The Hound of Heaven at My Heels


Book Description

This book is a poignant and inspiring story about the great poet Francis Thompson. Addicted to opium as a young man and reduced to homelessness on the streets of London, the poet, in a last effort to regenerate himself, sends to the editor of a Catholic monthly samples of his writing. Months pass before the editor reads the soiled manuscript; he immediately perceives its genius and sets out to find the young poet but to no avail. He publishes the poetry in the hopes that Thompson will contact him. The Hound of Heaven at My Heels is a fictional reconstruction of the poet's lost diary; it is a heart-breaking and soul-lifting account of his spiritual, psychological, and physical regeneration. It is the story of a young man who finally finds his soul and his vocation.




The Hound of Heaven


Book Description




Relentless Pursuit


Book Description

"Popular author uses stories from the Bible and his own life to teach about God's love for those who feel like outsiders"--Provided by publisher.




Love Heels


Book Description

Describes the process of training Canine Companions for Independence service dogs from breeding and puppyhood to graduation and presents intimate portraits of the relationships between individual dogs and the partners they serve.




And Then I Am Gone


Book Description

And Then I Am Gone: A Walk with Thoreau tells the story of a New York City man who becomes an Alabama man. Despite his radical migration to simpler living and a late-life marriage to a saint of sorts, his persistent pet anxieties and unanswerable questions follow him. Mathias Freese wants his retreat from the societal "it" to be a brave safari for the self rather than cowardly avoidance, so who better to guide him but Henry David Thoreau, the self-aware philosopher who retreated to Walden Pond "to live deliberately" and cease "the hurry and waste of life"? In this memoir, Freese wishes to share how and why he came to Harvest, Alabama (both literally and figuratively), to impart his existential impressions and concerns, and to leave his mark before he is gone.




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.




Chosen


Book Description

"The twenty-three men and women who tell their conversion stories in these pages were not drawn to the Church by sound evangelization programs, beautiful buildings and liturgies, or saintly witnesses among the clergy. On the contrary, many of them were attracted to Catholicism in spite of a now decades-long stretch of deficient catechesis, mediocre Masses, and uninspiring leadership. Christ himself led these souls to his Church, concludes editor Donna Steichen, who compiled this consoling collection, and it is the Lord who set them to work replanting his devastated vineyard. ""Despite their marked differences in origin, education, and field of service,"" writes Steichen, ""each one makes it clear that it is Christ who did the choosing. They testify that Christ touched their hearts and intervened in their lives in unexpected, sometimes even miraculous, ways."" ""These conversions in the midst of the post-Vatican II crisis of faith seem particularly pure and often entertainingly improbable, bearing testimony to the central truth...That the Church is not a man-made institution, but a divine one ndash; a perpetual repository of truth and grace so powerful that not even the darkness of scandal can overshadow it."" - from the Foreword by George Neumayr, editor of Catholic World Report"




The Resounding Soul


Book Description

It is surely not coincidental that the term 'soul' should mean not only the centre of a creature's life and consciousness, but also a thing or action characterised by intense vivacity ('that bike's got soul!'). It also seems far from coincidental that the same contemporary academic discussions that have largely cast aside the language of 'soul' in their quest to define the character of human mental life should themselves be so bloodless, or so lacking in soul. The Resounding Soul arises from the opposite premise: that the task of understanding human nature is bound up with the more critical task of learning to be fully human. The papers collected here are derived from a conference in Oxford sponsored by the Centre of Theology and Philosophy and explore the often surprising landscape that emerges when human consciousness is approached from this angle. Drawing upon literary, philosophical, theological, historical, and musical modes of analysis, these essays remind the reader of the power of the ancient language of soul over against contemporary impulses to reduce, fragment, and overly determine human selfhood.




The Green Man


Book Description

The owner of a haunted country inn contends with death, fatherhood, romantic woes, and alcoholism in this humorous and “rattling good ghost story” from a Booker Prize–winning author (The New York Times) Maurice Allington has reached middle age and is haunted by death. As he says, “I honestly can’t see why everybody who isn’t a child, everybody who’s theoretically old enough to have understood what death means, doesn’t spend all his time thinking about it. It’s a pretty arresting thought.” He also happens to own and run a country inn that is haunted. The Green Man opens as Maurice’s father drops dead (had he seen something in the room?) and continues as friends and family convene for the funeral. Maurice’s problems are many and increasing: How to deal with his own declining health? How to reach out to a teenage daughter who watches TV all the time? How to get his best friend’s wife in the sack? How to find another drink? (And another.) And then there is always death. The Green Man is a ghost story that hits a live nerve, a very black comedy with an uncannily happy ending: in other words, Kingsley Amis at his best.




More Precious Than Gold


Book Description

This is the true story of a twelve-day journey my husband and I endured while our infant son, Joshua, was at death's door. What the Lord revealed to me, during those heart-wrenching days, changed me. He later used that knowledge to help me reach out to touch other's lives. That ministry became one of my life's greatest fulfillments. While no one wants to go through trials, life doesn't always give us that choice. Yet, it is often in unexpected crisis that we are given the opportunity for God to teach us things we've never known. From that knowledge, He desires to do remarkable things through us to help make an eternal difference in the lives of others. Throughout history, God has always used ordinary men and women in the midst of crisis to have an impact on their generation, and He is still doing so today. Jenny Doss went to the University of Montevallo in Alabama as an Art/Art History major and became a wife and mother of five. After raising her family, she perused her "other" calling to teach. Yet, Jenny's greatest mission, outside of her family, was when the Lord called her to become the founder and director of Sav-A-Life, Shelby, a ministry that has touched countless lives. Three years later, God changed her direction, and she helped open the Kingwood Counseling Center where she taught counseling and served as a family counselor for almost a decade. Since 1993, she has also taught in private and fine arts schools. Jenny has been an advocate for the unborn, and has spoken before congregations and civic groups on a variety of subjects, including her testimony. And the ministry God raised up through her more than two decades ago is still touching lives and saving souls.