Franciscan Murray Bodo illuminates seven key teachings from St. Francis and tells us how these teachings are the foundation for Franciscan spirituality today. Beginning with the wonder of the incarnation, he moves through the paradox of evangelical poverty, living the Gospel, repairing God's house, making peace, the recognition that we are one with all of creation, and the joy and humble service of God. All of these teachings have their roots and destination in the love of God that surrounds all of creation and each individual person.

These words come from one of the most recognized prayers in the world, "A Prayer for Peace." Recent custom attributes them to St. Francis, the saint whose legacy leads thousands to pray. Although it is unlikely that St. Francis authored this popular prayer, the Franciscan tradition of prayer is similarly humble and eloquent.

From the Virgin Mary and Francis of Assisi to the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and the French philosopher Simone Weil, this inspiring course introduces you to the mysticism of ten inspiring luminaries of faith. In 12 lectures, you will look carefully at the lives of these 10 beloved mystics - five men and five women - from the Christian tradition. Bookended by an introduction and conclusion, this series helps you understand mysticism at both the individual community level.

St. Francis had a deep and lifelong devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, committing his order to her care. Franciscan Murray Bodo explores that relationship in this evocative and deeply spiritual encounter with Marian devotion across the centuries.

Francis and Jesus is the story of how the poor and humble St. Francis of Assisi gave away all to gain all, sharing in God's kingdom on Earth. Francis' life exemplifies what it means to be a genuine disciple of Jesus, walking in Christ's footsteps to show how ultimate truth is lived in small, unique ways. Franciscan Father Murray Bodo takes us on the journey with Francis, as we see his pain, his suffering, his dying to self. On that difficult road we are reminded that death to self creates new life....

Franciscan priest Richard Rohr feels that there is no more challenging spiritual issue than the “problem of the self". Most of contemporary spiritual teaching, he believes, is still trying to inspire and fortify the private self, the autonomous "I". Even much church work is trying to evangelize and sacramentalize what many would call "the false self." Basic transformation is not expected, but merely a new set of beliefs and practices or loyal membership in a new group.

Both Rohr and D'Arcy believe that much personal and church confusion could be helped by clearly distinguishing the tasks of the two halves of life. Much of institutional religion is concerned with the tasks of the first half of life. The need for adults is to move onto the tasks of the second half of life, which are much closer to the concerns of Jesus, Buddha and the mystics of all religions.

We all suffer from unhealthy dependencies that we continually return to in hopes of having a better life. But after yet another TV show is streamed or another drink is swallowed, we find we once again feel worse, not better, than we did before. Where is the hope for that fully awakened life we long to live?

Fr. William Meninger, OCSO, is one of the leading figures in the centering prayer movement. In this concise and beautifully written exposition, he guides the listener through two of the basic works of inner development by one of the most significant and influential of all Christian mystics, St. John of the Cross (1542-1591). These two texts - The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul - explore the inner spiritual journey in all its revelations and challenges, its moments of joy, and its moments of profound torment.

This book will introduce St. Clare of Assisi to those who do not know her and those who wish to know her better. It leads the listener from Clare's birth to her death. While taking account of modern scholarship, Sr. Margaret Carney tells the story of this medieval woman in a way listeners today can understand.

In our culture, the “good life” means getting more. This series of retreat talks challenges listeners to subtract--to release whatever hinders us from siding with the cosmic Christ, whether that be in our inner world or our outer world. Father Rohr offers a daring vision which calls us to surrender, to liberation, to making room for real freedom.

In the first half of life, we are naturally preoccupied with establishing ourselves; climbing, achieving, and performing. But as we grow older and encounter challenges and mistakes, we need to see ourselves in a different and more life-giving way. This message of falling down - that is in fact moving upward - is the most resisted and counterintuitive of messages in the world's religions. Falling Upward offers a new paradigm for understanding one of the most profound of life's mysteries: how those who have fallen down are the only ones who understand "up".

The mystics show us the deepest recesses of the human spirit. Now, this remarkable series gives you the rare opportunity to take one of the world's leading experts on mysticism as your personal guide. Boston College's Fr. Harvey Egan draws on 50 years of teaching the Christian mystics. Brilliantly taught, his lectures are filled with faithful insights. Under his guidance, you will explore the mystical life by focusing upon 11 significant figures. You will begin with Ignatius of Loyola and his finding of God in all things.

In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world.

In this wise and compassionate book, Father James Martin, SJ explores the story of Jesus’s greatest miracle—the raising of Lazarus from the dead—and what Jesus means when he calls each of us to “come forth.” Meditatively and carefully, Martin leads us verse by verse, offering profound reflections on Jesus’s lessons on love, family, sadness, frustration, fear, anger, freedom, and joy.

Who was medieval Italy's Francis of Assisi? Millions knew him as the saint who first received the stigmata of Christ, as a champion of the poor, and as a mystic who possessed a divine rapport with the natural world. But few know that Saint Francis also created an extraordinary system of practices to radiate a joyfulness of spirit inward to the soul and outward to the world. On The Way of Saint Francis, scholar and friar Murray Bodo reveals the life of this celebrated saint and shares specific meditations, prayers, and teachings to cultivate the 5 great keys of Franciscan spirituality: Silence, how to use inner and outer quietude to prepare a sacred dwelling place within; Purification, true forgiveness, the secret to purifying the heart; Openness, how to embrace your deeper suffering and simpler joys in the manner and spirit of Saint Francis; Response, the way of the Poor Christ, a life made rich through prayer, contemplation, and selfless service; Time, how we enter the state of the timeless divine. You will learn how to use each of these miraculous keys to open the door to the cell within - a sacred inner space of stillness and strength available to you at any time and in any situation - and to transform yourself into a true instrument of peace.

Is God a wrathful judge? A gentle healer? A father? Brother? Friend? In The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning brings you to a deeper understanding of the true nature of God. Through poignant and unforgettable stories and challenging observations, Manning helps you stretch your mind and reject simplistic explanations of who God really is.

For over four decades, Fulton Sheen was the face of Catholicism in America and literally received hundreds of thousands of letters from people around the world in search of truth, faith, salvation, and spiritual guidance. In this new reissue of one of Sheen's classic works, the Emmy Award-winning priest takes an intimate look at our sacred journey to God and answers some of life's most profound questions.

Francis and Jesus is the story of how the poor and humble St. Francis of Assisi gave away all to gain all, sharing in God's kingdom on Earth. Francis' life exemplifies what it means to be a genuine disciple of Jesus, walking in Christ's footsteps to show how ultimate truth is lived in small, unique ways. Franciscan Father Murray Bodo takes us on the journey with Francis, as we see his pain, his suffering, his dying to self. On that difficult road we are reminded that death to self creates new life....

What is Christianity? It is Christ. Nothing more, nothing less. Christianity is not an ideology and not a philosophy. Christianity is the Good News that beauty, truth, and goodness are found in a Person. And conversion? It's more than a change in direction; it's a change in connection.

Two dozen select prayer poems to learn from and live with. Poetry and prayer are closely related. We often look to poets to give language to our deepest hopes, fears, losses - and prayers. Poets slow us down. They teach us to stop and go in before we go on. They play at the edges of mystery, holding a tension between line and sentence, between sense and reason, between the transcendent, and the deeply, comfortingly familiar. When Poets Pray contains thoughtful meditations by Marilyn McEntyre on choice poems/prayers and poems about prayer.

First published in 1992, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home has become a classic on its eponymous subject. Awarded Christianity Today's Book of the Year award and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Gold Medallion award, Prayer continues to receive widespread acclaim as one of the most thorough and insightful treatments of this central spiritual practice.

A gospel, as ancient and authentic as any of the gospels that the Christian bible contains, was buried deep in the Egyptian desert after an edict was sent out in the 4th century to have all copies of it destroyed. Fortunately, some rebel monks were wise enough to refuse - and thanks to their disobedience and spiritual bravery, we have several manuscripts of the only gospel that was written in the name of a woman: The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

Frederick Buechner has long been a kindred spirit to those who find elements of doubt as constant companions on their journey of faith. He is a passionate writer and preacher who can alter lives with a simple phrase. Reflecting Buechner's exquisite gift for storytelling and his compassionate pastor's heart, Secrets in the Dark will inspire laughter, hope, and bring great solace. Start listening and rediscover what it means to be thoughtful about faith.

Mary is the flower of femininity to some, a woman of power to others. She has been seen as a paragon of obedience as well as an instrument of liberation. Some have piled her status so high that it rivals that of her Son. Other do their best to ignore her. Behind all of those images is a girl who grew up to be the mother of Christ.

Is praying a duty or a delight? J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom say that it's both; an essential, expected practice as a follower of Christ, but also a privilege and joy. As we start out learning to pray properly, however, the delight often seems to be missing. Here is practical help for active, honest praying that involves all of who we are - heart, hands and head - and moves us to deeper obedience, joy and intimacy with our Father.

Alone among the creatures of the world, man suffers a pang both bitter and sweet. It is an ache for the homecoming. The Greeks called it nostalgia. Post-modern man, homeless almost by definition, cannot understand nostalgia. If he is a progressive, dreaming of a utopia to come, he dismisses it contemptuously, eager to bury a past he despises. If he is a reactionary, he sentimentalizes it, dreaming of a lost golden age. In this profound reflection, Anthony Esolen explores the true meaning of nostalgia and its place in the human heart.

Rachel Held Evans is widely recognized for her theologically astute, profoundly honest, and beautifully personal books, which have guided, instructed, edified, and shaped Christians as they seek to live out a just and loving faith. At the time of her tragic death in 2019, Rachel was working on a new book about wholeheartedness. With the help of her close friend and author Jeff Chu, that work-in-progress has been woven together with some of her other unpublished writings into a rich collection of essays.

Author John C. Preiss describes in clear detail the Virgin Mary's appearances to Lucia dos Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto (now the Church's youngest canonized saints) and shares the background, sights, and sounds that draw you into the events as they unfolded over the course of the 20th century. More than just a history lesson about the apparitions, The Miracle and the Message shows us how to claim the message in our own lives and fully embrace what Mary offers the Church and the world.

Daily readings drawn from every century and every tradition of the Christian faith. Christianity through the ages... Ignatius, C.S. Lewis, John Calvin, Augustine, Catherine of Siena, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Polycarp, John Wesley, Karl Barth, and Billy Sunday. These names, and so many others, fill the pages of church history. Yet they remain strangers to most of us. How Great Is Our God will introduce you to Christianity’s most influential thinkers from every century and every tradition—modernized for today’s reader.