Prayerfully journey through Lent with fresh and meaningful reflections on the daily Mass readings. In just minutes per day, the insightful meditations of Not by Bread Alone can deepen your experience of this solemn season of prayer and penance.
The Catholic Daily Reflections Series was written to help you enter more deeply into the Holy Scriptures and the Catholic Liturgy on a daily basis. Through these reflections and prayers, you are invited to embrace the Word of God in a personal, engaging, challenging and transforming way. These reflections are also a great resource for priests and deacons for their daily homily preparations. This Volume offers daily reflections and prayers for Lent and Easter. Catholic Daily Reflections Series: Volume One: Advent and Christmas Volume Two: Lent and Easter Volume Three: Ordinary Time: Weeks 1-17 Volume Four: Ordinary Time: Weeks 18-34
We're all going to die. Yet in our medically advanced, technological age, many of us see death as a distant reality--something that happens only at the end of a long life or to other people. In The End of the Christian Life, Todd Billings urges Christians to resist that view. Instead, he calls us to embrace our mortality in our daily life and faith. This is the journey of genuine discipleship, Billings says: following the crucified and resurrected Lord in a world of distraction and false hopes. Drawing on his experience as a professor and father living with incurable cancer, Billings offers a personal yet deeply theological account of the gospel's expansive hope for small, mortal creatures. Artfully weaving rich theology with powerful narrative, Billings writes for church leaders and laypeople alike. Whether we are young or old, reeling from loss or clinging to our own prosperity, this book challenges us to walk a strange but wondrous path: in the midst of joy and lament, to receive mortal limits as a gift, an opportunity to give ourselves over to the Lord of life.
Even three hundred years ago, believers found it difficult to sustain for forty days the proper Lenten spirit. That's why even then, countless Christians turned to the writings of Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704), whose great piety and simple eloquence won him renown as one of the greatest preachers of his time. From Bishop Bossuet's sermons and spiritual writings, believers drew ever greater Lenten wisdom and strength. Now translator Christopher Blum has selected from Bishop Bossuet's voluminous works fifty brief but remarkably powerful meditations that complement the daily readings at Mass during the Lenten season, thus offering to us the perfect companion for a thoughtful and fruitful Lent. If you read and meditate briefly on just one of them each day in Lent, I guarantee that this good French bishop's eloquence will soon have you not merely remembering the events of Christ's journey to His Crucifixion; it will have you spiritually walking with Him on that journey . . . which is precisely what we are called to do in Lent! With Bossuet, this Lent you will find yourself saying, "O Jesus! I present myself to you to make my journey in your company. O my Savior, receive your traveler! Here I am ready, holding on to nothing. Let me go with You to the Father." That's the fire that should burn in the heart of all Christians. This Lent, let Bishop Bossuet enkindle it in yours. Among the Meditations: God Alone Suffices Pray to God in Secret The Truth and the Life Tempted in the Desert The Sign of Jonah Love Your Enemies This Is My Beloved Son And You Will Be Forgiven The Wicked Tenants In Spirit and in Truth The Silence of Christ Priest, Prophet, and King Our Life, a Journey to God The Great Commandment I Was Hungry and You Fed Me The Love of God for Repentant Sinners Up to Jerusalem God, the Life of the Soul The Witness of the Baptist The Raising of Lazarus Jesus Is Persecuted The True Messiah The Anointing The Betrayal The Eucharist The Passion The Brevity of Life Washed of Our Sins A Sign of Contradiction No Man Ever Spoke Like This Man The Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem To Unite Ourselves with Christ
Life is noisy. But what would happen if every day - for the next 40 days - you soaked in God's love as He intimately whispered words of rest just for you? Whispers of Rest is a 40-day devotional detox for your soul, a spiritual journey to refresh you and guide you to greater peace, while helping you discover who God truly made you to be: His beloved. Renew your spirit with powerful affirmations of God's love with uplifting words of Scripture, journaling prompts for reflection, and practical challenges to spark joy. Bonnie will lead you to places of rest, where you can deeply experience the Savior's presence in your everyday life. This beautiful guidebook will create space for your soul to breathe: Soul Care Tips & Trail Notes - Reduce stress and nurture your body and spirit. Daily Beloved Challenges - Brighten your day by taking simple soul care actions. A Simple Prayer Practice - Deepen your intimacy with God through easy-to-enjoy prayer prompts, inspired by classic devotional practices. A lot can happen in 40 days. A new rhythm. A new heart. A renewed faith. Transform your life as you take the journey to say yes to God, embrace your true identity, rediscover your dreams, and begin your healing. Dare to enjoy each day fully and celebrate your calling as the beloved.
Begin your Lenten journey this year with Father Laurin Wenig as your guide. In this book you find short reflections for each day based on the Scripture readings for that day and prayer that serves as a 'thought for the day'.
God knows what's on our minds and in our hearts, but we still need to verbalize our innermost thoughts, feelings, and intentions. That's prayer. In this easy-to-read, down-to-earth introduction to conversation with God, you'll discover, or rediscover, what you need to be able to "pray without ceasing." In this brief booklet, author, mom, wife, and Secular Franciscan Barb Szyszkiewicz helps you strengthen your connection to God through prayer. You'll learn: How to pray alone and establish an intimate connection with God How to pray with the whole Church What the saints teach us about prayer When to pray, including formal and informal times for prayer Different styles and methods of prayer, including the prayers of the Church, adoration, meditation, music, art, and journaling Your connection to God in prayer can happen anywhere, at any time. No special equipment is needed, and no dress code, no reservation, no admission fee. All you need is an open heart and a willingness to engage with our Creator.
An introduction to Lenten prayer as a path to spiritual renewal. Lent can be wonderful time of spiritual renewal, however for many, Lent and Lenten prayer is often thought of as an "ordeal." What can often be overlooked amid Lenten observances, such as fasting, abstinence, or the common tradition of giving something up, is the opportunity Lent presents, through Lenten prayer and preparation, to deepen our commitment to a way of life rooted in our baptism. Praying Lent: Renewing Our Lives on the Lenten Journey reminds the reader that if we focus too much on what we give up we may miss the message of what God wants to give us during this grace-filled time. Created in partnership with Creighton University's popular Online Ministries, Praying Lent provides readers with a rich, full, and transformative Lenten prayer experience, one in which hearts, minds, and lives are truly renewed as Lent takes on a far deeper and more meaningful purpose.
During Lent, worshipers around the world join together in a common theme of Christian faith, practicing self-reflection and remembrance of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on Calvary. It is not only a time of individual reflection, but a time of communal reflection, reminding us that we are a global community of believers, and we have a responsibility to one anther and to our world. Olu Brown, author of best-seller Hope: An Advent Journey, has written the new book for Lent 2022, Our Lenten Prayer, for individuals, small groups, and church-wide Lenten studies.During this Lenten season, the author encourages the reader to lean fully on God and practice the spiritual discipline of trust. Rev. Brown believes there is so much we don't know or understand, and so much we have to learn. He writes that our attempts to be God are futile exercises that lead to nothing but disappointment and disillusionment. Rev. Brown believes that God is challenging us to fully release and trust God for all things in our lives during this Lenten season. It doesn't mean we literally stop and cease to do anything, but we live and operate with the mindset that God is in control and has our best interests at heart even when we don't fully understand what God is doing or perceive God's presence in our lives and world. We need to be open and willing to ask God for help and direction. Don't worry, however. Olu reminds the reader that God is available to lead and guide us every step of the way. Chapters include:?The Season of Lent?Jesus's Model Prayer?Hypocrisy?An Inclusive God and Holy God?Here and Now! Kingdom Come?Your Will?Daily Bread?Forgiveness?Fighting Temptation?Your Personal Doxology?Transformation
The journeys of Lent and of life are seldom straight roads, but are usually like complicated mazes or labyrinths. While we often can feel lost along the complex twisting patterns of the labyrinth path, to travel the maze of the Way is the greatest of all adventures. This guidebook of daily reflections for this journey of transformation has the power to change "to radically enrich" our way of thinking, loving and believing. Each day's reflection-which takes but a few minutes to read-is followed by brief questions/exercises aimed at inspiring personal implications. Short of time? A few minutes daily with Father Hays can nourish a hungry soul for 24 hours. Both books of daily Lenten reflections-The Ascent of the Mountain of God and The Lenten Labyrinth-maximize our limited resources of time, making our journey through Lent into the heart of Holy Week a time of real renewal.