Metanoia: A Catholic Book Series, Book Number Three: Vocation: Common Priest by Baptism


Book Description

Metanoia: A Catholic Book Series, Book Number Three: Vocation: Common Priest by Baptism is the author’s third publication in a series of Catholic books. In Vocation: Common Priest by Baptism, the author sets forth his personal experience in discerning whether Jesus Christ is calling him to share or participate in The Eternal Priesthood of Christ, as a common priest by Baptism or as a ministerial priest by Holy Orders. In answering this question, the author recounts 25 years of priestly misidentifications and associations made by strangers, parishioners, family, friends, and neighbors, connecting them with the irrevocable and inseparable gifts and call of a true Catholic priest (i.e., Sacerdos alter Christus). He is publishing this book in hopes that other Catholic men formally in discernment may find it instructive. Finally, this book is part of the author’s lay apostolate of Roman Catholic witness to the reality, power, and transforming/saving love of God, as well as the author’s response to and promotion of the Church’s “universal call to holiness” (Lumen Gentium) and the “new evangelization” (Novo Millenio Ineunte), in the electronically and globally connected virtual world of the Internet.




Clericalism


Book Description

Searching for answers in the midst of the sexual abuse crisis in the church, many blamed the clerical culture. But what exactly is this clerical culture? We may know it when we see it, but how can we 'whether clergy or laypeople 'go about dismantling it and putting in place a new, healthy culture? George Wilson has spent decades working with organizations to help them discover, and often recover, their foundational calling. He is also a Jesuit priest engaged in the lives of congregations. In Clericalism: The Death of Priesthood he brings together both capacities and gives his sense of the challenges facing the church. As members of the church, Wilson maintains, we are all responsible for creating a clerical culture. And we are also responsible for that culture's transformation. Clericalism aids this transformation by helping us examine some underlying attitudes that create and preserve destructive relationships between ordained and laity. After looking at the crisis and establishing where we are now, this book challenges us with concrete suggestions for changing behaviors. We are lay and ordained, but all baptized into the royal priesthood of 1 Peter 2:9, all called to spread the Gospel and do the work of God's love in the world. Ultimately, this is a hopeful book, looking for the restoration of a genuine priesthood, free of clericalism, in which we become truly united in Christ..




Why Go to Church?


Book Description

Written by a spiritual master this is an important Lent title that examines what it means to celebrate the Eucharist, and in turn reminds us of our capacity for love, hope and faith.




How to Go from Being a Good Evangelical to a Committed Catholic in Ninety-Five Difficult Steps


Book Description

American evangelicalism has recently experienced a new openness to Roman Catholicism, and many evangelicals, both famous and ordinary, have joined the Catholic Church or are considering the possibility. This book helps evangelicals who are exploring Catholicism to sort out the kind of concerns that typically come up in discerning whether to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church. In simple language, it explains many theological misunderstandings that evangelicals often have about Catholicism and suggests the kind of practical steps many take to enter the Catholic Church. The book frames evangelicals becoming Roman Catholic as a kind of "paradigm shift" involving the buildup of anomalies about evangelicalism, a crisis of the evangelical paradigm, a paradigm revolution, and the consolidation of the new Catholic paradigm. It will be useful for both evangelicals interested in pursuing and understanding Catholicism and Catholic pastoral workers seeking to help evangelical seekers who come to them.




After You Believe


Book Description

From the author of the acclaimed Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope comes a book that addresses the question that has plagued humans for centuries—what is our purpose? As Christians, what are we to do with that ambiguous time between baptism and the funeral? It's easy to become preoccupied with who gets into heaven; the real challenge is how we are going to live in the here and now. Wright dispels the common misconception that Christian living is nothing more than a checklist of dos and don'ts. Nor is it a prescription to "follow your heart" wherever it may lead. Instead, After You Believe reveals the Bible's call for a revolution—a transformation of character that takes us beyond our earthly pursuit of money, sex, and power into a virtuous state of living that allows us to reflect God and live more worshipful, fulfilling lives. We are all spiritual seekers, intuitively knowing there is more to life than we suspect. This is a book for anyone who is hoping there is something more while we're here on Earth. There is. We are being called to join the revolution, and Wright insightfully encourages readers to find new purpose and clarity by taking us on an eye-opening journey through key biblical passages that promise to radically alter the work of the church and the direction of our lives.







General Directory for Catechesis


Book Description

Revised and updated version of the General catechetical directory, 1971. Includes bibliographical references (p. 2-5) and index.




Dogma and Preaching


Book Description

Presents philosophies for preaching as drawn from Church dogmas, and stresses the three main principles of sound preaching -- dogma, scripture, and an understanding of the Church's contemporary situation.




Amazing Grace


Book Description

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Cloister Walk, a book about Christianity, spirituality, and rediscovered faith. Struggling with her return to the Christian church after many years away, Kathleen Norris found it was the language of Christianity that most distanced her from faith. Words like "judgment," "faith," "dogma," "salvation," "sinner"—even "Christ"—formed what she called her "scary vocabulary," words that had become so codified or abstract that their meanings were all but impenetrable. She found she had to wrestle with them and make them her own before they could confer their blessings and their grace. Blending history, theology, storytelling, etymology, and memoir, Norris uses these words as a starting point for reflection, and offers a moving account of her own gradual conversion. She evokes a rich spirituality rooted firmly in the chaos of everyday life—and offers believers and doubters alike an illuminating perspective on how we can embrace ancient traditions and find faith in the contemporary world.




Say You're One of Them


Book Description

An Oprah's Book Club selection: this "electrifying" book (Washington Post) pays tribute to the wisdom and resilience of children even in the face of the most agonizing circumstances. Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord. In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa. Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent. One of the best books of the year: Wall Street Journal, People, Bloomberg News, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post Book World, and Entertainment Weekly