Spirituality Catholicism

What is Catholicism? A two-thousand-year-old living tradition? A worldview? A way of life? A relationship? A mystery? In Catholicism, Bishop Robert Barron examines all these questions and more, seeking to capture the body, heart, and mind of the Catholic faith. Starting from the essential foundation of Jesus Christ’s Incarnation, life, and teaching, Bishop Barron moves through the defining elements of Catholicism.

My title explains itself. But it's misleading. There are more than 40 reasons. Each of my reasons is an independent point, so I have not organized this book by a succession of chapters or headings. After all, most people only remember a few big ideas or separate points after reading or listening to a book. I've never heard anyone say "Oh, that was a good continuous-process-of-logically-ordered-argumentation" but I've often heard people say, "Oh, that was a good point." And back to my main point: "Why are you a Catholic?" is a good question. A good question deserves a good answer.

The Diary is an amazing narrative that chronicles the experiences of a simple, uneducated Polish nun who received a special call shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Our Lord appeared to her and instructed her to spread the message of his Divine Mercy to all, especially in our current age, which is full of so much distress and worldliness. The message of the Divine Mercy is that God loves us all of us. And He wants us to recognize that his mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon him with trust, receive his mercy, and let it flow through us to others.

The story of Roman Catholicism has never followed a singular path. In no time period has this been more true than over the last two centuries. Beginning with the French Revolution, extending to the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, and concluding with present-day crises, John T. McGreevy chronicles the dramatic upheavals and internal divisions shaping the most multicultural, multilingual, and global institution in the world. Through powerful stories and sweeping birds-eye views, Catholicism provides a mesmerizing assessment of the Church's complex role in modern history.

Few people had a more profound effect on Christianity in the 20th century than G. K. Chesterton. The Everlasting Man, written in response to an anti-Christian history of humans penned by H.G. Wells, is considered Chesterton’s masterpiece. In it, he explains Christ’s place in history, asserting that the Christian myth carries more weight than other mythologies for one simple reason—it is the truth.

As we all know, and as many of our well-established textbooks have argued for decades, the Inquisition was one of the most frightening and bloody chapters in Western history, Pope Pius XII was anti-Semitic and rightfully called "Hitler's Pope", the Dark Ages were a stunting of the progress of knowledge to be redeemed only by the secular spirit of the Enlightenment, and the religious Crusades were an early example of the rapacious Western thirst for riches and power. But what if these long-held beliefs were all wrong?

Western civilization has given us modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of law, a sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts we take for granted.

It is clear that since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has been plagued with terrible doctrinal and liturgical confusion that has contributed to the worst crisis in the Church since the Arian crisis, and perhaps the worst in history. This incisive book examines the often-overlooked wisdom of Pope St. Pius X on modernism, the synthesis of all heresies, found in his landmark encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (On the Doctrines of the Modernists).

The saints, the heroes of the Roman Catholic faith, lived lives of holiness, dedicated to serving God. The saints lived at different times in different places throughout history, but they all shared a love of God that has been documented through the teachings of the Church. Today, the saints serve as examples for all Catholics, showing the believers how to lead a more spiritual life. Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals and practices of worship or in honour of the saints that are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church.

"We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing is more profitable." On Loving God is first a touching description of God's love for us as unmistakenly demonstrated in the death of His Son. Second, it is a call for us to joyfully respond to God like the child who runs and embraces her father whose love is sure. As St. Bernard writes, "They love all the more because they know themselves to be loved so exceedingly."

Benedict XVI: A Life offers insight into the young life and rise through the Church’s ranks of a man who would become a hero and a lightning rod for Catholics the world over. Based on countless hours of interviews in Rome with Benedict himself, this two-volume biography is the definitive record of the life of Joseph Ratzinger and the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI. This first volume follows his early life, from his days growing up in Germany and his conscription into the Hitler Youth during WWII to his career as an academic theologian and eventual archbishop of Munich.

In the middle of the twentieth century, four American Catholics, working independently of one another, came to believe that the best way to explore the quandaries of religious faith was in writing. The four writers were Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Flannery O'Connor, and Walker Percy.

Over the past 20 years, Matthew Kelly has seen more of the world than most presidents and more of the Church than most bishops. Now, in this unique and timely book, he proposes that Catholicism is not a lifeless set of rules and regulations, but a way of life designed by God to help each person reach his or her full potential. With remarkable insight, Kelly dispels dozens of myths that surround the rejection of Catholicism today and provides a profound and practical vision of what will lead the Catholic Church to thrive again in the future.

There are more than one billion Catholics in the world, and each one has a similar set of basic beliefs and practices that he or she follows. Some of the teachings of Catholicism are thousands of years old, while others are more recent. So what is the Catholic culture like and what do they believe? Catholicism For Dummies answers these and many other questions.

Karl Keating defends Catholicism from fundamentalist attacks and explains why fundamentalism has been so successful in converting "Romanists". After showing the origins of fundamentalism, he examines representative anti-Catholic groups and presents their arguments in their own words. His rebuttals are clear, detailed, and charitable.

For the first time ever, Archbishop Fulton Sheen's complete writings and reflections on Christ's last words have been compiled into this one book. Sheen shows how the seven words are, in fact, a full catechism on the spiritual life. From them, you'll learn the secrets to living the Beatitudes, ways to avoid the deadly vices of anger, envy, lust, and pride, and how to cultivate the heavenly virtues of fortitude, prudence, justice, and charity.

How can you believe all this stuff? This is the number one question Catholics get asked - and, sometimes, we ask ourselves. Why We're Catholic assembles the clearest, friendliest, most helpful answers that Trent learned to give to people. Beginning with how we can know reality and ending with our hope of eternal life, it's the perfect way to help skeptics and seekers (or Catholics who want to firm up their faith) understand the evidence that bolsters our belief - and brings us joy.

Written early in this century by Rev. A. G. Sertillanges, a priest who lived in Jerusalem, this acclaimed devotional classic gives you vivid and dramatic details not included in the Gospel: With Jesus, you'll be jostled by crowds as you enter Jerusalem, choke on the dust of the narrow streets, experience the exotic oriental smells of the city at festival time, share the Last Supper with the disciples, stare into the face of Jesus' accusers, and be there as he dies on the Cross.

This highly anticipated debut from Matt Walsh of The Blaze demands that conservative voters make a last stand and fight for the moral center of America. The Trump presidency and Republican Congress provides an urgent opportunity to stop the Left's value-bending march to destroy the culture of our country. Republican control of the presidency, senate, and House of Representatives for the next two years is a precious - and fleeting - gift to conservatives.

Many of us do not trust our own thoughts, feelings, and desires when it comes to discerning God's will. Instead we look outside ourselves to determine what God wants from and for us. In God's Voice Within, spiritual director Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ, shows us how to use Ignatian discernment to access our own spiritual intuition and understand that the most trustworthy wisdom of all comes not from outside sources, but from God working through us.