Religious Life

Why do we buy what we buy, vote the way we vote, eat what we eat, and say what we say? Why do we have the friends we have, and work and play as we do? It's our choice? Yes, but there are forces, often unseen, that shape every decision we make and every action we take. These hidden, life-shaping values and ideas are not promoted through organized religions or rival philosophies but fostered by cultural habits, lifestyles and the institutional structures of society.

When Mike Pence was a young politician, reporters used to ask him: “where do you see yourself in five, ten years?” Without fail, the former Vice President would reply, “home for dinner.” This answer was an honest assessment of his priorities. Throughout his career, Pence has been adamant about putting his family first. As he often told his staff, he’d rather lose an election than lose his family. Go Home for Dinner is an in-depth, practical guide to balancing the demands of life with the long-term satisfaction that only a commitment to your family can bring.

Is there life beyond the grave? Is it reasonable to believe in the afterlife? If so, how should we act on those beliefs? Best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza undertakes an unprecedented voyage of intellectual discovery to reveal the truth about life, death and beyond.

Sometimes it happens in a flash: a text, a blowup, a breakup. Other times, relationships simply fade: you and your spouse rarely make eye contact, you learn the friend you trusted is gossiping about you, the child who once held your hand is now an angry teenager. You go over and over conflicts in your mind and wonder How can I fix this? Or Is fixing this even possible? Or Why did I handle it that way?

When Joseph was a baby, his grandfather made him a wonderful blanket. But as Joseph grows older, the blanket becomes tattered and worn. Throw it out! cries Joseph's mother. Luckily, Grandpa is an extraordinary tailor. He can fix anything! And so with a snip! snip! here, and a few stiches there, Grandpa transforms the treasured blanket into a jacket, a vest, a Sabbath tie, a handkerchief, and finally, a beautiful button. But when the button is lost, even Grandpa can't help. After all, how can you make something from nothing?

276 times Chaplain Jim Brazzil has sat in death’s waiting room. He has listened to confessions in the eleventh hour. The last moment of the condemned, when everything bubbles up to the surface and they have to share. Now Jim is the one dying, ready for his last confession.

In What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, Phil Zuckerman argues that morality does not come from God. Rather, it comes from us: our brains, our evolutionary past, our ongoing cultural development, our social experiences, and our ability to reason, reflect, and be sensitive to the suffering of others.

Considered by many to be the first autobiography/memoir ever written, Confessions is a retrospective view of a life challenged by uncertainty, doubt, human frailty, and earthly desires. Augustine discovers and cherishes a deeply personal relationship with his God, all while describing the day-to-day dealings of his life in the fading, corrupt days of the Roman Empire.

In spontaneous, intimate terms, Archbishop Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, covers topics as wide-ranging as his childhood, family life, and the importance of his first job, to discovering his calling and his early days in the seminary. Through his own words, we come to know a man whose actions and words reflect his deeply-rooted humility. The audiobook concludes with the Pope’s own writings and reflections, full of wisdom and inspiration.

Carmen Browne is a 10-year-old African-American girl beginning fifth grade. With her family moving to a new city, Carmen is anguished to give up her friends and comfortable home. As her family adapts to a new location, Carmen learns that finding new friends and fitting in is not easy. Part of her doesn't even want to try. Family issues become complicated when Carmen's brother learns he is adopted.

Third in the Carmen Browne Series, Golden Spirit finds Carmen meeting new challenges and facing serious issues such as domestic violence, and her own tendency toward bossiness. This series focuses on issues faced by many preteen girls and teaches inspiring lessons about dealing with gossip, self-esteem, and body image.

“Life on Earth: Poetic Perspectives”, a compelling collection of 200 thoughtprovoking poems that capture the essence of human experience. From inspiring verses that ignite the spirit to practical advice that navigates life’s challenges, this anthology offers a unique blend of inspiration and wisdom. Dive into the depths of human emotions, explore the beauty of nature, and find solace in the power of words.

Have you ever wondered…whether God exists? whether life has meaning? Whether pain and suffering have a purpose? This audiobook is my invitation to sit down with C. S. Lewis and me to think about some of the persistent questions and dilemmas every person faces in life. We’ll explore Lewis’s thoughts on everything from friendships to heaven, from the reasons for faith to the power of stories.

There are many editions of the writings of St. Francis, and many biographies about him, but here in one volume are both, plus the complete text of the late medieval work The Little Flowers, which did more to establish the legend of the man than any other work. This edition includes the complete Road to Assisi, Paul Sabatier's groundbreaking and foundational biography of the saint, first published in French in 1894; the complete Francis in His Own Words: The Essential Writings; and The Little Flowers, thus offering the best introduction to St. Francis yet available between two covers.

An unforgettable spiritual autobiography about a search for meaning that begins alongside one of the great religious icons of our time and ends with a return to the secular world. At seventeen, Mary Johnson saw Mother Teresa’s face on the cover of Time and experienced her calling. Eighteen months later, she entered a convent in the South Bronx to begin her religious training. Not without difficulty, this bright, independent-minded Texas teenager eventually adapted to the sisters’ austere life of poverty and devotion, and in time became close to Mother Teresa herself.

While most of us have heard about Christians suffering for their faith, we tend to think "persecution" mainly impacts believers in times past or in hostile nations today, far removed from our daily lives. But this eye-opening book describes the various stages of persecution, revealing that persecution is something all followers of the Way can expect to face in this fallen world. Trouble on the Way will not only help listeners recognize persecution in all its forms but enable them to stand firm against it.

He appears once in the New Testament, mentioned only in passing in the Acts of the Apostles; only a few verses in the canon, but for the primitive Church, there is a whole corpus about Simon Magus, its most formidable antagonist, an enemy of such colossal proportions that he deserved to be called "the father of all heresies." His only mention in the Bible occurs at the beginning of the second volume of Luke the Evangelist where he had a minor confrontation with Saint Peter which nonetheless had a happy ending.

In this “jewel of a novel” (The Observer), Hilary Byrd flees his demons and the dark undercurrents of contemporary life in England for a former British hill station in south India. Charmed by the foreignness of his new surroundings and by the familiarity of everything the British have left behind, he finds solace in life’s simple pleasures, travelling by rickshaw around the small town with his driver Jamshed and staying in a mission house beside the local presbytery where, after a chance meeting, the Padre and his adoptive daughter Priscilla take Hilary under their wing.

In Acedia & Me, the acclaimed author Kathleen Norris explicates and demystifies the forgotten but utterly relevant concept of acedia, a term that has often been understood as spiritual sloth, but really signifies the serious malady of being unable to care. With great insight and candor, Norris explores acedia through the geography of her life as a writer; her marriage and the challenges of commitment in the midst of grave illness; and her keen interest in the monastic tradition.

Jesus' life is a song that still resonates down through the ages. His deeds and words speak with beauty and mystery, both comforting and confounding us. Who is this man? Over the course of his career, singer-songwriter Michael Card has explored the depths of Scripture by bringing together biblical study and the power of the imagination. Now he sheds light on the life of Jesus through lyrical reflections on the four Gospels. These 40 meditations lead us to a place where Jesus becomes real and we can hear him with both hearts and minds.