These texts, which are undoubtedly among the last things he wrote, take on the character of a legacy, a spiritual testament. For they amount in their extraordinary compactness and depth to a little "summa" of his theology. What he had set out in detail in numerous books over five decades, he summarizes here in contemplative plainness and simplicity.All the characteristics that make von Balthasar's work so distinctive and valuable are to be found here: breadth of vision, loveliness of style, and an intuitive-contemporary passion that allows him to "pray intellectually and think 'cordially'."In his warm and extensive introduction to the book, Medard Kehl speaks of von Balthasar's "unclouded, almost childlike joy in the richness and beauty of the Mystery" of the threefold God, which "is evidenced in his interpretation of the creed."

    Gardening helps us collect ourselves, much as praying does. For rich and poor- it makes no difference- a garden is a place where body and soul are in harmony. In Inheriting Paradise Vigen Guroian offers an abundant vision of the spiritual life found in the cultivation of God's good creation. Capturing the earthiness and sacramental character of the Christian faith, these uplifting meditations bring together the experience of space and time through the cycle of the seasons in the garden and relate this fundamental human experience to the cycle of the church year and the Christian seasons of grace. The tilling of fresh earth; the sowing of seeds; the harvesting of rhubarb and roses, dillweed and daffodils-Guroian finds in the garden our most concrete connection with life and God's gracious giving. His personal reflections on this connection, complemented here by delicate woodcut illustrations, offer a compelling entry into Christian spirituality.

    All four of these good things are guaranteed to happen if you but promise to go onto your porch tomorrow with your pad or other device, light your pipe, and Tolle Lege.

    This historic apostolic letter from Pope John Paul II broadens the traditional pattern of the rosary to include the mysteries of light-five reflections on Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion.

    In 2006, Pope Benedict stressed that "Divine Mercy is not a secondary devotion, but an integral dimension of Christian faith and prayer." Now Pope Francis has proclaimed an extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, which will begin on December 8, 2015. These three Popes have made it very clear that Divine Mercy is a major part of the Christian faith, and now this powerful new book reveals why.Best-selling author Vinny Flynn continues his popular "7 Secrets" series with a book that brings him back to his roots. Vinny was one of the original editors of the official English edition of the actual Diary of St. Faustina, and he has written and edited a vast number of the Divine Mercy materials that are used today.Through his "secrets" of Divine Mercy, Vinny shows how Divine Mercy is not just another worthy "private devotion"; it is the key devotion, the umbrella devotion over everything else. Every other devotion in the Church, every ritual, every activity, every teaching is under that umbrella of Divine Mercy. It’s all there to help us understand and enter into Divine Mercy. He shows us how everything in our lives can become more meaningful, more powerful, more life-changing once we really embrace the gift of Divine Mercy — the overflow of love from the Holy Trinity.In this compelling and timely book, Flynn draws from Scripture, the teachings of the Church, and the Diary of St. Faustina to not only reveal the heart of Divine Mercy, but to offer you an invitation and a road map so that this mercy can transform your life.If you're not yet convinced of the impact Divine Mercy can have on your life, if you've never heard of this message and devotion, or if you're curious to learn more about it, this book is perfect for you. It shows us all how to respond to the call of Pope Francis "to live lives shaped by mercy", and benefit greatly from the "Year of Mercy".

    While much has been done to counter false teaching over the last four decades, today the Church faces even more insidious threatsƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚€ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"from outside and within. In A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward, Martin offers a detailed look at the growing hostility to the Catholic Church and its teaching. With copious evidence, Martin uncovers the forces working to undermine the Body of Christ and offers hope to those looking for clarity.A Church in Crisis covers:-polarization in the Church caused by ambiguous teachings-initiatives that accommodate the culture without calling for conversion-Vatican-sponsored partnerships with organizations that actively contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church-and the recycling of theological errors long settled by V

    As he shares God's answers, he shows readers how they too can take hold of the incredible power of prayer.

    Believe it or not, the Good Book doesn't mention Friday, and even more surprisingly, while the Bible says Jesus rose from the grave, it does not say it occurred Sunday morning. Remember, Jesus' followers found an empty tomb then.But don't feel bad if you've always assumed otherwise. Like countless millions of people, you've just been misinformed, misled or even (dare we say) lied to about what the Bible actually says.In a stunning investigation, news veteran Joe Kovacs goes on a mission to help both Christians and non-Christians alike find out what the Bible really contains, and what it doesn't."Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told" is an educational juggernaut that relies solely on the Holy Bible to reveal hundreds of Scriptural facts that many people of all persuasions simply don't know. The book instantly skyrocketed to the No. 1 position in three Bible-related categories on Amazon.com."I'm among the biggest fans of the Bible of all time," says Kovacs. "My goal is to educate people about the solid truth of Scripture and to stop the spread of erroneous information. I want people to crack open their Bibles and see with their own eyes what's actually printed on the pages, and what's not. It's shocking!"According to Scripture, you won't find "Three Wise Men" mentioned anywhere in the story of Jesus' birth. For that matter, none are said to have shown up at the manger in Bethlehem. The truth straight from your own Bible is that an unspecified number of wise men first met Jesus as a "young child" in a "house," not a babe in a manger, and it might have been more than a year after He was born. Go ahead, look it up for yourself.Also, according to Scripture, you won't find a single mention of Easter eggs, but you will find God warning His people not to have anything to do with a pagan fertility goddess, whose name is synonymous with "Easter.""Yes, I'm a Bible-believing Christian," says Kovacs. "But I'm not here to convert anyone. People are free to believe whatever they wish and can come to their own conclusions. I just want to show them the biblical record is often very different from what many assume. Not only will Christians love this book, but I think Jews, Muslims and even agnostics and atheists will get a kick out of it as well."

    The author invites readers to imitate the Celtic saints who were aware of God as a living presence in everybody and everything. This ancient perspective gives radical new alternatives to modern faith practices, ones that are both challenging and constructively positive. This is a Christianity big enough to embrace the entire world.

    As you develop your roles in your family, you unlock more of His plan. He tasked no one else but you with being your husband’s wife, and He hasn’t given anyone else except you the responsibility of being mother to your children. Spoiler alert – those assignments begin before we even meet our spouse! Famous in heaven and at home. That’s what He has called us to unquestionably. As we dig into Proverbs 31 together, let’s lay down our to-do lists and worldly expectations. Let’s not overlook and undervalue what we can be certain He desires from our lives. Rather than just seeking something worthy to do, let’s passionately pursue who God purposely created us to be.

    They are balancing dramatic changes in their own lives while dealing with uncertainties in a world around them. In a culture that is no longer predominantly Christian, college ministry workers can no longer assume the students on their campuses have a basic understanding of Christ or his Church.In College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture, Stephen Lutz translates missional theology to the practice of college ministry-ministry as a proactive movement that is constantly adapting to its ever-changing environment. This resource will equip college ministry staff, pastors, churches, and student leaders to minister effectively to today's college students with both depth and practical insight.Lutz walks you through the approaches needed to establish, grow and maintain a missional college ministry.

    Each chapter examines a line from the prayer, revealing power points for every believer desiring a more dynamic prayer life. Towns says: "What would you say if you were ushered into the throne room of God with only one minute to request everything you needed, but didn't know how to put it into words? The Lord's Prayer includes everything you need to ask when you talk to God . . . it is a model prayer that teaches us how to pray."

    But the story of the baby in the manger is the culmination of a thousand other stories. It is the focus of the story of the Bible and the story of human history. The book has 24 short meditative readings working through Bible stories from Genesis to Jesus. Each day ideas for reflection, prayer and application, designed to excite you about the Gospel message in the run up to Christmas Day. As you prepare for Christmas, get a fresh insight into the full script of the nativity, the story of our world, and the plotline for the rest of your life...

    Once in a generation a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read--a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Ambitious, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible & covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith. Christianity will teach modern readers things that have been lost in time about how Jesus' message spread & how the New Testament was formed. It follows the Christian story to all corners of the globe, filling in often neglected accounts of conversions & confrontations in Africa & Asia. It discovers the roots of the faith that galvanized America, charting the rise of the evangelical movement from its origins in Germany & England. This book encompasses all of intellectual history--we meet monks & crusaders, heretics & saints, slave traders & abolitionists, & discover Christianity's essential role in driving the Enlightenment & the age of exploration, & shaping the course of WWI & WWII.We live in a time of tremendous religious awareness, when both believers & non-believers are engaged by questions of religion & tradition, seeking to understand the violence sometimes perpetrated in the name of God. The son of an Anglican clergyman, MacCulloch writes with feeling about faith. His last book, The Reformation, was chosen by dozens of publications as Best Book of the Year & won the Nat'l Book Critics Circle Award. This inspiring follow-up is a landmark new history of the faith that continues to shape the world.

    This new edition includes a revised text, new notes, and new bibliography. "The movement and meeting of God with us is indeed a speech-event in which new humanness is evoked among us. Being attentive to language means cultivating the candid imagination to bring our own experience to the Psalms and permitting it to be disciplined by the speech of the Psalms. And, conversely, it means letting the Psalms address us and having that language reshape our sensitivities and fill our minds with new pictures and images that may redirect our lives." --from Chapter 3 Endorsements: "I am so glad to see this second edition of Praying the Psalms. In it Walter Brueggemann reveals the ways in which the Psalms teach the mother tongue of biblical speech by inviting us to the risk of daring candor with God.The contemporary church in North America regularly suffers collective amnesia in the face of the languages of techno-speak, market share and sentimental clich� that shape the world we inhabit. Praying the Psalms offers a surprising antidote to this chronic forgetfulness. It invites us to recover our ancient memory and true identity by learning again to pray the Psalms. I know of no better book for introducing a congregation to the Psalms than this one." --Edwin Searcy, Pastor, University Hill Congregation, United Church of Canada, Vancouver, BC "'The Psalms just don't speak to me.' Anyone who has ever felt this way should read Brueggemann's book. . . . He shows how these ancient prayers can lead us from the disorientation of our chaotic lives into a reorientation of transformation. His treatment of both the post-Holocaust Christian use of these very Jewish prayers and the troublesome call for vengeance is most timely. This book shows how the Psalms can indeed speak to us." --Dianne Bergant, CSA author of Preaching the New Lectionary ". . . Brueggemann pushes me and other readers to recognize the full gamut of passions reflected in the Psalms: joy and exultation but also disappointment, sorrow, anger, resentment, even the desire for vengeance. . . . I am grateful to Brueggemann for making me more alert to what the Psalms are saying about our common human relation to God and more honest about my own feelings as I pray the Psalms every day as part of the Liturgy of the Hours." --Joseph A. Bracken, SJ coauthor of Self-Emptying Love in a Global Context "Few persons have so lived in and with the Psalms as Walter Brueggemann. Here he takes us into their depths, which are so clearly the depths of our human existence. The piety of the Psalms is strong medicine. Brueggemann bids us take it for the cure of our souls." --Patrick D. Miller author of Interpreting the Psalms and They Cried to the Lord About the Contributor(s): Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is the author of numerous works including Theology of the Old Testament, Inscribing the Text, Prophetic Imagination, and David's Truth.