Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate


Helen Prejean - 1993
    In the months before Sonnier’s death, the Roman Catholic nun came to know a man who was as terrified as he had once been terrifying. She also came to know the families of the victims and the men whose job it was to execute—men who often harbored doubts about the rightness of what they were doing. Out of that dreadful intimacy comes a profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment. Here Sister Helen confronts both the plight of the condemned and the rage of the bereaved, the fears of a society shattered by violence and the Christian imperative of love. On its original publication in 1993, Dead Man Walking emerged as an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty. Now, some two decades later, this story—which has inspired a film, a stage play, an opera and a musical album—is more gut-wrenching than ever, stirring deep and life-changing reflection in all who encounter it.

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life


James Martin - 2010
    Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, this book will help you realize the Ignatian goal of “finding God in all things.” Filled with relatable  examples, humorous stories, and anecdotes from the heroic and inspiring lives of Jesuit saints and average priests and brothers, The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything will enrich your everyday life with spiritual guidance and history.

Finding Moosewood, Finding God: What Happened When a TV Newsman Abandoned His Career for Life on an Island


Jack Perkins - 2013
    People were familiar with his face, his bearing, and his rich, reassuring bass.Yet at the age of fifty-two and at the height of his career, Jack Perkins left the world of broadcasting and moved with his wife, Mary Jo, to a bare-necessities cabin on an uninhabited island off the coast of Maine. This isolated home they came to call Moosewood was the setting for and the catalyst to Jack and Mary Jo’s spiritual awakening. For thirteen years they endured (and learned to enjoy) snowbound winters, shuttling supplies from the mainland, testing themselves and the strength of their marriage, and discovering the rewards and glories of a close-to-nature life. Which is to say, the rewards and glories of a close-to-God life. As far as the public was aware, Jack Perkins had vanished. In fact, he was doing research; not, for a change, about the unknown private life of a movie star or celebrated artist, but about the unknown sides of himself.Jack’s personal account in Finding Moosewood, Finding God tells a relatable story of one man drawn to cast off a shallow and unsatisfying lifestyle in order to seek out a deeper, more meaningful and spiritual life. Within the course of explaining how their lives were blessedly transformed especially during the cycle of their first year of island living, Jack draws in stories from his long career in an impressionistic, associative way that invites the reader to connect the dots. One finds—as he finally did—that there’d been many hints along the way of a greater plan at work. This rich memoir also contains a photo insert.

Somewhere More Holy: Stories from a Bewildered Father, Stumbling Husband, Reluctant Handyman, and Prodigal Son


Tony Woodlief - 2010
    When he and his wife lost their adored little girl, his trust in God turned to bitter anger. As he and his wife struggled to save their marriage and his faith, they discovered that home is more than just rooms and a roof. Home is a place where people are sometimes wounded or betrayed. Home is also where God is strong in the broken places. Woodlief takes readers through his house, room by room, showing that home is: • Where we cry out to God as we seek him in the small things • Where the sacred and the mundane meet • The place that makes us better than we could ever be on our own • More than the place where we eat and sleep…it is where we learn grace Woodlief’s heart-touching stories leavened with humor will appeal to a wide audience, especially those trying to reconcile the idea of a loving God in a broken world.

Pope Francis


Matthew E. Bunson - 2013
    Read Pope Francis for the first and most comprehensive perspective of the man, the man he replaces as Bishop of Rome, and the global challenges Pope Francis faces in the universal church.

Set Free: A Story of Peace Found Through Forgiveness


Stephen Owens - 2013
    I am her son. Please do not take this from me. There is no justice in taking her life. There is no justice in denying the healing power of forgiveness.”Stephen Owens was 12 years old in 1985 when he discovered his father at home badly beaten and near death. Evidence proved Stephen’s mom, Gaile, had hired a hit man to carry out the murder, and she was sent to death row. Stephen and Gaile did not see each other for decades, but through an amazing series of life transformations and revelations about the tragic event, God opened a door for both of them to be set free -- one from a prison of unforgiveness, the other from a literal prison cell.While the events surrounding Gaile Owens’ release made national headlines and have stirred widespread fascination, Set Free far exceeds the experience and expectations of a modern true crime story, proving to be much more about God as the loving author of true forgiveness.

Making Loss Matter


David J. Wolpe - 1999
    Coping with grief and experiencing loss overwhelms us in ways that seem both hopeless and endless. In painful moments like these, we must make a choice: Will we allow the difficulties we face to become forces of destruction in our lives, or will we find a way to begin learning from loss, transforming our suffering into a source of strength?A theologian with the heart of a poet, Rabbi David Wolpe explores the meaning of loss, and the way we can use its inevitable appearance in our lives as a source of strength rather than a source of despair. In this national bestseller, Wolpe creates a remarkably fluid account of how we might find a way out of overwhelming feelings of helplessness and instead begin understanding grief in all its forms and learn to create meaning in difficult times.