Suffering: What Every Catholic Should Know

This is the April CD of the Month. The mp3 is available now, and the CD will be available on May 1, 2023.
Suffering is a mystery: an unavoidable reality of human life on earth, which disorients us and tests our souls. It leads us to ask questions about God and his goodness. Though we seek pain relief and comfort, suffering cannot be solved by human effort. Instead, Jesus invites us, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). As we accept his call to self-denial, suffering can become redemptive, conforming us to Christ in his salvific suffering. This talk will explain Catholic teaching on the redemptive value of suffering and show how it can go from feeling useless to transforming us to be like God.

St. Augustine's Theology of the Eucharist

Dr. Christopher Mooney is an assistant Professor of Theology at the Augustine Institute. He specializes in Augustinian Theology and delivers this talk focusing on St. Augustine and his writings about the Eucharist. What did St. Augustine preach during his homilies about the Eucharist? What exactly is the Eucharist? Why do we say “Amen” after receiving the Eucharist at mass? Join Dr. Christopher Mooney in discovering St. Augustine’s understanding that we receive the Body of Christ in order to become the Body of Christ.

Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life

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Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, espoused the ideal of becoming “contemplatives in action.” He was convinced that contemplation (the deep awareness and appropriation of the unconditional love of God) should affect our actions, and that our actions need to be brought back to contemplation.

These are five dimensions of the spiritual life:

  1.  the Holy Eucharist
  2.  spontaneous prayer
  3.  the Beatitudes
  4.  partnership with the Holy Spirit
  5.  the contemplative life itself

This book is a “jump start” to a deeper spiritual life for today’s active people, and it will enflame the desire to read the masters and to enter even more deeply into the heart of God.

Topics include:

  •  God as Abba
  •  The Heart of Jesus
  •  The importance of agape love
  •  A checklist for spiritual growth
  •  The role of the Holy Spirit in the spiritual life
  •  Incorporating the active life with the contemplative life

About the Author

Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J. is a philosopher, educator, author, and President of the Magis Center, dedicated to public education on the relationship among the disciplines of physics, philosophy, reason, and faith. He is the head of the Ethics and Performance Institute, which delivers web-based ethics education to corporations, and he is also President of the Spitzer Center for Visionary Leadership, which delivers similar curricula to non-profit organizations. His other books include Finding True Happiness, The Soul’s Upward Yearning, and Healing the Culture.

Details

Cover: Paperback
Dimensions: 5.25 x 8
208 pages
Abridged Edition

Praise for Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life

“The publication of Father Spitzer’s book is a happy coincidence, coming after Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth. Both are strong statements of New Testament spirituality and provide an escape from the ‘bleaching of Christ’s image,’ caused by the exclusive use of the historical-critical method. Informed Catholic readers are summoned by this book to take the Christ of the Gospels intelligently and seriously.”

– Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., author, A Still Small Voice

Families: Become Intimate Communities of Life and Love

Family is one of the most important things in the world alongside faith. But how can families live out their faith and prayer lives together? How can we educate our children to be good Catholics for the future? Join Bonnie Landry as she explores who we are as families, what a family’s purpose is, and how parents can keep their children’s hearts close to family and to Jesus.

Is Jesus Really Present in the Eucharist? - Booklet

Statistics are reporting that over 70% of Catholics polled in America do not believe in the Real Presence of the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist — a verifiable crisis of faith. Using key sources from scripture and tradition, Bishop Michael Evans explains how Jesus is present today when we celebrate the Mass. This highly readable and accessible text is a must read for all Catholics seeking the proper answer to this dire question.

The Imitation of Christ

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The spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ, the second most widely-read spiritual book after the Bible, has had an astonishing impact on the spiritual lives of countless saints, peasants, and popes for centuries. Even today, the soul-searching words of the fifteenth-century cleric Thomas à Kempis continue to resonate, unbounded by time or geography. Drawing on the Bible, the Fathers of the early Church, and medieval mysticism, his four-part treatise shrugs off the allure of the material world, blending beauty and bluntness in a supremely spiritual call-to-arms.

This beautiful translation by Ronald Knox and Michael Oakley is considered by many teachers, writers, and readers to be the best English translation ever, and one that greatly enhances the life-changing insights of Thomas à Kempis.

About the Author

Thomas à Kempis (1379–1471) was born in the diocese of Cologne and educated by the Order of Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life at Deventer, in the Netherlands. He lived for seventy years among the Canons Regular of Windesheim at Mount St. Agnes, a monastery near Zwolle, where he was twice elected superior and once made procurator. He spent his life reading, writing, and copying manuscripts.

About the Translator

Ronald Knox, a convert from Anglicanism and a well-known Catholic priest and author in England from 1920 to 1960, was educated at Eton and Oxford. He translated the Latin Vulgate Bible into English and wrote numerous spiritual books including The Hidden Stream, The Belief of Catholics, Captive Flames, and Pastoral and Occasional Sermons.

Product Details

224 Pages
Book size: 5.25" x 8"
Paperback
Published year: 2017

Praise for The Imitation of Christ

“The Imitation has come to be seen as the major work of the devotio moderna, which was characterized by psychological insight and an orderly study of the path to contemplation and the love of God. If we could construct a composite picture of all great Christians—Catholic or non-Catholic—of the last five hundred years who found The Imitation substantially beneficial, enlightening, and inspiring, we would need no further proof that familiarity with this great classic is an integral part of a mature spiritual life and even a path to holiness.”

–Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., Author of Arise from Darkness

Our Hope for Educating Catholics

Family is one of the most important things in the world alongside faith. But how can families live out their faith and prayer lives together? How can we educate our children to be good Catholics for the future? Join Bonnie Landry as she explores who we are as families, what a family’s purpose is, and how parents can keep their children’s hearts close to family and to Jesus.

Evangelization: It Was Never Meant to be Complicated

Join Monsignor Thomas Richter as he encourages Catholics to become passionate about spreading God’s good news to everyone around us. While the idea of evangelization may sound daunting, Monsignor Richter helps us to understand that evangelization is quite simple. All we need in order to be effective evangelizers is a heart close to Christ. This exciting new talk is a great resource for learning how to evangelize in our everyday lives.