Spirituality Catholicism

In his first Encyclical, Pope Benedict helps to clarify the meaning of love. He examines the nature of various kinds of love—human love and divine love, eros, friendship, and charity. He writes beautifully and inspirationally of how man was made for love by the God who is love, the God who became one of us out of love—Jesus Christ.

From the creation of man to the current ecclesial infiltration and world revolution, the devil and his minions have sought to destroy the human race made in the image of God. No longer attacking from without, they are now secretly laying siege from within the Holy Roman Catholic Church. But why is God allowing this? He loves to see souls heroically battle for the faith.

In this newly updated, expanded version of his popular work of apologetics, Shea presents a lively and entertaining look at his conversion to Catholicism from Evangelicalism and his discovery of Christian tradition. As an Evangelical, Shea accepted the principle of sola scriptura (Scripture alone) as the basis of faith. Now as a Catholic convert, he skillfully explains how and why Sacred Tradition occupies a central role in Divine Revelation.

Just as she’s turning 60, a life-altering event brings Lisa face to face with this startling realization. The mother of three beautiful children, grandmother to a sweet newborn grandson, a woman with close friends and plenty of activities to keep her busy, Lisa thought she was satisfied with her ordinary life. But now, she just can’t shake the feeling that something is missing.

Though there has been a resurgence in the domestic arts and a desire to live a simpler lifestyle, the role of a homemaker is still unpopular. Viewed as an unfulfilling and even oppressive way of life, many women feel a sense of shame or futility in managing the world of their home. Theology of Home: The Spiritual Art of Homemaking turns this misguided notion on its head, shining new light on the role of a homemaker as it relates the deepest truths of the Faith with an honest and fearless understanding of the modern world.

Best-selling author J. I. Packer, one of the most influential evangelicals of our day, has put together what may become a Christian classic on the vital truths of the faith. Serving to nourish the church worldwide, Packer makes accessible the things we need to know in eight essential areas. This concise book also helps us guard against liberalism by pushing Christians to know their faith so they can explain it to inquirers and sustain it against skeptics. Here is a call to a discipleship in mere Christianity - the business of taking God seriously.

This book, edited by biologist Ann Gauger, clears up common misconceptions regarding intelligent design, showing why it is an argument not from ignorance but from knowledge and how the evidence for God's design of the natural world is growing.

Not long after Martin Luther's defiance of the Church in 1517, dialogue between Protestants and Catholics broke down, brother turned against brother, and devastating religious wars erupted across Europe. Desperate to restore the peace and recover the unity of Faith, Catholic theologians clarified and reaffirmed Catholic doctrines, but turned as well to another form of evangelization: the arts.

There may be no person on the globe who knows more about the story of Fatima than Sister Angela de Fatima Coelho. As a little girl growing up in Portugal, she used to pray at the tombs of Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Many years later, as a sister of the Alianca de Santa Maria, she would become the postulator for their cause of canonization. This journey would lead her to visit with Sister Lucia several times and eventually become the vice postulator for her cause as well. Now, she gives her profound testimony about Fatima.

St. Francis worked hard at evangelizing Calvinist Protestants to return to the Catholic faith. However, they were afraid of the backlash, and so, St. Francis wrote pamphlets and slipped them under doors and posted them on walls. After four years of his efforts, more than 70,000 people had returned to the faith. These pamphlets were compiled into this book, which remains one of the best sources for defending the Catholic faith.

What does the Bible really say about the birth of Jesus? How did the celebration of Christmas become associated with things like Santa Claus and decorated trees? In The True Meaning of Christmas: The Birth of Jesus and the Origins of the Season, biblical scholar Michael Patrick Barber offers an inspiring look at the Bible's accounts of Jesus' birth and the development of the Christmas season. As Dr. Barber will show, to find our way "home" at Christmas, we need to first return to Christmas' home in the story of the Bible.

The Catholic Faith begins and ends with Jesus Christ, culminating in the Eucharist as its source and summit. Behold, It Is I, Jesus says, and the faithful believe. Examining these words of Jesus, Fr. George Elliott and Dr. Stacy Trasancos provide some of the most convincing proofs for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist from scripture, tradition, and the scientific investigation of Eucharistic miracles. The listener may be joyfully surprised at where the journey of this book will lead, from the burning faith of the saints all the way back to Christ in the Gospels.

Originally written for monks, the principles in the Rule of St. Benedict may be applied by anyone — and in today’s hectic, changing world, following its principles offers a rich spiritual connection to the stability and wisdom of monastic life. This essential guide explains how people who live and work in “the world” are still invited to balance work with prayer, cultivate interdependence with others, practice hospitality, and otherwise practice their spirituality like monks.

This user-friendly book blends theory and practice, gently and concretely taking the listener through the first steps of contemplative prayer. Armchair Mystic begins with the necessary details of time and place to pray, then presents the maturation of the prayer life in four stages.

As Catholics, we believe in the resurrection of the body. We profess it in our creed. We're taught that to bury and pray for the dead are corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We honor the dead in our Liturgy through the rite of Christian burial. We do all of this, and more, because when Jesus Christ took on flesh for the salvation of our souls he also bestowed great dignity on our bodies. In Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of Death and the Resurrection of the Body, Scott Hahn explores the significance of death and burial from a Catholic perspective.

For more than 25 years John Thavis held one of the most fascinating journalistic jobs in the world: reporting on the inner workings of the Vatican. His daily exposure to the power, politics, and personalities in the seat of Roman Catholicism gave him a unique, behind-the-scenes perspective on an institution that is far less monolithic and unified than it first appears. Thavis reveals Vatican City as a place where Curia cardinals fight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority, and reverence for the past is continually upended by the practical considerations of modern life.

"Francis, go and build up my house, which thou seest, is falling into ruin." To fulfill this command of Our Lord, St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) began by restoring physical churches and continued by building up the spiritual church in souls. Francis' humility, purity, and true joy inspired many to conversion and a deeper faith.

In The Synodal Pope: The True Story of the Theology and Politics of Pope Francis, Jean-Pierre Moreau traces the history and theological development of Pope Francis from his upbringing in Argentina and formation by the liberationist Jesuits. Moreau, a keen observer of liberation theology, many of whose leading figures he personally met when he was a special correspondent for the Figaro-Magazine in the 1980s, has made a close study of the personal and intellectual itinerary of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, described by his closest supporters as professing the “theology of the people.”

Brilliantly wresting meaning from the historical, social and religious strands of his story, Carroll illuminates the Church's transformation from reactionary monolith to an institution in which the deepest aspects of faith are being called into question. Carroll reveals his own story--as a Catholic boy in the 1940s and '50s, as a seminarian and priest in the crucible of the 1960s and early '70s, and as a committed but questioning Catholic today--with an emotional impact reminiscent of his An American Requiem.

In this book, Justin Martyr boldly defends the Christian faith before the Roman government. He addresses the core beliefs of the early church and refutes the lies spread abroad about them. A truly inspirational piece of literature that should not disappoint the hungry soul looking for pure doctrine and teaching. He truly was a man of God that held great understanding of godly virtue and wisdom. May you be abundantly blessed as you partake in this book!