A Saint Among Us

Since the early centuries, Christians have held up the saints as models of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While the church officially recognizes a relatively small number of saints, the actual roster is infinitely wider. Blessed Among Us explores this eclectic “cloud of witnesses”—lay and religious, single and married, canonized and not, and even non-Christians whose faith and wisdom may illuminate our path. Brought to life in the evocative storytelling of Robert Ellsberg, they inspire the moral imagination and give witness to the myriad ways of holiness. In two stories per day for a full calendar year, Ellsberg sketches figures from biblical times to the present age and from all corners of this world—ordinary figures whose extraordinary lives point to the new age in the world to come. Blessed Among Us is drawn from Ellsberg’s acclaimed column of the same name in Give Us This Day, a monthly resource for daily prayer published by Liturgical Press.

Author Christine Marketos-Cuomo is a 30 year career employee of the federal government. She retired in 2008 from the Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Tampa, Florida. She was producer/director of her own public access television program called "Follow The Sun" for Cox Communications, Pawtucket, Rhode Island and Access Pinellas in Clearwater, Florida where she transferred to in 2001. Christine is the mother of three children, Rosemaria, Peter and George. She is also a very proud grandmother of Alexa, George Jr., and Evangelia (her son George's three children). She has two daughter-in-laws Taryn and Amy and a son-in-law Thomas that she is also very proud of. Christine earned an Associate in Science Degree in Paralegal Studies in 1995, and then went on to earn a second Associate in Science Degree in Criminal Justice in 2001 from Fisher College in Boston, Massachusetts. She pursued her goal to obtain these degrees in order to set an example for her children. Today, all of her children are successful professionals in their career choices and they all graduated with honors from Universities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Florida. Christine decided to write this book at the time her Uncle, Archbishop Dionysios was alive. It began with a thought that a cook-book of the monk's diet would benefit today's health conscious society. The Archbishop provided the recipes that were prepared in the Monastery of Iviron, Greece where he began his monastic life. Prior to finalizing the book, the Archbishop reposed on December 28, 2005. The book was put on hold and Christine decided to write a book about the Archbishop's life to include the cook-book. Enjoy the book and I promise that you will be inspired by it's contents.

"You're no saint!" is a familiar phrase, and one that nearly all of us probably believe accurately reflects our own hearts and lives. We assume that sanctity is reserved for an elite group of people who follow spiritual disciplines so difficult and impractical that no ordinary person could ever perform them. But best-selling author Bert Ghezzi believes every one of us can be holy, and he shows us how in Saints at Heart. By pointing out that all the saints-even the apostles-were sinners, he helps us understand how holiness is not about being perfect, but rather about making a heartfelt decision to fall in love with God and put God first. Each of the 10 saints featured in this book illustrates a specific spiritual practice that can help us draw closer to God. St. Francis models lifelong conversion; Dorothy Day, prayer and the study of Scripture; and Pope John Paul II, evangelization. Every chapter ends with a section titled "Think, Pray, and Act," which contains questions for reflection and application.

Once we have encountered the Lord Jesus, how do we keep growing in Christ? How do we let the Lord mold us and make us into missionary disciples capable of spreading the gospel? Instead of just trying to get into heaven, how do we live the life of heaven now so that we can become saints? In this book, Michigan pastor Fr. John Riccardo helps us dive into the Scriptures so that we can apply them to our daily lives. In his inspiring and incisive way, Fr. Riccardo addresses the obstacles we all face in becoming mature disciples. How do we learn to forgive? How do we combat fear and understand suffering? How do we worship the Lord, love others as Christ loves us, and fully surrender our lives to God? If you’ve enjoyed Fr. Riccardo’s gifts of teaching and preaching through his broadcasts and podcasts, this book is for you!

Start your day with inspirational words from a Catholic saint or spiritual writer For each month, the saints' writings focus on a different theme, such as grace and mercy, prayer, hope and trust in God, the Incarnation, and Mary, Mother of God. This calendar can be used year after year

Saint among Savages tells the remarkable story of St. Isaac Jogues, a French Jesuit who was killed by Mohawks while serving as a missionary in New France. Coming from a upper middle class life in Orleans, he knew from an early age that he wanted to be a priest and serve abroad as a missionary to risk his life in order to save souls. Along with several others, collectively known as the North American Martyrs, he followed his dreams and met death in the American wilderness. Living with the Huron people in what is now Ontario, he was captured by Mohawk warriors and tortured and held captive for over a year. He escaped back to France with help from the Dutch in New York, and remarkably insisted on going back to New France, even though he knew what he might be facing. Besides Jogues' life there is also a lot of material about the lives and customs of the Native American peoples who lived along the St. Lawrence River.

In this time of well-publicized moral compromises and scandals involving leaders we have counted on to be ethical, Gallup and Jones now offer this book filled with stories of heroes and heroines who display sprititual strength and ethics. They are all ages, races, and levels of education, and their impact on society is very important.