Bücher veröffentlicht von Franciscan Media

The Canticle of the Creatures "is Francis's love song. It is Franciscan wholeness, for in it is contained the depth of his prayer and of his life in Christ. In its singing he was singing his dying and his rising, for his song was a journey of praise and thanksgiving for his place of origin and his destination, the Most High, All-Powerful, Good Lord."--Murray Bodo Using St. Francis's canticle as a framework, Murray Bodo, a Franciscan friar, and Susan Saint Sing, a secular Franciscan, reflect on the vision of Francis and Clare as it has played out over the course of their own lives. Susan's experiences of healing during trips to Assisi and praying in nature and Murray's deep understanding of Francis and Clare as poets and mystics come together in a duet that brings God's love song to life. These deeply personal reflections explore the power of prayer and meditation, the sacredness of all creation, and the pull of sacred places. This meditative, reflective reading experience conveys what a lifetime of Franciscan spirituality looks like and will draw you into exploring your own experience of the vision of Francis and Clare.

"St. Marianne shows us that this world's ways can lead us to the Most High in both darkness and light."--Sr. Margaret Carney, from the foreword "I am hungry for the work. I am not afraid of any disease." Mother Marianne Cope, July 12, 1883 A letter of invitation in 1883 beckoned her to travel from Syracuse, New York to the islands now known as Hawai`i. Surprised by grace, she gave an emphatic yes to God, even after she learned that her work would be among persons stricken with Hansen's disease, known then as leprosy. After ministering on several of the islands, she finally came to the settlement at Kalaupapa on the island of Moloka`i, where Fr. Damien de Veuster worked with those afflicted with the disease. With other sisters from her community, she cared for the residents and was instrumental in administering hospitals and schools until her death in 1918. In Mission of Grace, Sr. Fran Gangloff tells the inspiring story of a woman committed to serving God's neediest children with love, compassion, respect, and grace, often in the face of both hardship and resistance from authorities blind to the needs. At her canonization in 2012, St. Marianne was called the "beloved mother of outcasts."

"Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure inspire us to re-enchant and heal our spiritual practices and religious institutions and to reclaim our vocation as God's companions in healing the world." Francis was inspired by the simple goal of living a gospel life in the footprints of Jesus. Clare took that vision into a deep, contemplative spirituality. A few decades later, Bonaventure explored the theological structure of Francis's ideal and put the simplicity and spirituality of Francis and Clare in the service of the Franciscan order, the church, and the world. Their timeless wisdom and unique contributions can guide Christians today in finding ways to be, in the words of Francis's first biographer, "always new, always fresh, always beginning again." As he did in Walking with Francis of Assisi, Bruce Epperly shows us how the lives of three saints from the thirteenth century offer wisdom, insight, and practical solutions to our challenges in the twenty-first century. Many of those challenges they never could have imagined; others would be very familiar: healing divisions among people, caring for God's creation in a time of climate change, renewing the church's gospel commitment to the poor and vulnerable, valuing the human person in an increasingly technological society, recognizing the presence of God in an expanding universe. Faithfulness to Franciscan spirituality involves inviting other companions to join us on the journey. Epperly brings Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure in dialogue with figures such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Pope Francis, Joshua Heschel, Leonardo Boff, Albert Schweitzer, Dorothy Day. Some of these were influenced by Francis; all of them witness to the need for a world formed, sustained, and sanctified by God's love.

Reflect. Pray. Act. These simple directions can help you integrate the power of prayer into your daily life. Pause and Pray: Reflections, Prayers, and Actions for Everyday Life by Franciscan Media is a transformative book and the ultimate resource for those who want to integrate their prayer life into their everyday actions. It includes dozens of prayers, each with a brief reflection and a simple action, allowing your spirituality to flourish every day. Adapted from the popular online feature pause+pray (franciscanmedia.org/pausepray), this book is designed to help you integrate your prayer life into your everyday actions, allowing your spirituality to flourish. If you've been seeking a way to make your entire day more prayerful, Pause and Pray is the resource you've been looking for.

In Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, Franciscan friar and bestselling author Richard Rohr lays out his case for a view of the Bible as a living text that can transform your way of seeing the world. This companion to Things Hidden offers questions for journaling and private reflection as well as meditation prompts and other physical practices in order to focus the reader's mind on both action and contemplation. It also contains suggestions for adapting the study to groups.

Three Minutes with God features hundreds of inspiring reflections and prayers that will remind you to rejoice and praise God! Each day's entry includes a scripture passage, a thoughtful reflection, and a brief prayer to revive your spirit.

Get ready to discover Franciscan flora and fauna! This handy reference book provides a complete overview of the history, major figures and locations, and most influential texts of the Franciscan tradition. From Pica Bernardone to the ';Prayer to the Trinity,' Sister Rosemary Stets has compiled an at-your-fingertips guide to the people, places, practices, and prayers that comprise the Franciscan tradition.Whether you're a new member of the order, a layperson working for a Franciscan organization, or simply someone with a Franciscan heart, you will be inspired by the rich history and deep spirituality of the Franciscan way of life.Franciscan Field Guideincludes sections on: The Franciscan family of religious orders and congregationsFranciscan gospel valuesPlaces, symbols, and topics key to understanding the Franciscan traditionPeople whose lives shaped the Franciscan storySelected Franciscan writings and sourcesFranciscan prayers

When you hit rock bottom, it isn't rainbows and butterflies that you need--it's the words to express your deepest emotions without being judged for them. In this spiritual memoir, author Maureen O'Brien finds her words in the psalms. As a cancer survivor and heartbroken divorcee, O'Brien made a seemingly simple commitment to praying one psalm a day, no matter how uninspired she felt. And as she returned to the ancient poems day after day, she discovered something surprising: while the psalms did give her comfort, solace, and hope, they also gave her permission to rage, cry, and grieve. And what she found was that her most honest emotions pulled her nearer to God, not further away. This, O'Brien writes, is the gift of the psalms. At once relatable and inspiring, What Was Lost stands like a lighthouse on a stormy night, offering the reader a clear path to be led home.

"In an age of body workouts and exercise regimens, training the soul for peace may be one of the most important routines we take up on a committed basis. For there can be no peace in the world unless there is peace in the heart."--Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, Josephine Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology, Villanova UniversityAfter reading Soul Training with the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis, you'll know why pontiffs, presidents, politicians, paralegals, plumbers, and proofreaders keep turning to the Peace Prayer. This simple prayer can train the soul and keep you in shape until you cross the finish line into eternal life. Think of this book as your workout manual that offers encouragement to condition all the muscles of the virtues to help you stay spiritually fit: faith, hope, love, forgiveness, joy, consolation, understanding, and selflessness."The Peace Prayer gets you in the zone where God's grace shapes and stretches your soul, transforming you into a saint who shimmers and shines."--from the introduction

Christianity is a mysterious faith. Some of these mysteries can be described with Scripture or doctrine, but others can only be experienced. Those graced with these experiences, these intimate glimpses of God, are called mystics.

"My way is one that is full of confidence and love." --St. Thérèse of Lisieux Through her autobiography and an extensive collection of letters, St. Thérèse helped people understand nothing was too little to give Jesus, and nothing done out of love for him was insignificant. Perhaps this is why so many lives still resonate with hers. It is easy to feel insignificant and unimportant. Yet, the clear and compelling language of her story and her letters remains the perfect antidote to such feelings. Fr. Gary Caster writes, "While the language she uses might be new to you, the insights she offers are as eternal as the God who loves us and longs for each of us to be united with him, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit, for all eternity." These inspiring words from her writings have been selected and arranged according to important themes of the spiritual life: confidence, holiness, humility, abandonment, obedience, the love of God, mercy, charity, and suffering. Her devotion to Jesus, Mary, and the Eucharist shine through all of her writings.

Advent is a fresh start, a welcome into the silence and the mystery of whatever is waiting to be born or reborn in our lives. At the very time when we are most immersed in activity--shopping, parties, baking and cleaning in preparation for the noise and merriment of Christmas--Advent is an invitation to slow down, to come away to the quiet. It's a reminder that the promise of Christ is "already but not yet." We are called to prepare a place for Jesus in our hearts and our lives, just as the people of the Hebrew Scriptures longed for the Messiah, and as Mary and Joseph prepared for the birth of their first child. Life as we know it is going to change if we live Advent well. In Simple Gifts, author Diane Houdek offers a series of daily Advent meditations that are very different from the commodified, candy-filled calendars we find in stores. This one calls us to rest, to step back, to learn to appreciate the small events and simple gifts that flow through our days. These reflections remind us of the life-changing truths that lie deep within our own hearts. Gathering wisdom from Scripture, from saints and spiritual writers, and from the author's own deceptively profound insights about everyday life, Simple Giftsis a way to seek a sense of peace and wholeness in our hearts and in our daily lives. It's an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and the God who loved us enough to become one of us and share our journey. If we do that even in small ways this year, we will have an immeasurable gift to share with our loved ones--and possibly even with our world.

Franciscan Murray Bodo illuminates seven key teachings from St. Francis and shows 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.

Dr. Ray Guarendi believes that parenting is too important to be taken seriously--and that goes double for grandparenting. As a father of ten, clinical psychologist, radio host and author of many books about marriage and parenting, Dr. Ray has spent his career helping to strengthen families through a combination of Catholic theology, common-sense insights and wry humor. Now, having become a new grandpa himself, Dr. Ray is turning his attention to the joyful, rejuvenating and sometimes complicated subject of grandparenting. In Being a Grandparent: Just Like Being a Parent...Only Different, he answers real questions from grands. Some wonder how being a grandparent will differ from being a parent, and want to mature into it with as few wrinkles as possible. Some are a daily presence in their grandchildren's lives, perhaps even sharing a home with them and wanting their interactions to be as smooth as possible. Others live many miles away and fear yielding to the temptation of bribery to endear their distant grandbabies to them. Some are baffled as to why their own children are raising the grandkids so unlike they were raised--in practice, discipline or morals. Others see their grandchildren as difficult to be around, and ask what, if anything, they can do about it. Whether you're a "Grandma," a "Poppy," an "Opa" or a "Nana," Dr. Ray can help you navigate this second go-round with children in a way that mirrors God's own unconditional love for us. You'll learn to balance the expertise you've banked during decades as a parent with the emotional dynamics of this new stage of life. And best of all, you'll get a little extra insight into savoring the true, unabashed joy of grandparenthood. Being a Grandparent makes a great gift for new grandparents and seasoned matriarchs and patriarchs alike. The audio edition of this book can be downloaded via Audible.

Forgiving Mother offers you practical guidance and spiritual wisdom to begin your journey to wholeness of spirit. Highly recommended! -- Lisa M. Hendey, author, The Grace of Yes Marge Steinhage Fenelon knows the pain, fear, hopelessness, insecurity, resentment and anger of being raised by a troubled mother. She also knows the way out: Mary. In Forgiving Mother, Fenelon deftly explores the ways the Blessed Virgin can provide comfort and healing if you truly desire it. Drawing from personal experience as well as wisdom from Church documents, Scripture, and the saints, Fenelon sketches a path from despair to peace. She offers concrete steps and prayers to help you deal with the painful memories, emotions and fears that are rooted in your past. Part memoir, part spiritual guide, Forgiving Mother is a workbook for healing even the most deeply rooted pain. It also includes a novena, which you can pray alongside each chapter or as a final step in the healing process. You will likely find solace from going through the novena again and again, as you'll find healing is a cyclical process--not a linear one. You are a child of Mary and she loves you tenderly. She really, truly is your mother--given to you by our Lord as he hung dying on the cross. Jesus wants you to accept his mother as your own and to develop a deepening relationship with her so that she can fill the void that the past has left inside of you. And in her kind, motherly way, she will. What's more, she will lead you to her son who, as God, is the ultimate source of all healing and peace. Pray through it, meditate on it, and let Mary's love sink into your heart and soul. Above all, be gentle with yourself. This is your healing process, and no one else's. With the Blessed Mother's help, you can become the whole, healed and truly cherished person you were meant to be. The audio edition of this book can be downloaded via Audible.

"We are walking back to the Garden of Eden together and trying to remember who were when we were Eve." In When We Were Eve, Colleen Mitchell draws on the creation story in Genesis to show women God's gracious plan for their whole being: body and soul in harmony with themselves, others, creation and their Creator. Through her own story and those of other women, she explores the many ways women struggle with their bodies and the way a biblical understanding of what it means to be a woman can bring them peace and joy. "Eve in Eden is woman in her perfection," writes Mitchell. "The last note of the creation song states that the man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed.... This is the perfected state of our humanity--vulnerable, open, aware of our bodies and ourselves and understanding of others. Intimately free to be who we are before God." Through the stories of Eve (before and after the Fall), Bathsheba, Hannah, the woman of Proverbs 31, Sarah from the Book of Tobit, the hemorrhaging woman in Mark's Gospel, the synagogue leader's daughter, and the bride from the Song of Songs, she helps readers find new perspectives on what it means to be a woman: young, old, single, married, mothers, nurturers, strong and vulnerable, loving and being loved. Questions for reflection encourage readers to deepen their own awareness and a final section offers prayers for the many seasons and circumstances of a woman's life. The audio edition of this book can be downloaded via Audible.

Reading Robert Ellsberg's profiles of holy men and women is like throwing open a window in a stuffy old church and taking in great gulps of fresh air. Henri Nouwen has described his writing as "evocative without being pious." He broadens the traditional vision of sanctity and calls modern readers of all stripes to claim their potential for moral and spiritual growth, courage and action. By choosing relevant models and contemporary heroes, he makes holiness accessible and attractive to ordinary people. These 101 spiritual trailblazers span the centuries from Francis and Clare to Solanus Casey and Mychal Judge, with representatives from every walk of life and corner of the world. Each entry features the essential biographical facts and adds the insight and depth only Ellsberg can provide. The author's sharp eye for signs and stories of holiness in the gritty, messy real world informs his selections, making his work unique. Obscure lay peasants, married activists, and controversial social reformers take pride of place alongside better-known theologians, founders, and canonized saints. The audio edition of this book can be downloaded via Audible.

Lent calls us to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel. Few saints have done this more intentionally than St. Francis of Assisi. He lived the teachings of Jesus, often quite literally, from the time of his conversion until his death. In doing so, he inspired people of his own time as well as millions from his day to our own, to do likewise.By pairing the words and deeds of Francis with the Scripture readings for Lent, Lent With St. Francis: Daily Reflections helps readers reflect on how they, too, can live the Gospel in the circumstances of their daily lives. It is written in a simple and engaging style that will draw readers in to the life of Francis, as they grow in their faith and spiritual practice through the inspiration of this beloved saint.

Written to coincide with the September 2016 canonization of Mother Teresa by Pope Francis, this stirring new biography follows St. Teresa's life from Macedonia to the cloister in India to the streets of Calcutta to worldwide fame and the company of the saints. Readers will be inspired by the remarkable trajectory of her life, and the love of God that propelled it. Each chapter focuses on a different period in her one-of-a-kind life and ministry, beginning with her childhood and family life, her postulancy, novitiate, commitment to the Loreto Sisters, and her twenty years (1928-48) with them in India. Then, author Kerry Walters observes the 1946 turning point in Mother Teresa's life: her sense that God was calling her to dedicate herself to serving the poor of India, her leave-taking of the Loreto Sisters, and struggle for ecclesial approval for a new religious order. He also explores her 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, relationship with John Paul II, and work in the 1980s and 90s with war victims and AIDS patients. One of the most illuminating facets of this new biography is the posthumous revelation that Mother Teresa endured a 50-year "dark night of the soul," and how she persevered by realizing that it was a grace that allowed her to live Christ's Passion. Underlying all of the events of her life was the driving force behind her spirituality and ministry: her conviction that as miserable as physical hunger, lovelessness and exile are, their spiritual analogs are even worse--and that both the physical and the spiritual need to be addressed for humans to live as God intends. Readers will leave inspired and strengthened in their own spirituality, with the knowledge that even the holiest among us must work to find a path--and that God's love follows us even into the most challenging of circumstances.

"Secular Franciscans should devote themselves especially to careful reading of the gospel, going from gospel to life and life to gospel. -From The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order The goal of Franciscans has always been to put the Gospel into action. Whether you are a professed Franciscan of many years or someone just beginning to seek a spiritual understanding of Francis and Clare of Assisi, Live Like Francis will give you the tools you need to live the Gospel--a directive that remains as simple and, at times, confounding, today as it was eight hundred years ago during Francis's life. Through a process of prayer, reflection, study texts, questions and connections to Scripture, you will gain a deeper understanding of the Franciscan way and, through it, the Gospel. Live Like Francis is, first and foremost, a prayer book. No deep understanding of Jesus, Francis and Clare can be reached without God's direction through prayer. Divided into fifty-two sections, this book encourages you to contemplate one aspect of the Franciscan way each week. You are invited to study the text and suggested additional readings; read selections from the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order, which you'll find in various chapters; meditate on questions for reflection; and consider the application to daily life. Heartfelt prayers by Patti Normile from the previous edition (entitled To Live as Francis Lived) round out each section and offer a way to integrate the material into your daily prayer life. You can live joyfully and humbly in the secular modern world. Week by week, Live Like Francis will help you answer the Gospel's call to simplicity, peace, gratitude and service, and live a life in balance with all of God's creatures.

Who was St. Joseph? Was he just a passive, incidental figure in the drama of salvation? On the contrary, in every way that Jesus needed a father, St. Joseph was that for him. And how overwhelming it must have been for Joseph to be asked to stand in the Father's place! No man has ever been asked to do so in such an unthinkable way. Every priest, and certainly every man who is a father (biologically or otherwise), should take this to heart. Caster's book provides a unique, in-depth presentation of Joseph from the perspective of the evangelical counsels and the theological and cardinal virtues. Each section begins with an explanation of what each counsel or virtue means and then shows how Joseph models it for us. The descriptions of St. Joseph's life and character found in this book, while rooted in the Scripture passages that mention him, are chiefly inspired by Jesus, who spent the majority of his life at home with Joseph and Mary. For years, the three of them lived, prayed, celebrated, studied, and shared, all the while uniting their lives more intimately with God's own. Those years in Nazareth were a real preparation for the foundation upon which Jesus would build his saving ministry. And as much as Joseph and Mary offered Jesus, he offered them an ever-expanding awareness of the God that had changed both their lives. The reciprocity of love that perfectly defines the home in Nazareth is the very pattern for all family life--and therefore of the Church itself. Let Fr. Gary Caster introduce you to the man who risked everything to care for Mary and her Son, safeguarding them from harm and cherishing them with a pure and true love. Joseph was a flesh-and-blood testimony of what it means to live according to the Father's will with one's mind and heart centered on Christ.

Kerry Walters explores the Salvadoran archbishop's journey from carpenter's son through his early priesthood, his selection as a "safe" bishop who wouldn't rock the government boat, to his transformation into someone who proclaimed the truth of the Gospel so unswervingly that it led to his assassination.