Book picks similar to
Discernment by Marko Ivan Rupnik


catholic
discernment
philosophy
spiritual-direction

God Is Not Nice: Rejecting Pop Culture Theology and Discovering the God Worth Living For


Ulrich L. Lehner - 2017
    Lehner reintroduces Christians to the true God—not the polite, easygoing, divine therapist who doesn’t ask much of us, but the Almighty God who is unpredictable, awe-inspiring, and demands our entire lives.  Stripping away the niceties with a sling blade, Lehner shows that God is more strange and beautiful than we imagine, and wants to know and transform us in the most intimate way. With his iconoclastic new book God Is Not Nice, Lehner, one of the most promising young Catholic theologians in America, challenges the God of popular culture and many of our churches and reintroduces the God of the Bible and traditional Christianity. As Lehner writes in the book’s introduction, "We all need the vaccine of the true transforming and mysterious character of God: The God who shows up in burning bushes, speaks through donkeys, drives demons into pigs, throws Saul from his horse, and appears to St. Francis. It’s only this God who has the power to challenge us, change us, and make our lives dangerous. He sweeps us into a great adventure that will make us into different people." This book is not safe. It may startle and annoy many people—including those who purport to teach and preach the Gospel, but are missing it, according to Lehner. God Is Not Nice intends to overthrow all of our popular misconceptions about God, inviting us to ask deeper questions about the nature of our lives and our relationship with him. When you're finished with God Is Not Nice, you may find the idols you constructed in God’s name smashed, replaced with a God who will ask you to live an entirely different life full of hope and transformation.God Is Not Nice has been translated into several foreign languages.

Francis: Pope of a New World


Andrea Tornielli - 2013
    Francis of Assisi heard the call of Christ. It is also how Jorge Mario Bergoglio, at the age of 76, and a Jesuit, seems to have accepted his election to the papacy with the choice of a name that no other pope has ever chosen.Who is Pope Francis, elected in one of the shortest conclaves in history? Who is the man chosen to be the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit pope?How does he see the world and his ministry? How does he understand his call to serve Christ, his Church, and the world? In short, what is the mind and heart of this new pope of a new world--of the Americas and the rest of the world of the 21st Century?In the words, the ideas, and the personal recollections of Pope Francis--including material up to the final hours before his election--the most highly regarded Vatican observer on the international scene reveals the personality of this man of God, gentle and humble. The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, he made radically following Christ and the way of non-violence the pillars of his pastoral ministry in a country, continually tormented by social and economic inequities.This complete biography offers the keys to understanding the man who was a surprise choice, even a kind of revolutionary choice, for pope. It is the story of the humble pastor of one of the world's largest archdioceses; a cardinal who takes the bus, talks with common folk, and lives simply. It is the story of why the cardinal electors of the Catholic Church set aside political and diplomatic calculations to elect a pope to lead the renewal and purification of the worldwide Church of our time.

The New Rosary in Scripture: Biblical Insights for Praying the 20 Mysteries


Edward Sri - 2003
    This popular introduction to praying the rosary draws readers closer to Jesus and Mary by placing the mysteries-including the new mysteries of light-in the context of Scripture. The book addresses commonly asked questions about Mary and the rosary and provides the biblical background for all twenty mysteries. It also includes a scriptural rosary that offers ten Bible texts suitable for meditation on each mystery. An appendix offers the complete text of Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. A Servant Book.

God Wants You Happy: From Self-Help to God's Help


Jonathan Morris - 2011
    In his work traveling the world for FOX News and in his parish work in New York City, Father Jonathan could not understand why people were choosing the vague and sometimes harmful advice of the self-help gurus and ignoring the tested and true help the Christian faith offers. He discovered that part of the problem was packaging: people thought the church dealt only in sin and guilt and not help and healing. But what if we reframed God's good news in the same terms as the self-help world? Morris argues that self-help can only take you so far; what we need is God-help. God Wants You Happy offers a life-long spiritual program that teaches you how to open yourself up to God's loving presence in order to become everything he created you to be—joyful, flourishing men and women. In other words, God wants you to be happy. Illuminated with biblical passages and filled with case studies and exercises, God Wants You Happy helps you to: Open your mind and heart to the all-loving God who wants to help and empower you Work through the Faith-Hope-Love Cure to rid yourself of self-destructive and self-limiting habits while forming new habits for receiving grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and love Tap into the natural mechanisms of self-improvement God has already put within you Discover your divine mission A lifetime of happiness is at your fingertips and the Creator of the universe wants to help you achieve it.

Diamond Mind: Psychology Of Meditation


Rob Nairn - 1999
    With clarity and humour he guides us to understand how we ourselves generate the clouds of anxiety, desire and anger that obscure our happiness. We learn to recognise these obscurations, how they came about and how to release and dissolve them. The innate wisdom and brilliance of the mind then naturally manifest. The title contains guidelines and practices for meditators.

The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community


Tony Jones - 2009
    The Didache is an early handbook of an anonymous Christian community, likely written before some of the New Testament books were written. It spells out a way of life for Jesus-followers that includes instruction on how to treat one another, how to practice the Eucharist, and how to take in wandering prophets. In The Teaching of the Twelve, Jones unpacks the ancient document, and he traces the life of a small house church in Missouri that is trying to live according to its precepts. Readers will find The Teaching of the Twelve inspirational and challenging, and they will discover a unique window into the life of the very earliest followers of Jesus the Christ. A new, contemporary English translation of the Didache is included.

The Amazing Secret of the Souls in Purgatory: An Interview with Maria Simma


Sister Emmanuel - 1997
    The Amazing Secret of the Souls in Purgatory is such a book. Maria Simma, lived humbly in the mountains of Austria. When shew as twenty-five, Maria was graced with a very special charism - the charism of being visited by the many souls in Purgatory - and being able to communicate with them! In her words, Maria shares with us some amazing secrets about the souls in Purgatory. She answers questions such as:What is Purgatory?How do souls get there?Who decides if a soul goes to Purgatory?What are the sins that most lead to Purgatory?How can we help get a soul released from Purgatory?Are there religions which are bad for the soul?Are there children in Purgatory?How can I avoid Purgatory?This is a remarkable interview on after-death realities, a true revelation for those who have lost a dear one!

Whole: Restoring What Is Broken in Me, You, and the Entire World


Steve Wiens - 2017
    People and places are broken all around us.We were made for better than this: We were made to be whole, and wholly human, to tend a world that is wholly humane. We were made in the image of God. This book is a quest to recover that image in ourselves and our neighbors, to help us all become human and humane again.For Christians who lament the brokenness in themselves, their neighbors, and the world around them, Whole offers a rallying cry to pursue wholeness together.

Making Missionary Disciples


Curtis Martin
    He doesn’t just remind us how every disciple is called on mission to share the love and truth of Jesus Christ. He gives us practical ways to do this in our ordinary daily lives. Experience the transformation for which we all long—through Making Missionary Disciples. “Making Missionary Disciples is a small book … like a mustard seed or a grain of wheat; when these are planted in the earth they reveal a surprising explosive force … [It] shows us Jesus’ methods of evangelization.” Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops “… these pages will be of great help for all those who are engaged in the service for the new evangelization, which is so urgent and needed in our times.” Archbishop Rino Fisichella, -President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization “This groundbreaking book gives us an inside look at the process of forming disciples from the founder of one of the most powerful Catholic missionary organizations in the world.” Jennifer Fulwiler, SiriusXM radio host

Kabbalistic Astrology: And the Meaning of Our Lives


Philip S. Berg - 2004
    Kabbalah, in fact, offers arguably the oldest and wisest application of astronomy and astrology known to humankind. Kabbalistic Astrology is a tool for understanding one's individual nature at its deepest level and putting that knowledge to immediate use in the real world. A natural addition to Berg’s many writings on spirituality, the book explains why destiny is not the same as predestination and shows that we have many possible futures and can become masters of our fate. Written in Berg’s trademark clear, intelligible style, the book teaches how to discover challenges faced in previous incarnations and how to overcome them, as well as the secrets to finding the love, success, and spiritual fulfillment.

The Love That Made Mother Teresa: How Her Secret Visions and Dark Nights Can Help You Conquer the Slums of Your Heart


David Scott - 2014
    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.

The Seer's Path: An Invitation to Experience Heaven, Angels, and the Invisible Realm of the Spirit


Ana Werner - 2017
    This unseen realm is responsible for many everyday happenings—both good and bad. This is why it’s vital for you to understand how to activate the seer anointing and begin seeing into the spirit realm.Ana Werner is an everyday person with an extraordinary gift: she can see the invisible world. Through an engaging blend of supernatural stories—including encounters with Jesus and revelatory experiences in Heaven—and practical spiritual truths, Ana releases a powerful impartation that will help you to see into the spirit realm!By reading this book, you will gain…Biblical understanding of what defines a “Seer”Practical keys to seeing into the spirit realmUnique insights into the workings of angels and demonsEssential tools for engaging in victorious spiritual warfareInsider glimpses into into the rooms of Heaven and realms of God’s gloryAlthough not all Christians are “seers,” all believers have received the ability to see into the spirit realm.Learn to see into the supernatural world and experience the wonders of Heaven in your life today!

The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times: New Perspectives on the Transformative Wisdom of Ignatius of Loyola


Dean Brackley - 2004
    Dean Brackley integrates a realistic analysis of today's social crisis with the deep personal spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola.

St. Therese of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations


Thérèse de Lisieux - 1977
    Translation of J'entre dans la vie, originally issued under title: Novissima verba.

I Loved Jesus in the Night: Teresa of Calcutta -- A Secret Revealed


Paul Murray - 2008
    The media focused attention at once on the unexpected phenomenon of darkness in the life of the saint, the astonishing revelation that, for decades, Mother Teresa had struggled mightily with belief in God. To some, this seemed to lend support to the arguments of the “new atheists.” But what we are offered in this beautiful book is, at last, a serious grappling with the deeper meaning of her darkness, a work of sharp and unusual insight, written by someone who knew her.In this intimate look at her “private writings,” Paul Murray illumines the meaning of a life which is only now beginning to be understood.I Loved Jesus in the Night is one priest’s compelling account of meeting with the saint of Calcutta. Sharing anecdotes and first-hand experiences, Paul Murray offers a glimpse into why Mother Teresa could declare, in one of her letters, that if ever she were to “become a saint,” she would surely be one of “darkness.”This very personal yet powerful book is an attempt to come to terms with the dark night experiences endured by Mother Teresa in the light of the Gospel and the mystical teachings of St John of the Cross. And something else as well...revelations of Mother Teresa’s sense of humor!