Speak Lord Your Servant Is Listening

This is a collection of reflections on biblical passages and two short articles on how translation of the original Greek text is used in translating the Our Father or Lord's Prayer and Christ the Good Shepherd. There are over two hundred biblical reflections, many written during the covid-pandemic. While the authors are Catholic and references to Catholic teachings and the Fathers of the Church are abundant; this text offered to all men and women of faith, or those searching to make sense of life in their search for God in the Sacred Scriptures. Reverend David Andrew Fisher: Maronite Catholic priest, was ordained in 1984 by Pope Saint John Paul II in St. Peter Basilica, Rome. Studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. Formerly, I was Assistant Professor of Humanities at Columbus State, adjunct professor of Theology at Xavier University in Cincinnati and the University of Dayton. Presently, I am teaching Eastern Christian Theology at St. Charles Seminary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. I am a contributing writer for many years in The Maronite Voice and serve as an outreach priest for Cross Catholic Outreach, which funds missions to the poor around the world. I was born in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Michele Nicola Grossmiller: A BSMT bachelors degree in Medical Technology, Some Graduate work in CQI, Undergrad and Graduate level Theology Studies, retired from a 40 year Healthcare Career, widowed from my soul mate, mother of one beautiful grown daughter. Also have two lovely grown god daughters. Love being a Mom, friend and family member. I love meditating on scripture and praying - my source of connection to my place in the world as a child of God. Love furthering my religious education, writing, Bible Study and informal counseling of troubled youth. I am from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Imitation of Christ has appeared in more editions and in more languages than any other book except the Bible. Samuel Johnson once remarked to Bowell that it "must be a good book, as the world has opened its arms to receive it." Others have praised it as well, including Thomas Carlyle, George Eliot, Thomas De Quincey, and Matthew Arnold. Among the religious, St. Ignatius Loyola translated it, and Pope John Paul I was said to have been reading it the night that he died. It has been standard fare in religious training and personal devotion for centuries. Yet today, few people know the Imitation and those who do more often than not think it hopelessly out of date, a pre-Vatican II relic, full of contempt for the world and self-loathing. It is a curious state of affairs, and one that reveals more about a contemporary audience's response to the book than it does about the book itself. When a contemporary reader encounters a line such as "this is the highest wisdom: through contempt of the world to aspire to the kingdom of heaven," his response is a very different one from that of a fifteenth - or nineteenth-century reader. For an "informed response" (as Stanley Fish would say) to the contemptus mundi theme, the reader must draw deeply on a vast complex of literary, linguistic, historical, and theological knowledge. Creasy's translation of the Imitation strives to recreate a text that provides an analogous experience to that of the fifteenth-century reader. Relying heavily on reader-response theory, he incorporates an "informed reader's" response into the text itself. Where possible, the text echoes both the deep structure and the surface structure of the Latin-even to the point of replicating sentence structures and rhetorical devices while avoiding any distortion of the reader's experience. Although the language and style of his translation has been crafted for modern readers, the fervor and power of the original text have not been lost. Dr. Creasy's work on the Imitation of Christ has become the standard translation of this spiritual classic, bringing it to life for a new generation of readers. Book jacket.

Christianity Today's Book of the Year Award Logos Association Bookstore Award Bookwi.se's Favorite Books of the Year Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year "Be quick to listen, slow to speak." —James 1:19 How would our lives change if we approached every experience with the intention of listening first? In this noisy, distracting world, it is difficult to truly hear. People talk past each other, eager to be heard but somehow deaf to what is being said. Listening is an essential skill for healthy relationships, both with God and with other people. But it is more than that: listening is a way of life. Adam McHugh places listening at the heart of our spirituality, our relationships and our mission in the world. God himself is the God who hears, and we too can learn to hear what God may be saying through creation, through Scripture, through people. By cultivating a posture of listening, we become more attentive and engaged with those around us. Listening shapes us and equips us to be more attuned to people in pain and more able to minister to those in distress. Our lives are qualitatively different—indeed, better—when we become listeners. Heed the call to the listening life, and hear what God is doing in you and the world.

Do you want a closer relationship with Your Heavenly Father? This book is about hearing God. The author shares precious listening times with the Lord. He wants to talk to you too!

In Quiet Faith, Judson Edwards writes, "For all of the fine qualities we introverts bring to the table, the truth remains that we are typically viewed as people in need of a personality upgrade. Those of us who are active in the church find that to be especially true in the community of faith. We are consistently, though subtly and indirectly, reminded that we need to be bolder, louder, and more certain in our faith. If we ever really got filled with the Spirit, the church seems to suggest, we would become extroverts." In eight finely crafted chapters, Edwards looks at key issues like evangelism, interpreting the Bible, dealing with doubt, and surviving the church from the perspective of a confirmed, but sometimes reluctant, introvert. In the process, he offers some provocative insights that introverts will find helpful and reassuring. Quiet Faith offers a thoughtful, honest, and entertaining look at what it means to be a Christian in the twenty-first century.