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<DIV>Pope Benedict XVI has made the liturgy a central theme of his pontificate, and he has paid special attention to the vitally important role of language in prayer. This historical and theological study of the changing role of Latin in the Roman Catholic Church sheds light on some of the Holy Father's concerns and some of his recent decisions about the liturgy.The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council allowed for extended use of the vernacular at Mass, but they maintained that Latin deserved pride of place in the Roman Rite. The outcome, however, was that modern translations of the prayers of the Mass replaced the Latin prayers.What was the reason for the Council's decision and why is there now a desire for greater use of Latin in Catholic worship? Why have some post-conciliar English translations of the prayers of the Mass been replaced?Fr. Lang answers these questions by first analyzing the nature of sacred language. He then traces the beginnings of Christian prayer to the Scriptures and the Greek spoken at the time of the apostles. Next he recounts the slow and gradual development of Latin into the sacred language of the Western Church and its continuing use throughout the Middle Ages. Finally, he addresses the rise of modern languages and the ongoing question of whether the participation of the laity at Mass is either helped or hindered by the use of Latin.</DIV>

The Voice of the Church at Prayer: Reflections on Liturgy and Language

Opening credits

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20 Epilogue

Closing credits

<DIV>Theology for Beginners has been acclaimed as one of the outstanding modern introductions to theology. It is a clear, precise, and inspiring compendium of the central doctrines of the Christian faith. </DIV>

Theology For Beginners

Chapter One꞉ The Heart of Spiritual Conversion꞉ The Catholic Church

Chapter One꞉ The Heart of Spiritual Conversion꞉ The Catholic Church [Continued]

Chapter Two꞉ Spiritual Conversion and the “Outer Church”—the Sacramental Life [Part 1]

Chapter Two꞉ Spiritual Conversion and the “Outer Church”—the Sacramental Life [Part 2]

Chapter Two꞉ Spiritual Conversion and the “Outer Church”—the Sacramental Life [Part 3]

Chapter Three꞉ Spiritual Conversion and the Inner Church—the Life of Prayer [Part 1]

Chapter Three꞉ Spiritual Conversion and the Inner Church—the Life of Prayer [Part 2]

Chapter Three꞉ Spiritual Conversion and the Inner Church—the Life of Prayer [Part 3]

Chapter Four꞉ Virtue Versus the Deadly Sins [Part 1]

Chapter Four꞉ Virtue Versus the Deadly Sins [Part 2]

Chapter Four꞉ Virtue Versus the Deadly Sins [Part 3]

Chapter Five꞉ Moral Conversion and the “Higher Self”

Chapter Six꞉ Moral Conversion and Resisting Temptation

Chapter Seven꞉ God’s Mercy and Reconciliation [Part 1]

Chapter Seven꞉ God's Mercy and Reconciliation [Part 2]

Appendix I꞉ A Summary of the Four Levels of Desire:Happiness

Appendix II꞉ Spontaneous and Common Prayers

<DIV>In this second volume of the Called Out of Darkness trilogy, Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., draws together some of the best advice given by Catholic spiritual masters across the ages and brings it into harmony with modern scientific research, offering practical ways to live out the gospel in our busy days. It is a roadmap to a deeper relationship with the Lord and to authentic transformation through the imitation of Christ.Giving evidence that Jesus established just one Church, with Peter as its head, Spitzer shows that the Catholic Church&mdash;with its rich array of sacraments, teachings, prayer traditions, and lived examples of holiness&mdash;continues to be fertile ground for profound Christian conversion.But no true conversion is purely spiritual; it must bear fruit in our daily lives. Father Spitzer guides readers through the workings of moral transformation, with detailed sketches of all the cardinal and theological virtues, especially love. Using insights from Saint Ignatius of Loyola, as well as from modern psychology, Escape from Evil's Darkness concludes with an in-depth study of the sacrament of confession and the staggering power of God's loving mercy.</DIV>

Escape From Evil's Darkness: The Light of Christ in the Church, Spiritual Conversion, and Moral Conversion

Science Fiction

Dedication and Foreword

Chapter 6 Those for Whom the Road Begins

Behind monastery walls, men of God spend their lives preparing for the passage of death. Best-selling French author Nicolas Diat set out to find what their deaths can reveal about the greatest mystery faced by everyone—the end of life.How to die? How to respond to our fear of death? To answer these and other questions, Diat travelled to eight European monasteries including Solesmes Abbey and the Grande Chartreuse. Through extraordinary interviews with monks, he learned that their death experiences are varied and unique, with elements of peace, pain, humility, sorrow, and joy.These monks have the same fears, torments, and sorrows as everyone else, Diat discovered. What is exemplary about them is their humility and simplicity. When death approaches, and its hand reveals its strength, they are like happy and naïve children who wait with impatience to open a gift. They have complete confidence in the mercy of God.

A Time to Die: Monks on the Threshold of Eternal Life

This compact book, one of Adrienne von Speyr&#39;s last works, dives into the mystery of Christian obedience, thus bringing the reader into the heart of authentic Christian love. Profoundly misunderstood in our time, obedience is not just a vow for monks and nuns. Nor does it mean domination, an automatic response of a slave or puppet. Rather, it is the free, creative, and open-hearted response of a perceptive child of God. Obedience flows through the very core of reality in all its breadth: heaven and earth, God and creation, Christ and man. It colors the life of the family, the life of man in the world, the life of the Christian before God, and even the life of God himself, because obedience means, above all, listening. Only in obedience does joy, indeed life, become possible. Von Speyr, with a marvelous clarity, precision, and practicality, reveals at once the widest expanses and the subtlest shades of Christian obedience, uncovering for the reader a new path to prayer and to Triune love. And this is a path for all, lay and consecrated alike.

On Obedience

Welcome to the second book of Ignatius Press: Off the Shelf! Join the dynamic trio of Father Fessio, Joseph Pearce, and Vivian Dudro as they unpack one of G.K. Chesterton’s greatest works Everlasting Man. They begin by covering Chesterton’s thesis namely that Christ stands out from all man similar to how man stands out from all other animals. They then highlight Chesterton’s profound and often paradoxical wisdom in chapters 1 and 2.
 

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The Everlasting Man – Episode 1

Historical

<DIV>Thomas Howard shows us that every room of your house-the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, and even the bathroom-is a holy place where God's grace awaits you, if only you know how to recognize His presence there. With a rich awareness of God's all-encompassing love, Howard takes you on a spiritual tour through your own home and shows you how everything in it can lead you closer to God.In each room, Howard shows you the surprising ways you can meet God there. With wonderful insights, he reveals how, even in your daily activities you can meet the same God who came to Israel in the terror, smoke and fire in the Tabernacle, and the God who died for us on Cross. But they're by no means confined to a lofty spiritual plane: Howard sees chances to love and serve God, and sees His gentle hand, in the most seemingly dull and ordinary of places and actions.So take up this book to find out how cooking and cleaning, having family dinners together, and all the other commonplace actions that make up the fabric of your daily life can actually disclose God's presence to you. Your daily life as well as your devotional life will be forever transformed by this unusual look at how lovingly God awaits us even in the smallest things.</DIV>

Hallowed Be This House: Finding Signs of Heaven in Your Home

This book examines how thirteen extraordinary men and women from apostolic times to the present&mdash;most of them canonized saints&mdash;came to see how God wanted them to organize their lives and, seeing that, set out to shape their lives accordingly. It adopts a new and illuminating approach to a familiar literary genre&mdash;the lives of the saints and what the turning points were in their dedicating themselves to God. Instead of concentrating on the question of vocation, the book situates the thirteen notable men and women in the context of their lives as a whole and profiles them in this broader framework. Turning Points probes the stories of highly motivated individuals who in a variety of ways committed their lives to wholeheartedly following Christ, and it discusses a number of issues as timely for the Church now as they were then. It is engagingly written for all who are interested in serious religious ideas, as well as in the inspiring stories of thirteen outstanding people whose lives shed fresh light on living the faith in their times&mdash;and our own. Among those whose stories are told are Saint Paul the Apostle, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Ignatius Loyola, Saint Thomas More, Saint Th&eacute;r&egrave;se of Lisieux, Saint John Henry Newman, Saint Josemar&iacute;a Escriv&aacute;, Caryll Houselander, and Dorothy Day.

Turning Points: How Thirteen Remarkable Men and Women Heard God's Call and Responded to It

Jen Nilsson has an MBA, a nice condo, and a fast-track job at a tech start-up in Silicon Valley. If her big product launch goes well next month, she may finally land the marketing director job she's been gunning for.&nbsp; But then her younger sister, Katie, just out of college and estranged from their newly devout parents, blows through the front door, dumping cardboard boxes and a lifetime of personal drama onto Jen's just-swept floor.&nbsp;Family is family, and Jen lets her sister, the embodiment of all that annoys her, move in. Maybe she'll turn aimless Katie into a model adult. But when Jen's own well-laid career plans hurtle off the tracks—a corporate buyout, a layoff, and a disastrous business trip to China—she turns more and more to Katie for support and begins to reassess the place of family, and love, in her life.If You Can Get It explores the quirks and the humanity of the twenty-first-century business world but finds its heart in the deepening relationship of two sisters as different as Elinor and Marianne of Sense and Sensibility.

If You Can Get It

<DIV>The fourth volume in von Balthasar's essays is built around the theme of Spirit and Institution, the two central features of the Church which Balthasar approaches from different angles. The third volume is built around the theme of the Holy Spirit as the Creator Spirit. The first volume was constructed around the mid-point of the Word become man, and the second volume around the Church which becomes configured to him.The first part of the book looks at who man is, and then examines the distinctively Christian experience of God. Part two is a whole section on the Church which includes topics like celibacy and the priesthood today, how we should love the Church, and understanding Christian mysticism. The third and final part is an eschatology in which Balthasar gives a brilliant summary of heaven, hell and purgatory. </DIV>

Explorations in Theology: Spirit and Institution

Pneumatology

<DIV>Fr. Thomas Dubay is one of the most popular and respected retreat masters and spiritual directors in the USA. He is the author of the perennial best-selling book on prayer and contemplation, Fire Within. In this book, he responds to the call to priests by both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI to help believers and all those interested in spirituality to develop a deeper prayer life and union with God.As in his other popular writings, Dubay&#x2019;s style is profound and meditative yet clear and readable. He gives an overview of the spiritual life and journey for anyone seeking to grow in the love of God and neighbor. An expert on the teachings and writings of the two great mystical doctors of prayer and the spiritual life, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, Dubay gives solid practical advice for a deepening moral and spiritual conversion, and a radical growth in holiness.Topics covered in depth in this book include:<ul><li> The Radical Conversion</li><li> Relevance and Motivation</li><li> Conversion and Genuine Love</li><li> Degrees of Depth</li><li> Remarkable Resistance</li><li> Called to the Heights</li><li> Sure-fire Program</li></ul></DIV>

Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer

Eschatology

<DIV>Fr. Paul Scalia reveals a scholar's mind and a pastor's heart in these inspiring reflections on a wide range of Catholic teachings and practices. Rooted in Scripture, these insights place the reader on a path to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with God.Among the topics explored are deepening one's knowledge of Jesus, partaking of the life of grace through the sacraments, and cultivating the art of prayer as a continuous conversation with God.Each section is introduced by a moving essay by a highly regarded Catholic. Fr. Paul Check, Jim Towey, Scott Hahn, Mary Ellen Bork, Gloria Purvis, Raymond Arroyo, Lizz Lovett, Helen Alvaré, and Dan Mattson offer their personal accounts of being Catholic, which are followed by Fr. Scalia's illuminations. Archbishop Charles Chaput contributes a thought- provoking foreword, which begins the reader's exploration of the many important aspects of the Catholic faith presented in this book.</DIV>

That Nothing May Be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion

<DIV>This small and simple spiritual gem offers a profound contemplation of the Seven Last Words of Christ, with specific application to the seven sacraments he instituted. Adrienne von Speyr leads us to the foot of the Cross, where she gazes upon the crucified Christ and listens deeply as he cries out in suffering and opens the portals of divine grace.The Cross: Word and Sacrament&#160;will challenge and encourage the reader to participate more deeply in the Paschal Mystery through a greater appreciation and understanding of the sacraments and their source in the Cross. The words Jesus utters in his agony, as recorded in the Gospels, contain not only the gifts experienced in the sacraments of the Church but also questions: Do you truly understand what is being offered to you? Will you accept these gifts? Will you suffer the mystery contained in such love?In short, this book calls the reader to conversion, which is a continual process of turning toward the Son, who leads us, in union with the Holy Spirit, into an ever-deepening relationship with the Father. Thus is the reader invited to enter the very life of the Trinity, that communion of love without end.</DIV>

The Cross - Second Edition: Word and Sacrament

<DIV> From Luther to Kierkegaard, from Heidegger to Sartre, the theme of anguish has dominated both philosophy and spiritual theology. In our ""societies of depression"" where individuals confront their own loneliness, this theme has recently regained its intensity. In these dense and luminous pages, he is not content merely to show how much this feeling is profoundly inscribed in the heart and the word of God-from the Psalms to the Gospels-but he enters into intimate dialogue with contemporary thought and in particular its existentialist expression. For Balthasar, the Christian faith does not offer a ready made response, but is simultaneously a journey through the torment of the cross and the liberation from fear by the gift of grace. In the wake of a Bernanos, or a P覵y, Balthasar emphasizes how much confidence in God leads to a hope which is inexhaustible.</DIV>

The Christian and Anxiety

In his latest book <a href='https://ignatius.com/why-does-everything-come-in-threes-wectp/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=post&amp;utm_campaign=Why+Does+Everything+Come+in+Threes&amp;utm_id=Why+Does+Everything+Come+in+Threes'>“Why Does Everything Come in Threes?”</a> philosopher and author Peter Kreeft ponders the ways in which creation—and the story of humanity in creation—are indelibly stamped with the image of the Creator, that is, with the Trinity.
 
In this episode, Kreeft speaks with host Andrew Petiprin about this three-fold pattern of the universe, and how the mystery of the Trinity echoes throughout human culture, metaphysics, and moral understanding. Find <a href='https://ignatius.com/why-does-everything-come-in-threes-wectp/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=post&amp;utm_campaign=Why+Does+Everything+Come+in+Threes&amp;utm_id=Why+Does+Everything+Come+in+Threes'>“Why Does Everything Come in Threes?”</a> and many other books by Peter Kreeft at Ignatius.com.

Peter Kreeft explains the universe

<DIV>Fr. Schall writes profoundly and charmingly about people, places and things, giving a Christian perspective to the importance of little things and particular moments. His essays on a variety of interesting topics combine fun, substance and serious reflection. </DIV>

Idylls And Rambles: Lighter Christian Essays

<DIV>Edited by Joseph PearceContributors to this volume: Christopher Blum Anthony Esolen Richard Harp Douglas Lane Patey Jane Austen is arguably the finest female novelist who ever lived and Pride and Prejudice is arguably the finest, and is certainly the most popular, of her novels. An undoubted classic of world literature, its profound Christian morality is all too often missed or wilfully overlooked by today's (post)modern critics. Yet Austen saw the follies and foibles of human nature, and the frictions and fidelities of family life, with an incisive eye that penetrates to the very heart of the human condition. This edition of Austen's masterpiece includes an introduction by Professor Christopher Blum and several insightful critical essays by leading Austen scholars. The Ignatius Critical Editions represent a tradition-oriented alternative to popular textbook series such as the Norton Critical Editions or Oxford World Classics, and are designed to concentrate on traditional readings of the Classics of world literature. Whereas many modern critical editions have succumbed to the fads of modernism and post-modernism, this series will concentrate on tradition-oriented criticism of these great works. Edited by acclaimed literary biographer, Joseph Pearce, the Ignatius Critical Editions will ensure that traditional moral readings of the works are given prominence, instead of the feminist, or deconstructionist readings that often proliferate in other series of 'critical editions'. As such, they represent a genuine extension of consumer-choice, enabling educators, students and lovers of good literature to buy editions of classic literary works without having to 'buy into' the ideologies of secular fundamentalism. The series is particularly aimed at tradition-minded literature professors offering them an alternative for their students. The initial list will have about 15 - 20 titles. The goal is to release three books a season, or six in a year. </DIV>

Pride and Prejudice

<DIV>Peter Kreeft brings his unique insights to this most important area of our spiritual lives. He claims he himself is still a beginner in prayer, and this book is for all those, like him, who feel that they are not good at praying but desire to become much better at it. Thus, Kreeft offers simple, but profound advice and practical steps for developing a prayer life based on the time-tested wisdom of the saints and great spiritual writers, especially the principles found in Brother Lawrence's classic, The Practice of the Presence of God.In short, straight-forward and unsentimental chapters, Kreeft covers all the key areas for understanding and developing that intimate form of communication with our Creator that we call prayer. He covers such areas as the necessity of prayer, various motives and methods, steps, patience, suffering, sin, faith, and grace.</DIV>

Prayer for Beginners

<DIV>Cur Deus Verba unfolds a systematic theology of Scripture from a single key question: What did God seek to accomplish by making the Bible? The answer requires seeing why the Holy Trinity made anything at all, why the Word became flesh, and finally why the Church needs an inspired text. As Christ is more fully "man" than any mere man, so his Church is more fully "society" than any merely human society. And as every society has its literary tradition, so the Church needed a canon of literature that would be more fully "book" than any merely human book.But to grasp what God intended to accomplish, we have to see how he intended to do it. To the extent possible, God wanted human beings to cause not just the text but revelation itself, and paradoxically this exaltation of human agency gave rise to the need for Scripture&rsquo;s spiritual sense. The spiritual sense of Scripture leads in turn to a meaning of the term "literal" that is unique to the realm of theology, and the connection between the two means that we cannot follow the literal sense without grasping the spiritual as well.Once God has made what he intended in the way he intended, one question remains: How does this inspired text continue to exist? As with any text, the answer is that Scripture exists in physical books, but really and principally in the hearts of the readers. And Scripture's own place in the salvation history it records means that one human heart is preeminent: the text of Sacred Scripture exists exemplarily in the Heart of Jesus Christ.</DIV>

Cur Deus Verba: Why the Word Became Words

<DIV>Balthasar provides illumination on the burning issues of our day. He brings his scholarship to bear on some of the major topics of our time: Women Priests, Humanae Vitae, the Laity, and the "Flight into Community", and much more. </DIV>

New Elucidations

<DIV>Divine Intimacy is considered a classic throughout the Christian world, a work prepared with loving and conscientious labor by one of the great Catholic teachers of our time. This revision of his famous works vibrates with the freshness of the springtime of grace stirred up by Vatican II and inspired by the renewed impulse to a more vital return to Sacred Scripture. Of all the books of meditation available today, this series is the most practical, liturgically and spiritually formative, and helpful for true communion with God. Volume III covers from the Ninth Sunday through the Twenty-first week of Ordinary Time.</DIV>

Divine Intimacy

Introductory Message

Part I꞉ Chapter I꞉ How the Great Wind Came to Beacon House

Part I꞉ Chapter II꞉ The Luggage of an Optimist

Part I꞉ Chapter III꞉ The Banner of Beacon

Part I꞉ Chapter IV꞉ The Garden of God

Part I꞉ Chapter V꞉ The Allegorical Practical Joker

Part II꞉ Chapter I꞉ The Eye of Death; or, The Murder Charge

Part II꞉ Chapter II꞉ The Two Curates; or, The Burglary Charge

Part II꞉ Chapter III꞉ The Round Road; or, The Desertion Charge

Part II꞉ Chapter IV꞉ The Wild Weddings; or, The Polygamy Charge

Part II꞉ Chapter V꞉ How the Great Wind Went from Beacon House

<DIV>This classic novel by Chesterton tells the rollicking tale of Innocent Smith, a man who may be crazy&#151;or he may be the most sane man of all. Arriving at a London boarding house accompanied by a windstorm, Innocent is soon accused of attempted murder, burglary, polygamy, and desertion of his wife. As the residents of Beacon House try to piece together what this madman is up to, a detective is called upon to unravel the accusations against Smith. Actor Kevin O&#x2019;Brien of the Theater of the Word gives a dramatic reading of the text. </DIV>

Manalive: A Novel by G.K. Chesterton

<DIV>Saint Thomas Aquinas has been admired throughout the ages for his philosophical brilliance and his theological sanity, but author and professor Peter Kreeft thinks the practical spiritual wisdom of Aquinas is just as amazing. In this book, Kreeft brings together 358 useful, everyday insights from Aquinas' masterpiece the Summa Theologiae. He pairs these easily digestible quotes from the Summa with his own delightfully written commentary in order to answer the kinds of questions real people ask their spiritual directors. These 358 passages from the Summa have helped Kreeft in his own struggles to grow closer to the Lord. His practical, personal, and livable advice is the fruit of his labors to apply the insights of Aquinas to his own quest for sanctity, happiness, and union with God.</DIV>

Practical Theology: Spiritual Direction from Saint Thomas Aquinas

<DIV>A highly regarded historian and professor presents a sustained reflection on the meaning of the Church's life in time. Divided into five parts, each section takes up a period of Church history and considers how the developments in church history relate to the Church today. From doctrines to customs, Olsen examines both the theological and historical impact of each new development. Beginning with ancient Christianity, the author illustrates how both secularization and sacralization take place in history and how it corresponds to our own age. Taking the reader from late ancient and early medieval Christianity, to the full bloom of medieval scholasticism and scholarship, to the dawn of the Renaissance and the aggressively anti-religious time of the "Enlightenment", Olsen considers all aspects of every age. The final section is a discussion of the Church in our own time, confronting such problems as modernization and the relation of the Church to culture. Appendices expand on The Catechism of the Catholic Church's teaching on the relation between prayer and history.</DIV>

Beginning At Jerusalem: Five Reflections on the History of the Church

<DIV>Following up his first book, Paradoxes of Faith, containing wonderful, short reflections on themes of Christianity and the spiritual life, this second book presents more thought-provoking gems that once again illustrate the magnificent language, clarity, spiritual understanding and shrewd discernment of the great theologian and spiritual writer Henri de Lubac, S.J.These insights by Father de Lubac on a variety of subjects are rich and profound meditations, aphorisms and pieces of wisdom that express the freshness, incongruities and challenges of life. This is a book of inspiration by a master of the spiritual life that provides excellent material for prayer and meditation, as well as great homily ideas for the clergy.</DIV>

More Paradoxes

<DIV>St. Paul is one of the most important figures in Christian history. As Saul of Tarsus he vigorously persecuted Christianity, even collaborating in the death of Christianity's first martyr, Stephen. His encounter with the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus changed Paul's life, the Christian Church, and world history. More than anyone else in the early Church, Paul saw the universal nature of the Christian message. He became the Apostle to the Gentiles and the "Teacher of the Nations". As the human author of half of the New Testament, Paul is a figure who cannot be overlooked by anyone who wants to understand Jesus Christ and Christianity. In this book, Pope Benedict XVI, a profound spiritual leader in his own right and a first-rate theologian and Bible commentator, explores the legacy of Paul. Pope Benedict follows the course of the Apostle's life, including his missionary journeys and his relationship with the other apostles of Jesus such as St. Peter and St. James, and Paul's martyrdom in Rome. Benedict also examines such questions as: Did Paul know Jesus during his earthly life and how much of Jesus' teaching and ministry did he know of? Did Paul distort the teachings of Jesus? What role did Jesus' death and resurrection play in Paul's teaching? What are we to make of Paul's teaching about the end of the world? What does Paul's teaching say about the differences between Catholic and Protestant Christians over salvation and the roles of faith and works in the Christian life? How have modern Catholic and Protestant scholars come together in their understanding of Paul? What does Paul have to teach us today about living a spiritual life?These and other important issues are addressed in this masterful, inspirational, and highly-readable presentation of St. Paul and his writings by one of today's great spiritual teachers, Pope Benedict XVI. "The Apostle Paul, an outstanding and almost inimitable yet stimulating figure, stands before us as an example of total dedication to the Lord and to his Church, as well as of great openness to humanity and its cultures." �Pope Benedict XVI</DIV>

Saint Paul: General Audience Talks

<DIV>Dogma is one of those words. Many people see dogma as a bad thing-as the unreasonable, unthinking adherence to a belief, even in the face of contrary evidence. But when the Catholic Church presents some of her teachings as dogmas, she does not mean that these tenets are irrational or to be thoughtlessly embraced. Dogma is the bedrock of truth, an inexhaustible feast for the mind, not an impediment to thinking. Why? Because dogmas rest on the Word of God, Truth Himself, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, and who wants his Word to be known. The great theologian Charles Journet explores the meaning of dogma in his classic work What is Dogma? In what sense are dogmas an object of faith? How do reason and faith relate to dogmas? How are dogmas both essentially unchangeable and yet open to development? Are dogmas accessible only in learned theological language or are there common-sense ways of understanding them? Journet addresses these and other important questions. He also discusses examples of dogmatic development: the dogmas of the Trinity, of Christology, and of Mariology. And he explores the relationship of dogma and mystical contemplation. In short, Journet shows why "dogma" is a subject of which Catholics need not be afraid. </DIV>

What Is Dogma?

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

<DIV>Jennifer Fulwiler told herself she was happy. Why wouldn't she be? She made good money as a programmer at a hot tech start-up, had just married a guy with a stack of Ivy League degrees, and lived in a twenty-first-floor condo where she could sip sauvignon blanc while watching the sun set behind the hills of Austin.Raised in a happy, atheist home, Jennifer had the freedom to think for herself and play by her own rules. Yet a creeping darkness followed her all of her life. Finally, one winter night, it drove her to the edge of her balcony, making her ask once and for all why anything mattered. At that moment everything she knew and believed was shattered.Asking the unflinching questions about life and death, good and evil, led Jennifer to Christianity, the religion she had reviled since she was an awkward, sceptical child growing up in the Bible Belt. Mortified by this turn of events, she hid her quest from everyone except her husband, concealing religious books in opaque bags as if they were porn and locking herself in public bathroom stalls to read the Bible.Just when Jennifer had a profound epiphany that gave her the courage to convert, she was diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition-and the only treatment was directly at odds with the doctrines of her new-found faith. Something other than God is a poignant, profound and often funny tale of one woman who set out to find the meaning of life and discovered that true happiness sometimes requires losing it all.</DIV>

Something other than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It

<DIV>The spiritual classic by À Kempis, the second most widely read spiritual book after the Bible, has had an astonishing impact on the spiritual lives of countless saints, peasants, and popes for centuries. Even today, the soul-searching words of the fifteenth-century cleric Thomas À Kempis continue to resonate, unbounded by time or geography. Drawing on the Bible, the Fathers of the early Church and medieval mysticism, his four-part treatise shrugs off the allure of the material world, blending beauty and bluntness in a supremely spiritual call-to-arms.This beautiful translation by Ronald Knox and Michael Oakley is considered by many teachers, writers, and readers to be the best English translation ever, and one that greatly enhances the life-changing insights of Thomas À Kempis. Illustrated."If we could construct a composite picture of all great Christians-Catholic or non-Catholic-of the last five hundred years who found The Imitation substantially beneficial, enlightening, and inspiring, we would need no further proof that familiarity with this great classic is an integral part of a mature spiritual life and even a path to holiness." -Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., Author, </DIV>

The Imitation of Christ: Translated by Ronald Knox and Michael Oakley

Join Kathryn Lopez of the National Review Institute as she interviews Father Daniel Moloney on his book, "Mercy: What Every Catholic Should Know."
 


<a href='https://www.ignatius.com/Mercy-P3601.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1FgRqmAoIULCuvyL_8z07xyLsj-dL8UyG_mTNVEddZjUdc-oh9QEvx9dY'>https://www.ignatius.com/Mercy-P3601.aspx</a>
 


In Mercy: What Every Catholic Should Know, Fr. Daniel Moloney covers a broad range of topics regarding mercy that are prevalent for our society today. Beginning from an unexpected perspective in the first half of the book, Fr. Moloney approaches mercy from a political point of view, explaining how mercy is in fact truly and intimately interwoven with politics and power. Through this lens, he touches upon pertinent topics such as legal punishments, the death penalty, and self-defense. He also assesses the clergy scandals, laying out why they occurred, what went wrong in how they were dealt with, and how the Church can improve moving forward for the greater glory of God. He eloquently explains how mercy is not synonymous with leniency but is an act of responding to a privation, a lack of something which ought to be there. Sometimes the road to this may have to be tough love for the good of all involved.


 
Fr. Moloney invites the reader to wrestle with the supposed contradiction of God saying that he is merciful, yet killing and punishing his creation. Moloney ultimately resolves this apparent contradiction by highlighting God's identity as the loving Father, explaining how, similar to good earthly fathers, sometimes the most loving route to take in truly loving your children and bringing them to their ultimate good is through the course of tough love. God is always good and loving, and his justice and mercy go hand-in-hand.

Author interview with Fr. Daniel Moloney on his book, "Mercy: What Every Catholic Should Know"

<DIV>The earth is the common home of humanity. It is a gift from God. Yet man’s abuse of freedom threatens that home. In his encyclical Praise Be to You (Laudato Si’), Pope Francis challenges all people to praise God for his glorious creation and to work to safeguard her. The encyclical letter takes its name from St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures, which depicts creation as “a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us”.“This sister”, Pope Francis declares, “now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her”. He calls for an “integral ecology” based on what Pope St John Paul called an “ecological conversion”—a moral transformation linking the proper response to God for the gift of his creation to concern for justice, especially for the poor. He challenges people to understand ecology in terms of the right ordering of the fundamental relationships of the human person: with God, oneself, other people, and the rest of creation.Francis examines such ecological concerns as pollution, waste, and what he calls “the throwaway culture”. Climate, he insists, is a common good to be protected. He explores the proper use of natural resources and notions such as sustainability from a Judeo-Christian perspective. The loss of biodiversity due to human activities, decline in the quality of life for many people, global inequality of resources, as well as concerns over consumerism and excessive individualism also threaten the good order of creation, writes Pope Francis. While valuing technology and invnovation, he rejects efforts to repudiate the natural order, including the moral law inscribed in human nature or to rely simply on science to solve ecological problems. Moral and spiritual resources are crucial, including openness to God’s purpose for the world.Expounding the biblical tradition regarding creation and redemption in Christ, Francis stresses man’s subordination to God’s plan and the universal communion of all creation. “Dominion”, he maintains, means “responsible stewardship” rather than exploitation. He rejects treating creation as if it were “divine” and insists on the primacy of the human person in creation. He also explores the roots of the ecological crisis in man’s abuse of technology, his self-centeredness, and the rise of practical relativism. Without rejecting political changes, he implores people to change their hearts and their ways of life.Popes Benedict XVI, St John Paul II, and Blessed Paul VI addressed key themes regarding stewardship of God’s creation and justice in the world. But Pope Francis is the first to devote an entire encyclical to the subject.</DIV>

Praise Be to You - Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home

Joy: we look for it, long for it, and spend our lives chasing it. Yet do we really know what it is? Is it a feeling, a state of mind, or a reward for success? Do we know where to find it? The more we seek it, the more it eludes us. Yet joy is real. &ldquo;Joy&rdquo;, writes philosopher Peter Kreeft, &ldquo;is a mystery. It is bigger than we are.&rdquo; Joy&rsquo;s secret, however, is that it cannot be reached or found but only given. True joy is God Himself, who, giving Himself, takes us outside ourselves, across valleys of loss and mountains of triumph. This lucid, witty reflection on the true nature of joy convinces us, page after page, that while sorrow is inevitable, joy is very, very near at hand. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s scandalously simple,&rdquo; Kreeft reveals. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no method; you just do it.&rdquo; To &ldquo;do&rdquo; joy, we must let go of all fake happiness, all false gods. We must return, over and over, to the one true Joy, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Drawing from the wisdom of C.&thinsp;S. Lewis and Saint Thomas Aquinas, this instant classic by self-proclaimed curmudgeon Peter Kreeft walks us through the long, beautiful task of surrendering to deep joy, the chief work of any life worth living.

The Mystery of Joy

Introduction

Psalm 1꞉ “Blessed is the man”

The Twenty-Third Psalm꞉ “The LORD is my shepherd”

Psalm 51꞉ “Have mercy upon me”

Psalm 139꞉ “O LORD , thou hast searched me, and known me”

Psalm 103꞉ “Bless the LORD , O my soul”

Psalm 19꞉ “The heavens declare the glory of God”

Psalm 27꞉ “The LORD is my light and my salvation”

Psalm 42꞉ “As the hart panteth after the water brooks”

Psalm 24꞉ “Lift up your heads, O ye gates”

Psalm 137꞉ “By the rivers of Babylon”

Psalm 96꞉ “O sing unto the LORD a new song”

Psalm 150꞉ “Praise ye the LORD ”

<DIV>The Psalms are the most popular, most universally loved and used book in the Bible, which in turn is the most popular book in the world. They are hymns, songs, poems and prayers, both formal (liturgical and communal) and informal (spontaneous, personal, and individual); and this gives them many layers of meaning rather than one, unlike theologies and creeds.They Psalms are literally inexhaustible, so a new book of reflections on them is always welcome. Especially a book by the beloved, widely read, best-selling author and philosopher, Peter Kreeft.In this work Kreeft shares his personal explorations into the riches of the Psalms, his profound expeditions into this deep ocean of the divinely inspired spiritual water. He focuses on the dozen or so Psalms that are most people's favorites, including Kreeft.Kreeft says that the Pslams are powerful prayers, and a spiritual weapon that God himself has given us for our great task of spiritual warfare, which is human life on earth.What prayers did Jesus and his disciples pray? The Psalms! As all Jews have always done ever since they had them. The Psalms are God's answer to our plea, 'Teach us to pray.' Christ prayed them not only in synagogue but throughout His life, and at his death. He prayed Psalm 22, 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?' even as He was dying on the Cross. - Peter Kreeft, from the Introduction</DIV>

Wisdom from the Psalms

This inspiring, insightful, and often humorous look at the life of Father Stuart Long is told by his close friend Father Bart Tolleson. After their relationship began and almost ended with a practical joke, the two men were ordained together and forged a strong, lasting friendship. As the exuberant, edgy Father Stu confronted a rare degenerative disease, the former brawler and professional boxer used every ounce of his declining strength to fight the good fight for souls. Also included in this book is the enduring legacy of Father Stu, whose moving story continues to draw people closer to God, especially in times of suffering. His life inspired actor Mark Wahlberg to produce the film drama Father Stu, in which Wahlberg plays the title role. Father Bart, who was consulted by the makers of the film, provides interesting background on the movie. Illustrated with many photos.

That Was Father Stu: A Memoir of My Priestly Brother and Friend

Fr. Fessio comments on a simple yet profound reading from St. Gregory of Nyssa presented in the Divine Office.

112: The Wisdom of St. Gregory of Nyssa

Fr. Fessio examines Mary’s longest discourse, the Magnificat, to explain what kind of mercy God offers to those who fear Him.