Living Your Baptism In Lent

During Lent, the Church invites us to reflect on those times that we have turned away from God and consider how we can return to him in all we say and do. Living Your Baptism in Lent: Weekly Reflections for Your Journey helps readers respond to this invitation by reflecting on their relationship with God. Through the grace of our Baptism, we have become sons and daughters of God. As such, we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit to reject sin and choose instead to follow God. Each week, readers consider this choice as they reflect on the questions asked before Baptism. These questions, or baptismal promises, shape our understanding of what it means to live a Christian life. They call us to become witnesses of our faith to others, especially to those who are preparing to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. Our Lenten journey leads us to the celebration of Easter, where we renew our baptismal promises and rejoice in the salvation gained for us by Christ’s Resurrection. Each week’s reflection ends with questions and Scripture passages to use in individual prayer. A guide for leading small groups in these reflections is also included.

Winner of a 2018 Catholic Press Association Award: Sacraments. (Second Place). In the first book to directly integrate the Twelve Steps with the practice of Catholicism, Scott Weeman, founder and director of Catholic in Recovery, pairs his personal story with compassionate straight talk to show Catholics how to bridge the commonly felt gap between the Higher Power of twelve-step programs and the merciful God that he rediscovered in the heart of the sacraments. Weeman entered sobriety from alcohol and drugs on October 10, 2011, and he's made it his full-time ministry to help others who struggle with various types of addiction to find spiritual wholeness through Catholic in Recovery, an organization he founded and directs. In The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments, Weeman candidly tackles the struggle he and other addicts have with getting to know intimately the unnamed Higher Power of recovery. He shares stories of his compulsion to find a personal relationship with God and how his tentative steps back to the Catholic Church opened new doors of healing and brought him surprising joy as he came to know Christ in the sacraments. Catholics in recovery and those moving toward it, as well as the people who love them will recognize Weeman's story and his spiritual struggle to personally encounter God. He tells us how: Baptism helps you admit powerlessness over an unmanageable problem, face your desperate need for God, and choose to believe in and submit to God’s mercy. Reconciliation affirms and strengthens the hard work of examining your life, admitting wrongs, and making amends. The Eucharist provides ongoing sustenance and draws you to the healing power of Christ. The graces of Confirmation strengthen each person to keep moving forward and to share the good news of recovery and new life in Christ. Weeman's words are boldly challenging and brimming with compassion and through them you will discover inspiration, hope, sage advice, and refreshingly practical help.

Christ Our Passover Has Been Sacrificed examines the paschal mystery as it is presented throughout the liturgical year in The Roman Missal. After offering an in-depth definition of the paschal mystery the author guides the reader through Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, and more, mining the riches of paschal mystery spirituality. Biblical accounts interpret the death and resurrection of Jesus; liturgical texts in The Roman Missal present a rich seam of spiritual truth for the reader to apply to his or her life. By remembering Jesus’ death and resurrection, Roman Catholics celebrate daily dying and rising to new life. The author serves as a guide through paschal mystery spirituality, while also noting the mystical theology—reflections on experiences of God—represented by the prayers in The Roman Missal, particularly those dealing with Jesus’ suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Spirit. Through reflections and meditation questions, readers are invited to name their own personally transforming mystical experiences, which connect them to God in deep levels and move them outward into the community to share spirituality.

The Living Word™ helps youth ministers, parish catechists, and high school religion teachers engage in a process of catechesis that finds its source in the liturgy. The sessions in this resource are designed to enhance the liturgical preparation, liturgical participation, and liturgical living of teens through reflection on the Sunday Gospel. Following the academic calendar, this resource includes materials for each Sunday and Holyday of Obligation from the first Sunday in August (2019) through the last Sunday in July (2020). In addition to each weekly session, The Living Word™ offers handouts, “Living the Word,” for the week, inviting teens to reflect on the word and providing actions to encourage them to integrate the message of the Gospel in their daily life.

At Home with the Word® is your guide to a deeper understanding of the Sunday Scriptures. It provides the readings for this liturgical year, insights from Scripture scholars, and action steps. (Additional questions for reflection and discussion, as well as action steps for families with children, RCIA, and small faith groups, may be downloaded from the LTP Website.) Also includes seasonal prayers, citations for weekday readings, and other resources for Scripture study.

This trusted annual publication provides concise and helpful material to inspire and assist those who prepare the Mass for each day of the liturgical year. It includes: - Preaching points - Additional Scripture insights for the Proper of Saints - Music preparation guidance and song suggestions - Ways to connect the liturgy to the Christian life - Original Mass texts for Sundays, solemnities, and feasts of the Lord - Seasonal worship committee agendas - Ideas for celebrating other rites and customs - An online supplement for preparing the sacramental rites - Seasonal introductions - Daily calendar preparation guides - Dated entries with liturgical titles, lectionary citations, and vestment colors - Scripture insights - Brief biographies of the saints and blesseds - Guidance for choosing among the options provided in the ritual texts This year’s authors include: Leisa Anslinger, Wendy Cichanski Caduff, Benjamin Caduff, Kate Cousino, Ann Dickinson Degenhard, Mary A. Ehle, Karla Hardersen, John T. Kyler, Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, John Marquez, Jill Maria Murdy, Andrew Mountin, Jena Thurow-Mountin, Stephen Palanca, Paul Radkowski, and Robert Valle. Additional material was provided by: Susan Gleason Anderson, Kathryn Ball-Boruff, Jennifer Kerr Budziak, Jennifer Dixon Caravelli, Paul H. Colloton, osfs, Catherine A. Corey, Joseph DeGrocco, Mary C. Dumm, Rebekah Eklund, Christopher J. Ferraro, Karie Ferrell, Edrianne Ezell, Michael JK Fuller, Jerome Hall, sj, Kathleen Harmon, Patrick Hartin, Kurt Heinrich, Mary Heinrich, J. Philip Horrigan, Timothy A. Johnston, John Thomas Lane, sss, Ed Langlois, Corinna Laughlin, Maria Laughlin, Sara McGinnis Lee, Tat-siong Benny Liew, Julie Males, Ricky Manalo, csp, Anna Belle O’Shea, Teresa Marshall-Patterson, Randall R. Phillips, Biagio Mazza, Tanya Rybarczyk, Michael Simone, sj, Anne Elizabeth Sweet, ocso, Letitia Thornton, Stephen C. Wilbricht,,sj, Daren J. Zehnle

We have been honored to work with a multitude of gifted thinkers, writers, and editors. We present these essays as their offering-and ours-to the blessed ministry of preaching." -From the introduction by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor --Book Jacket.