published as The Creed in Slow MotionWith resurgent interest in the life and writings of Knox, as well as forthcoming changes to the English translation of the Creed, the new edition of this classic could not be more timely.

A Map of Life


Frank Sheed - 1933
    Beginning with "The Problem of Life's Purpose" and "The Problem of Life's Laws," he covers such important parts of the map of life as "The Creation and Fall," "The Incarnation," "The Mystical Body," "The Trinity," "Law and Sin," "The Supernatural Life," and "Heaven, Purgatory, Hell." "In its breadth and solidity of learning, in its clarity and attractiveness of exposition, in the persuasiveness that comes of profound conviction and intense earnestness, it is a triumphant little book." The Universe "This, then, is the first general outline of our map.  There is a road leading man to that ineffable intimacy with God that we call heaven.  The condition of walking the road aright is the Supernatural Life.  It will be seen how every single thing that happens to man has its bearing on this Supernatural Life and is a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether it helps it or hinders it.  Every single doctrine of the Catholic Church is bound up with this, and every single practice of the Catholic Church is concerned with this and with nothing else, and apart from this, has no meaning." Frank Sheed