Spirituality Catholicism

Author Rebecca Frech details the different types of friends, ways to grow intentionally in friendship, and how to decide which friends really deserve a place in our inner circle. Ultimately, Can We Be Friends? reminds us that authentic, life-giving friendship not only gives us a stable tribe in which to belong, it helps us to become our true self.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton has become synonymous with modern Christian apologetics. But his impact goes beyond just those interested in a defense of Christian thought. His writings have influenced such diverse authors as C.S. Lewis, Marshall McLuhan, and Jorge Luis Borges, and remains a subtle and unseen presence in contemporary Catholic thought.

In 1981, the year after Ted Turner founded CNN, a simple nun, using merely her entrepreneurial instincts and $200, launched what would become the world’s largest religious media empire in the garage of a Birmingham, Alabama, monastery. Under her guidance, the Eternal Word Television Network grew at a staggering pace, both in viewership and in influence, to where it now reaches over a hundred million viewers in hundreds of countries around the globe.

The story of Roman Catholicism has never followed a singular path. In no time period has this been more true than over the last two centuries. Beginning with the French Revolution, extending to the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, and concluding with present-day crises, John T. McGreevy chronicles the dramatic upheavals and internal divisions shaping the most multicultural, multilingual, and global institution in the world. Through powerful stories and sweeping birds-eye views, Catholicism provides a mesmerizing assessment of the Church's complex role in modern history.

It's not always possible to control external events. There are so many things that are outside our control: the past, what others think of us, chronic health issues, other peoples' actions, the weather, unforeseen events. It is possible, though, to gain more control over our interior life. In his book Interior Freedom, Father Jacques Philippe shows us that we possess, each of us, inside of us a space of freedom that no one can take away. Despite the most unfavorable outward circumstances, we can claim our freedom because God is its source and its guarantee.

Probably the finest book ever written about the rosary, The Secret of the Rosary appeals to all ages. It shows the great spiritual power of the rosary, which is appreciated by few, and tells why the rosary is the most important private prayer.

From a master chronicler of legal and financial misconduct, a magnificent investigation nine years in the making, this book traces the political intrigue and inner workings of the Catholic Church. Decidedly not about faith, belief in God, or religious doctrine, this audiobook is about the church's accumulation of wealth and its byzantine entanglements with financial markets across the world.

One of Cardinal Ratzinger's most important and widely read books, this volume is a revised second edition with an improved translation and an in-depth preface by the Cardinal. As he states in the preface, since this book was first published over 30 years ago, many changes and significant events have occurred in the world, and in the Church. But even so, he says he is firmly convinced that his fundamental approach in this book is still very timely and crucial for the spiritual needs of modern man.

This galvanizing audiobook, presenting the teachings of Christ from the experience and perspective of Paramhansa Yogananda, one of the greatest spiritual masters of the 20th century, finally offers the fresh perspective on Christ's teachings for which the world has been waiting. This audiobook presents us with an opportunity to understand and apply the Scriptures in a more reliable way than any other - by studying under those saints who have communed directly, in deep ecstasy, with Christ and God.

In The Bible Is a Catholic Book, Jimmy Akin shows how the Bible cannot exist apart from the church. In its origins and its formulation, in the truths it contains, in its careful preservation over the centuries, and in the prayerful study and elucidation of its mysteries, Scripture is inseparable from Catholicism. This is fitting, since both come from God for our salvation. If you're a Catholic who sometimes gets intimidated by the Bible, The Bible Is a Catholic Book will help you better understand and take pride in this gift that God gave the world through the church.

Humility is the key to all the virtues. It’s the necessary foundation for growth in all the others. If we do not know ourselves, if we cannot see our flaws and strengths (but especially our flaws), clearly, how can we grow in virtue? How can we begin to make ourselves less and God more? Indeed, in our age of social media where it’s a constant race to appear the best, to put up a front, to show others a false image (and to show ourselves a false image), cultivating humility is, perhaps, more important now than ever.

Dr. Abigail Favale provides an in-depth yet accessible account of the gender paradigm: a framework for understanding reality and identity that has recently risen to prominence. With substance, clarity, and compassion, Favale teases out the hidden assumptions of the gender paradigm and exposes its effects. Yet this book is not merely an exposé—it is also a powerful, moving articulation of a Christian understanding of reality: a holistic paradigm that proclaims the dignity of the body, the sacramental meaning of sexual difference, and the interconnectedness of all creation.

From Fr. Michael E. Gaitley, MIC, author of the best-selling book Consoling the Heart of Jesus, comes an extraordinary 33-day journey to Marian consecration with four giants of Marian spirituality. St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, and Blessed John Paul II. Fr. Michael masterfully summarizes their teaching, making it easy to grasp and simple enough to put into practice. More specifically, he weaves their thought into a user-friendly, do-it-yourself retreat that will bless even the busiest of people.

Available as an audiobook for the first time ever, Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life invites you to adopt Nouwen as your personal spiritual guide. Each session was carefully prepared by Dr. Michael Christensen, an award-winning professor of Christian ministry and practice, and Dr. Rebecca Laird, who was Nouwen’s student at Yale Divinity School. Like other volumes in The Nouwen Trilogy, this audiobook collects Nouwen’s unpublished homilies, interviews, classes, and speeches, as well as excerpts from his published writings.

In the Closet of the Vatican is a fascinating description and evaluation of financial, sexual and political misconduct throughout the Catholic Church at a time when new revelations are being uncovered each and every week. This audiobook explores the underlying causes and includes interviews with numerous Cardinals and other individuals, some of whom cannot be named. Martel reveals financial scandals in the Vatican bank; political collusion with unsavoury regimes, including Castro’s Cuba and Pinochet’s Chile; sexual abuse and hypocrisy over homosexuality.

In the appealing conversational tone that has won him millions of devoted readers, Hahn presents the basic tenets of Church teachings, clears up common misconceptions about specific rituals and traditions, and responds thoughtfully to the objections raised about them. Each chapter concludes with loving, good-natured, inspiring advice on applying the Church's wisdom to everyday life.

How does one live a spiritual life in a secular world? Henri Nouwen responds from the depths of his heart to this dilemna posed by his friend Fred Bratman. Nouwen's own interpretive reading of the text lends a sense of immediacy to the audiobook.

In 2007, Joseph Ratzinger published his first book as Pope Benedict XVI in order “to make known the figure and message of Jesus”. Now, the Pope focuses exclusively on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life as a child. The root of these stories is the experience of hope found in the birth of Jesus and the affirmations of surrender and service embodied in his parents, Joseph and Mary.

As a young Christian woman, do you struggle with insecurities and feel bogged down by the pressures and expectations of society? Do you find it challenging to take care of yourself and be a faithful daughter of God? Emily Wilson Hussem used to feel the same way. In Go Bravely, the Catholic musician and speaker offers 20 bits of advice that will equip you to tackle your deepest concerns about relationships, self-esteem, and dating while strengthening your faith at the same time.

In the prayer lives of many Christians, one person of the Trinity often goes overlooked—The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is no less involved in our lives than the Father and the Son, yet many are unaware of this. Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, "If I go, I will send you another Comforter." But are we aware of the Holy Spirit in our lives? In the School of the Holy Spirit, retreat master Jacques Philippe will lead you to be more attentive to the movements of the Holy Spirit in your life as you learn to value the third person of the Trinity as the Sanctifier of your soul.