Every day when you wake up, you are faced with a choice: Are you willing to be the man God wants you to be? The moment the alarm sounds is the heroic moment. —from the prayer, "Starting the Day" A pocket-sized guide for daily prayer and victorious living, this book includes both original and traditional prayers to help you focus on God throughout the day and in times of special need. Prayers that get to the point, combined with brief encouraging reflections, provide a framework in which you can open your heart and mind to the will of God. Whatever your situation—from praying for the grace to cope with an annoying person to praying for the strength to overcome despair, Prayers for Catholic Men will help you stay the course, confident that no matter what life throws at you, God is in charge.
Manual for Men is for men who are in the arena, warriors for Christ and His Church. It is for those men who battle daily for their souls and for their family. It is often a struggle to shed the sins and vices the world offers men, but it's a battle we must fight and win. In Part I, Bishop Thomas Olmsted calls for Catholic men to step up and "into the breach" in service to God, their families, parishes, and wider communities. In the course of his exhortation, Olmsted unveils: * How being a Christian man is far more than physical prowess or worldly power * Why the world and the Church desperately need men--real men--to fight for them in spiritual combat * The vital importance of prayer and the sacraments in the life of every man * Why fatherhood, fully understood, is so crucial for every man * The value of devotion to a patron saint (complete with 10 manly suggestions) * Most importantly, how men have the perfect model of man in Jesus Christ, and how we can follow his example. In Part II, Cook presents a treasure trove of prayers, church teachings, and writings from the saints that serve as a tremendous source of inspiration for men seeking to become better men of God. It is at once an essential guide and a profound book of prayers designed specifically for men. Now, perhaps more than ever, men need to be men. But what it means to be a man has been twisted into a pale and mangled image of true manhood. Manual for Men serves as a field guide and instruction manual for those husbands, fathers, sons and brothers who would become real men of God-- men who protect, physically and spiritually, those entrusted to them; men who sacrifice, pray, fight, love, and live by the example of Christ. There is a battle for our souls, our families, our world, and Our Lord calls us men to fight. Are you ready to answer the call? Will you accept Bishop Olmsted's plea to "engage in the battle that is raging around you"?
The Vatican-approved guide to opening up new connections to God. Today, more and more Catholics are looking to explore their spirituality in new ways: by trying meditation or contemplation, seeking to adapt monastic traditions to modern life, or seeking a deeper connection to Jesus through the Eucharist, giving rise to the growing popularity of Adoration. The Essential Guide to Catholic Prayer and the Mass offers Catholics a way to explore prayer styles they may have never before considered, and non-Catholics or fringe Catholics a look into a world that can sometimes seem mysterious or intimidating. Through Mass, scripture, ancient rituals, the examples of the saints, the lives of holy men and women in the world today, and more, Catholics of every mindset can find a style of prayer to suit them. • One of the first books with a detailed explanation and instructions on how to follow the new translation of Mass as prepared by the Catholic Church • Includes an imprimatur-a seal of approval from Paul G. Bootkoski, Bishop of Metuchen • Perfect for cradle, convert, and revert Catholics, as well as people from other faiths, students, and teachers
In these Scriptures, reflections, and prayers for each day, noted author, teacher, husband, and father Allan Wright provides just the right amount of encouragement and challenge to guide and inspire men of every age and way of life. His own family and faith struggles are certain to speak to those who take a few minutes each day to pray for themselves and others.
"Where God gives the gift, the 'foolishness of preaching' is still mighty. But best of all is a team of two: one to deliver the preliminary intellectual barrage, and the other to follow up with a direct attack on the heart." An inveterate scholar, throughout his lifetime C.S. Lewis wrote on any number of topics. While his most famous essays concern his thoughts on Christianity, he was also interested in literature, masculinity, domestic life, and war. In the nineteen essays collected inPresent Concerns, he touches on all of these and more. Though wide-ranging, these essays all share one thing: C.S. Lewis's characteristic pragmatism and persuasiveness. Many of the essays included were written between 1940 and 1945, and so pertinently reflect on the issues raised by World War II: democratic values, the need for a new chivalry, and the cynicism of the modern soldier, all of which remain relevant today. "Lewis gives us permission to admit our own doubts, our own angers and anguishes, and to know that they are part of the soul's growth."--Madeleine L'Engle
A celebration of men's voices in prayer--through the ages from many faiths, cultures and traditions. "If men like us don't pray, where will emerging generations get a window into the soul of a good man, an image of the kind of man they can aspire to be--or be with--when they grow up? If men don't pray, who will model for them the practices of soul care--of gratitude, confession, compassion, humility, petition, repentance, grief, faith, hope and love? If men don't pray, what will men become, and what will become of our world and our future?" --from the Introduction by Brian D. McLaren This collection celebrates the profound variety of ways men around the world have called out to the Divine--with words of joy, praise, gratitude, wonder, petition and even anger--from the ancient world up to our own day. The prayers come from a broad spectrum of spiritual traditions--both East and West--including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and more. Together they provide an eloquent expression of men's inner lives, and of the practical, mysterious, painful and joyous endeavor that prayer is. Men Pray will challenge your preconceived ideas about prayer. It will inspire you to explore new ways of prayerful expression and new possibilities for your own spiritual journey. This is a book to treasure and to share. Includes prayers from: Marcus Aurelius * Daniel Berrigan * Rebbe Nachman of Breslov * Walter Brueggemann * Bernard of Clairvaux * St. Francis of Assisi * Robert Frost * George Herbert * Gerard Manley Hopkins * St. Ignatius Loyola * Fr. Thomas Keating * Thomas à Kempis * Chief Yellow Lark * Brother Lawrence * C. S. Lewis * Ted Loder * Nelson Mandela * General Douglas MacArthur * Thomas Merton * D. L. Moody * John Henry Newman * John Philip Newell * John O'Donohue * Rumi * Rabindranath * Tagore * Walt Whitman * many others
What it means to be a man or a woman is questioned today like never before. While traditional gender roles have been eroding for decades, now the very categories of male and female are being discarded with reckless abandon. How does one act like a gentleman in such confusing times? The Catholic Gentleman is a solid and practical guide to virtuous manhood. It turns to the timeless wisdom of the Catholic Church to answer the important questions men are currently asking. In short, easy- to-read chapters, the author offers pithy insights on a variety of topics, including • How to know you are an authentic man • Why our bodies matter • The value of tradition • The purpose of courtesy • What real holiness is and how to achieve it • How to deal with failure in the spiritual life