Broken Blessed

Only 2 in 10 Americans under 30 believe attending a church is important or worthwhile. Well over half of young adults raised in the Church have dropped out with many having a strong anti-Church stance, many even believing the Church does more harm than good.Fr. Josh Johnson was one of these people. In Broken and Blessed he tackles the harsh realities facing the Church in the 21st century. With charity and courage he speaks to his own generation of Catholic “Millennials,” who often feel their needs and concerns are not being addressed by the Church, or who simply do not believe the Catholic Faith has any relevance to their lives. Using his own experiences, both as a former struggling young Catholic and as a priest, Fr. Josh offers an inspiring witness of how he came to know God, rather than just knowing about him—and presents practical ways for us to truly know God as well. Broken and Blessed: Addresses head-on Millennials’ most pressing issues with the Catholic Faith Presents powerful and inspiring stories from Fr. Josh’s own faith journey Shows how one can truly encounter Jesus in a personal way Offers practical insights on how to overcome habitual sins Discusses the nature of prayer, as well as the challenges to prayer and how to overcome them

An invitation to find beauty and meaning in the ordinary and imperfect aspects of your life; not as a call to settle for less, but rather as a way to mysteriously participate in God's power and purpose. Glenn Packiam wants to empower readers to find great joy, purpose, and passion in their daily living. While bread may be one of the most common items on our dinner tables, Jesus chose to take it at the Last Supper and invest deep, wonderful, and transcendent meaning in it. Like the bread that was blessed, broken, and given; readers will see how God uses ordinary experiences to cultivate their mission and their brokenness to bring healing to the world. The ordinary is not the enemy; it is the means by which God accomplishes the miraculous. Through clear biblical teaching and practical steps, Packiam leads the reader into a more purposeful, directed, hopeful future.

In order to go from broken to blessed, God must terminate our selfishness and arrogant ways. After feeling broken-hearted from broken relationships, loss of loved ones, health failure or suicidal thoughts, you need a reprieve. Life lessons taught me to believe, pray, and have faith. You are an overcomer! God did not put us here to lie dormant. We are created for a purpose.

Blessed, Broken, and Scared. What does that mean? We know that Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and shared it with His friends saying, "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me." The Last Supper challenges us to live in such a way that we actually become the sacred food of Jesus Christ for others as we share our lives with them. And that can be scary! Blessed, Broken, and Scared calls the reader to a conversion from living a scared life to living a shared life. It is in sharing our life with others that we find the healing and peace we truly seek. All people are wounded by the world and have areas of hidden brokenness in their life. This book offers hope, healing, and change as it explores the profound implications of God's mercy, forgiveness, and love. "Brian addresses some very important issues in a conversational style that invites you into his book. Let this book, in a "sea of purple," be a place for us to share and be blessed. This book will truly encourage us to be Eucharist for one another." Fr. Martin Schratz OFM Cap. Brian has been sharing his Blessed, Broken, and Scared retreats around the country for years. Now the message has been captured in this book. Here is what some past retreatants have had to say: "Brian opens himself to all and helped us see that our brokenness isn't a deterrent to God's love and healing. Our retreat was truly a special day." "Should be required for today's Christians and Catholics." "One of the best day retreats that I have attended in nearly 40 years! So much to reflect on and put into action." "I have been to many seminars, webinars, retreats and have been blessed to have read many great books, but I have to say...this retreat impacted my life as to learning more about God's will in my life than any other book, resource, event ever has! Thanks be to God!" Brian Pusateri is a Christian author and speaker. Brian felt his life was forever changed when God spoke to his heart while attending a retreat in 2011. With the God-inspired message of mercy and unconditional love, Brian has been impacting others all over the country and around the world with his weekly letters, talks, and retreats. Brian and his wife of 45 years, Mary Beth, live in, and love the Carolina mountains.

Life contains intense battles. When it has been infiltrated by heartache, suffering, and evil how does one move past it and leave the trauma behind? When our faith and belief clash with reality and crush us between the two, how in the world does one survive the force? Bitter, Broken, Blessed is the true story of a woman caught in such circumstances. Facing enemy forces that she does not understand, her desire is to be strong and steadfast in her faith. When her resolve weakens and strength eludes her, how does she continue on the journey? When life becomes devastating and full of destruction, can she survive? Can she be put back together after hitting bottom and shattering, crashing so hard there is little hope for survival? Life can get quite overwhelming at times. Many of us manage to trudge through and arrive on the other side of our trials, battered but not completely broken. Somehow, we manage to find the courage and stamina to get up and keep going. Some of us struggle with our faith in the process, and we cannot grasp the concept of how everything that happens works together for good and the glory of God. The resilient spirit of mankind is incredible, and our design is quite unique; this is because God does exist, and He is the Divine Creator. All things are possible through Him, even deliverance from the most horrific events and darkest corners of existence. There is unmitigated power in the cross of Christ.

God Bless the Broken Road is a heartwarming story about a grieving army widow who finds her way back to her daughter, her faith, and a new love. Amber Hill never imagined she would find herself a war widow and single mom. She feels robbed and is angry at God, and she doesn’t know how to help her nine-year-old daughter Bree through her grief. Where, Amber wonders, are the Sunday dinners, the picnics, the bike rides, the time together they should be enjoying as a family? Instead, Amber is left with a folded flag and an empty heart. Cody Jackson has a death wish. Or at least that is what his manager thinks, as Cody pushes his race car and his luck in every race. Is he hiding something, or just daring God and other racers to end the path of destruction he finds himself on as he rounds the last turn? When Cody encourages Bree to join in a Derby car race for local youth, she finds a way to channel her grief into something good—and she likes that her mom and Cody are starting to become friends—or maybe something more. Cody invites Amber and Bree to see him race, but as they watch Cody narrowly escape a devastating crash, she realizes she can’t lose another person in her life. It’s better to be alone than feel that type of grief again. But when Amber hits rock-bottom, she cries out to God and asks for help. With her faith, her life, her family, and her heart hanging in the balance, Amber is forced to decide between the broken road she knows so well and trusting that God will provide a new path.

Be careful when you are spending more time looking around at your surroundings instead of listening to the voice that is calling you. The winds of life will constantly blow and shift but we cannot afford to focus on the changing winds of life. Instead, we must live by faith and stay focused on Christ. The difference between surviving and sinking is a matter of who you are looking at. In order to live a life free from fear we must remain focused on Christ at all times. We cannot afford to look around or to look down but we must look up. We cannot look at our condition but we must look at Christ. We cannot depend on our friends to support us; we must look to the Savior to save us. Just stay focused. When fear shows up, doubt kicks in, your back is up against the wall, and the winds of life won't stop blowing, broken heart and tears in your eyes, just stay focused.