The Gift Of Invitation

Discover the seven powerful invitations Jesus extends to you and how accepting them can change your life. Perfect for individual or group study, the seven chapters includes reflections and scripture, with space for journaling.

Jesus spent a chunk of his ministry eating and drinking with the "sinners and tax collectors" of the world. If we strive to be more like Jesus, shouldn’t we do more of what he did? Hospitality involves more than the domesticated event we have grown accustomed to practicing. It is an embodiment of all the Christian life stands for: a gesture of love, opening up our hearts and lives, and sacrificing luxury and security for the chance to display God’s glory. To receive hospitality from others is an invitation to receive God’s transformative power to work in their lives. Readers will ask themselves these questions: • What is hospitality? • Is it something I am, or something I do? • How do I offer my life as a gesture of hospitality? • What are some practical ways for me to display and receive hospitality?

Academy of Parish Clergy Top Ten List "Come away and rest awhile." Jesus invites us to be with him, offering our full and undivided attention to him. When we choose retreat, we make a generous investment in our friendship with Christ. We are not always generous with ourselves where God is concerned. Many of us have tried to incorporate regular times of solitude and silence into the rhythm of our ordinary lives, which may mean that we give God twenty minutes here and half an hour there. And there’s no question we are better for it! But we need more. Indeed, we long for more. In these pages Transforming Center founder and seasoned spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton gently leads us into retreat as a key practice that opens us to God. Based on her own practice and her experience leading hundreds of retreats for others, she will guide you in a very personal exploration of seven specific invitations contained within the general invitation to retreat. You will discover how to say yes to God's winsome invitation to greater freedom and surrender. There has never been a time when the invitation to retreat is so radical and so relevant, so needed and so welcome. It is not a luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual life.

One night, after an unsatisfying evening at a party, the author sat down and wrote her heartfelt poem 'The Invitation'. It travelled by word-of-mouth and the Internet across the globe. In this book, she expands on the ideas behind the poem and has created a guidebook for living a life full of integrity, commitment and passion.

Pray in a new and creative way this Lent by joining the women of WINE: Women In the New Evangelization on a journey through Christ's passion, death, and resurrection. What if you could have been a witness to the events of the last days of Jesus’ life—walking with him as he entered Jerusalem, observing his crucifixion, and embracing him on Easter? Walk in Her Sandals, edited by popular Catholic author and speaker Kelly M. Wahlquist, takes you deeper into your relationship with Jesus by helping you relate to him in a profoundly intimate way. Looking at six universal gifts of women through the eyes of women in the gospels, the book guides you on a prayerful and creative journey through the days of Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost. As you imagine the experience of the women who met Jesus, you will discover how each of them expressed one of six, distinctive, feminine gifts identified in the writings of St. John Paul II. Through the eyes of an imagined woman who watched Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, you will understand how she conveyed the gift of receptivity. Through the hands of Veronica, who reached out to wipe the face of Jesus, you will discover how sensitivity is present and can grow in your own life. These gifts, along with generosity, prayer, maternity, and the Holy Spirit, come to life through the vivid portrayal of women who walked with Jesus. Their imagined stories are complemented by the real accounts of contemporary women who share their own stories of receiving and cultivating these gifts. Walk in Her Sandals is a collaborative effort, edited by Wahlquist with contributions from twelve leading Catholic women writers, all of whom are associated with the organization she founded—WINE: Women In the New Evangelization. The contributors will help you break open the scripture, reflect upon it and apply it to your own life, and share those insights in a small-group setting through the use of questions and challenges. Each chapter unfolds in eight movements: A Moment to Ponder: Wahlquist sets the stage for the theme of that chapter. Entering the Scripture: Sarah Christmyer, codeveloper of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible Study, reveals the riches of the scripture that corresponds with the day, both in the biblical narrative and in the liturgical year. Walk in Her Sandals: Stephanie Landsem, author of the biblical fiction series The Living Water, draws you into the story and allows you to experience what it may have been like for women who lived and walked with Jesus. Unwrapping the Gift: Catholic author, speaker, and faith-formation leader Pat Gohn shows how each woman demonstrates a particular feminine gift and invites you to nurture that gift in yourself and understand anew the beauty of your dignity and vocation. Reflect on the Meaning: Writers including CatholicMom.com founder Lisa M. Hendey and popular media personality Teresa Tomeo offer insight, encouragement, and inspiration for your own journey through their personal stories. Lectio and Meditatio: A prayerful reading of the scripture and a guided meditation to draw you more deeply into an intimate relationship with Jesus. Questions for Group Discussion: Carol Younger, senior fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, offers a helpful tool to share your experience with other women. Walking in the New Evangelization: Wahlquist offers two ways to contribute to the New Evangelization—first by growing in your contemplative spiritual life and then by giving you practical suggestions to enhance your active spiritual life. Walk in Her Sandals will allow you to enter more fully into life in Christ by praying over his passion, death, and resurrection. It will help you experience a conversion of heart and recognize your own giftedness.

(Revised and expanded; 2nd edition) A step-by-step guide for pastors to prepare and present invitations to accept Christ. "There is no preacher on the earth but will be blessed by these pages." --W. A. Criswell

Ruth Haley Barton's award-winning, practical introduction to the spiritual practice of silence and solitude is an invitation to you to journey into the real presence of God and hear and his voice. Much of the Christian faith is about words - preaching, teaching, talking with others. But the hectic demands and noise of daily modern life can drown out God's words, and keep us from fully meeting him. Taking the story of Elijah the prophet as inspiration and example, Invitation to Solitude and Silence explores the power of quietness and stillness in connecting with God. Filled with practical exercises that draw on Ruth's own experience, it encourages and challenges us to rethink how we see silence and solitude and to use them to invite God deeper into our lives. Invitation to Solitude and Silence is ideal for anyone looking for spiritual disciplines to help them connect more fully with God and practices to aid their spiritual formation. Ruth's gentle wisdom will expand your idea of what prayer can be, and help you find time to rest and renew your faith so that your relationship with God is strengthened. Helpful and hopeful, this book is a reminder that God does not push himself where he is not wanted but waits for us to respond from the depths of our desire. Will you say yes?

The 2011 Sperry Symposium volume explores the rich symbolism of Lehi's dream and Nephi's vision, placing such symbols as the mists of darkness, the great and spacious building, and the church of the Lamb of God in the context of the last days.