Love Unveiled

A passionate and deep exploration of how love is essential to our spiritual growth and development, from beloved author and teacher A. H. Almaas. Love is a universal energy--and a primary force that powers our movement toward spiritual illumination. All the ways we need love are simply reflections of our need for spiritual growth. In Love Unveiled, A. H. Almaas explores three dimensions of love: appreciative love--the true liking of somebody or something; merging or connecting love--a force that melts away separateness; and passionate, ecstatic love--capable of consuming us from inside. In their own way, each reveals the beauty and exquisiteness of our spiritual heart, which is the heart of the divine. However, the path of spiritual love is not without challenges. Almaas explores the barriers that tend to block our experience of loving awakening and provides experiential exercises throughout the book to help readers along their path. The exercises focus on the obstacles or misunderstandings that commonly arise for each quality or dimension of love. Presented in the form of writing or monologuing prompts, readers can work independently or in small groups to confront the emotional obstacles on their spiritual path. Regardless of where you are on your path, Love Unveiled will help you explore love in three essential dimensions and gain a deeper connection to yourself.

Man cannot live without love.... His life is senseless if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. — John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis If you were asked what immediately comes to mind when you hear the words "Catholic Church", would you answer an intimate relationship with the God who loves me? If not, you would do well to read this engaging and thought-provoking book which explains why such a relationship is the reason for everything the Church does and teaches. Professor Edward Sri will show you how all the pieces of the Catholic faith, including the most baffling ones, fit together to make one beautiful mosaic of God's love for us and our own participation in that all-encompassing love. Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as his itinerary, Sri will walk you through all the important aspects of the Catholic Church—what Catholics believe about God and the difference it should make in life. Along the way he addresses such often-heard questions as: Why do I need the Church—can't I be spiritual on my own? Isn't one religion just as good as another? How is the death of a man two thousand years ago relevant for my life today? Why does the Church talk so much about morality? Can't I make up my own morals? Is it really our responsibility to care for the poor— doesn't God help those who help themselves? Why do Catholics and Protestants disagree? Must Catholics worship Mary and always obey the pope? More than an intellectual enterprise, this work is also a deep spiritual reflection and a practical guide to living out our faith in Christ. It aims to form both the head and the heart, not only helping us to understand Jesus and his plan of salvation, but inspiring us to love God and our neighbor better.

As a young bride, Jennifer Smith couldn’t wait to build her life with the man she adored. She dreamed of closeness, of being fully known and loved by her husband. But the first years of marriage were nothing like she’d imagined. Instead, they were marked by disappointment and pain. Trapped by fear and insecurity, and feeling totally alone, Jennifer cried out to God: What am I doing wrong? Why is this happening to us? It was as if a veil had descended between her and her husband, and between her and God—one that kept her from experiencing the fullness of love. How did Jennifer and her husband survive the painful times? What did they do when they were tempted to call it quits? How did God miraculously step in during the darkest hour to rescue and redeem them, tearing down the veil once and for all? The Unveiled Wife is a real-life love story; one couple’s refreshingly raw, transparent journey touching the deep places in a marriage that only God can reach. If you are feeling disappointment or even despair about your marriage, the heart-cry of this book is: You are not alone. Discover through Jennifer’s story how God can bring you through it all to a place of transformation.

In the early 1980s, Deborah Jacobs was an ordinary Lebanese American college student from Long Island, New York. By the end of the decade, she would bear witness to the making of international history. Her story begins in graduate school: through a series of chance encounters, young Deborah was introduced to Marwan Kanafani, a dashing former soccer star turned high-ranking Palestinian diplomat who was working at the United Nations. A political dynamo with movie-star charm, Marwan swept Deborah off her feet and into a marriage that kept her in the company of diplomats, dignitaries, world leaders, international glamour and intrigue. Although exciting, this lifestyle also isolated Deborah increasingly from her independent, American way of living, creating a rift that would end their marriage. Marwan's profile was on the rise, and with it came a number of crucial connections for Deborah: while his involvement with the PLO intensified, eventually resulting in his appointment as senior advisor and spokesperson for Yasir Arafat, she formed friendships with such women as Suha Arafat, Queen Dina of Jordan, and other women married to Arab leaders. After her divorce, when these women agreed to tell their stories of struggle and survival for a book, Deborah traveled to the Middle East to record them, planning to join her children, who were on the West Bank visiting their father. To her shock and horror, he refused to return the children to her. Deborah stayed in the Middle East for several years to be near her children, finding strength in the women whose lives she documented and whose incredible stories are told in this book. She was eventually able to arrange the return of her children when they were evacuated to another country during a Palestinian uprising. The story of her journey, intertwined with those of the wives of the Arab leaders, takes the reader into an otherwise inaccessible and cloistered world populated by larger-than-life characters living out all-too-human dramas. Culture, politics, and family collide in this gripping front-row perspective of the Middle East conflict and of the courageous women working behind the scenes for peace and challenging the patriarchal traditions of their homeland.

From "New York Times"-bestselling author Jeffries comes a wonderful, revised edition of one of her earliest historical romances, originally written under the name Deborah Martin. Original.

Based on the acclaimed film series, Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Explained, this book leads readers through the “big picture” of the Catholic faith. Professor Sri helps you discover all the essential aspects of the Catholic faith - from creation, the cross and the Church, to the sacraments, social teaching, sexual ethics, purgatory, the papacy and prayer. The author shows how all the aspects of the faith fit together into the one overarching story of God’s love for us and our participation in that love. He uses the Catechism of the Catholic Church for our itinerary, focusing on the four main pillars of the Catechism – Creed, Sacraments, Moral Life and Prayer As we walk through core Catholic beliefs, he addresses common questions people have today, such as: • Why do I need the Church - can’t I just be spiritual on my own? • Isn’t one religion just as good as another? • How is the death of a man 2,000 years ago, in a city far away, relevant for my life today? • Why does the Church talk about morality so much? Can’t I make up my own morality? • Is it really our responsibility to care for the poor— doesn’t God help those who help themselves? • Addresses common questions Protestants have about Mary, the Bible, Confession, the Papacy, the Mass. Much more than an intellectual enterprise, this work is also a deep spiritual reflection that draws upon the beauty of the Catholic tradition and the insights of the saints. It offers many practical applications to our daily lives, considering how the various aspects of the faith invite us to a deeper conversion— to love God more and entrust ourselves to him. Thus, this book aims to form the head and the heart, helping us to not only understand Jesus and his plan of salvation, but inspires us to love him and our neighbor more. For this is what the faith is all about: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

From New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries, a wonderful revised edition of one of her earliest historical romances, originally written as Deborah Martin. Miss Marianne Winchilsea is running for her life from those whom she believes have attempted to kill the king. Forced to disguise herself, she trusts no one—especially not Garett Lockwood, the Earl of Falkham, who usurped her family home and who seems to be her most dangerous enemy. And what Garett sees behind her masquerade is a beautiful half gypsy enrobed in mystery, deception, and burning secrets. A woman he should avoid at all costs. In a world where treachery and betrayal reign, a sweet seduction rules their hearts—and dares them to risk their destinies on a passionate love that all the powerful forces of the world cannot defeat.

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