None of the Fathers of the early church is better known or loved than St John Chrysostom, and none of his works is more popular than On the Priesthood. Its stylistic brilliance demonstrates the appropriateness of St John's enduring title, "the golden-mouthed." Yet the rhetorical eloquence of the work is not simply camouflage for lack of substance. As Graham Neville observes in his Introduction, Chrysostom "had a mind both practical and idealistic, that brought into close connection the evils and injustices of the world and the perfection of moral life demanded by the gospel." Chrysostom's unique gift for linking concrete observation and theological vision is nowhere more evident than in On the Priesthood. Its presence helps to account for the work's power to inspire and challenge Christians in all ages. Book jacket.
A Passion for Truth is an intimate account of John Huntington's interior life as a physical scientist and as a priest. In mid-career as a scientist he experienced a sudden and undeniable call to the priesthood. It became imperative to work to reconcile his two vocations within a single worldview. This plunged him into an intense reflection on the authority of physical science and the trustworthiness of religious experience. He could not turn away from the question. This book is the result. The author uncovered a number of fallacies embedded in our Western culture that serve to impede spiritual formation and to discourage the faithful. At the root of them all is the idea that it is acceptable to be careless with the truth. In liberal academic circles this is called postmodernism; in theology it is called relativism; in physical science it is called scientism. He concluded that, if striving for clear thinking is our loving response to our Creator who endowed us with intellect, then loose thinking, permissive thinking, untruth, relativism, could not be from God. It cannot be condoned. Huntington wants to awaken in us a passion for truth, and in doing so he wants to comfort us and bring us hope.
Truth is stranger than fiction. And nowhere in literature is it so apparent as in this classic work, "The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest." This autobiography of a Jesuit priest in Elizabethan England is a most remarkable document and John Gerard, its author, a most remarkable priest in a time when to be a Catholic in England courted imprisonment and torture; to be a priest was treason by act of Parliament. Smuggled into England after his ordination and dumped on a Norfolk beach at night, Fr. Gerard disguised himself as a country gentleman and traveled about the country saying Mass, preaching and ministering to the faithful in secret always in constant danger. The houses in which he found shelter were frequently raided by priest hunters; priest-holes, hide-outs and hair-breadth escapes were part of his daily life. He was finally caught and imprisoned, and later removed to the infamous Tower of London where he was brutally tortured. The stirring account of his escape, by means of a rope thrown across the moat, is a daring and magnificent climax to a true story which, for sheer narrative power and interest, far exceeds any fiction. Here is an accurate and compelling picture of England when Catholics were denied their freedom to worship and endured vicious persecution and often martyrdom. But more than the story of a single priest, "The Autobiography of a Hunted Priest" epitomizes the constant struggle of all human beings through the ages to maintain their freedom. It is a book of courage and of conviction whose message is most timely for our age.
Pope John Paul II's newest work, both personal and spiritually accessible to all, was written on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his ordination as a priest. 16-page line drawing insert.
Why does a gifted boy from a privileged Establishment background decide, at the age of twelve, to spend his life as a priest? And what moves him, after six happy years in the Anglican priesthood, to enter the alien world of Roman Catholicism? In a gripping narrative full of humor and self-directed irony, John Jay Hughes tells of the loss of his mother at age six, entry into the Catholic Church at the cost of estrangement from his beloved Anglican priest-father, his lifelong search for God in prayer, and his joy in priesthood, 'all I ever wanted from age twelve.
The memoir of a former Catholic priest whose career as a union leader, search for spiritual meaning, and assisted suicide became the subject of an article in the New York Times The Priest Who Left His Religion follows the life of an ordained Catholic priest whose family prophesied at his birth would be the first American pope. Ordained as a Paulist in 1965, John Shields quickly became caught up by the reversals of the Second Vatican Council, which attempted to undo many of the liberalizing movements of the Catholic Church. Most shocking to Shields was the Church’s disavowal of scientific evidence in order to “protect the faithful.” Shattered and brokenhearted by his discovery of the Church’s dishonesty, he left the priesthood to embark on the courageous journey from religion to spirituality. Shields came to embrace life in the secular world and a faith that confirmed the union of science and spirit.
Documents the killing of elderly nun, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl by Father Gerald Robinson, a popular priest who was not convicted of her murder-- which had overtones of a Satanic ritual-- until twenty-five years later.
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The Clergy Club as the title suggests, looks at the disconnection that exists between the clergy and the laity in the Catholic Church, and the "club" mentality on the part of the Church hierarchy that underpins it. Many examples are cited that reveal an attitude among priests and bishops of elitism and aloofness, as well as the clergy's inability to see the world from the perspective of the laity, even with the best of intentions. Many questions are asked, such as "Where does this "club" attitude come from? How does it express itself? How is it reinforced by Church structures and theology? What was Jesus' approach to both clergy and laity? Why is Pope Francis so vehement in his criticism of clericalism? Some practical initiatives are also suggested as a way of bringing about change in the clerical culture, a change that would help to rid the Church of clericalism, and in the process bring the clergy and laity closer together.
In Victory Without Triumph: The Wilderness May 6th & 7th, 1864, John Priest meticulously details the vicious infantry fighting along the Plank Road, Longstreet's counterstrike against the II Corps, the cavalry operations of both armies near Todd's Tavern, and John B. Gordon's daring assault against the Army of the Potomac's right flank. Embellished with 38 detailed, two-color maps, Victory Without Triumph enables the reader to follow the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia through the last two days of the campaign which signaled the advent of Ulysses S. Grant into the Eastern theater of the war. John Priest has turned meticulous research into a gripping story that engages the reader from the very first page. No civil war studies collection can be considered complete without the acquisition of Victory Without Triumph.
Whether about morality or matters of doctrine, hundreds of questions a year are posed to the average priest, with vast spiritual significance hinging on each answer — conversions and reconversions, children's formation, the survival of marriages, new vocations to the priesthood, and the eternal destiny of those on their deathbeds. Yet there remain few good Q&A compendiums published over the past half century. In response to this need, Fr. John Trigilio and Fr. Ken Brighenti, hosts of EWTN's Web of Faith, draw on their years of pastoral experience to compile a comprehensive list of the best questions ever asked of them, responding to each with the same natural warmth, intellectual heft, and spiritual acuity that has earned them such a large international following. As on the Web of Faith television program, their conversational style opens fresh lines of questioning to which Fr. Trigilio and Fr. Brighenti provide clear, insightful answers. The result
Priests in the independent sacramental movement all too often have to rely on ministerial resources from other traditions. In Living Mysteries, John Plummer provides guidance arising directly from long experience in the independent movement. He offers clear instructions for the celebration of the sacraments, as well as advice and meditations for cultivating an ever-deepening spiritual life.
John Dear, SJ, believes that social activism and faith are inseparable. Acting in the name of the nonviolent Jesus, Dear has been arrested more than seventy-five times, has spent more than a year of his life in jail, and has been mocked by armed U.S. soldiers standing outside the doors to his New Mexico parish. A Persistent Peace, John Dear's autobiography, invites readers to follow the decades-long journey of social activism and spiritual growth of this nationally known peace activist and to witness his bold, decisive, often unpopular actions on behalf of peace. From his conversion to Christianity, to his calling to become a Jesuit, to the extreme dangers and delights of a life dedicated to truly living out the radical, forgiving love of Jesus, John's incredible story of social activism will touch anyone who believes in the power of peace.
I am a scientist-theologian, someone who is both a physicist and a priest - a statement that sometimes arouses the kind of curiosity or suspicion that might follow the claim to be a vegetarian butcher.' Cambridge don, curate in a working-class area of a big city, vicar of a country parish in Kent, contributor to governmental committees, prize-winning author of more than thirty-five books, KBE and much more, John Polkinghorne tells his remarkable life story in a direct and modest yet profound narrative. He looks back on his journeys into both disciplines from a human angle, including the formative experiences and key relationships he experienced as a child, an undergraduate, graduate and beyond into university teaching, family life, priesthood and writing. He describes his developing thoughts and understanding of the value and interdependence of each of the major disciplines and, by so doing, brings a down-to-earth touch to the big questions that each approach raises.
The Church's History of Injustices and Why This Priest Left grew out of the Church's role in the civil rights movement of the 1960's and outlines the Church's role in civil rights from the New Testament through the present time. John Sheehy focuses on the Catholic Church, but includes all Christian denominations, exposing not only the Church's lack of interest in the basic rights of people, but it's role as perpetuator of social injustice. Sheehy, a former priest, examines the Church's actions, finding prejudice against Jews, marriage, women, homosexuals, and others. Sheehy also examines such prominent events as the Inquisition, the Crusades, and heresy, gradually becoming distraught at the actions of the Church he served. His study brings forth a conclusion that the church is outmoded and no longer functional in any area of social justice and this caused him to decide that he could no longer serve under its auspices.
A fresh examination of Pickett’s Charge, drawing from numerous soldiers’ accounts—includes maps and illustrations. Both a scholarly and a revisionist interpretation of the most famous charge in American history, Into the Fight uses a wide array of sources, ranging from the monuments on the Gettysburg battlefield to the accounts of the participants themselves, to rewrite the conventional thinking about this unusually emotional, yet serious, moment in our Civil War. Starting with a fresh point of view, and with no axes to grind, Into the Fight challenges all interested in that stunning moment in history to rethink their assumptions. Praise for the work of John Michael Priest “[A] stirring narrative of the common soldier’s experiences on the southern end of the battlefield on the second day of fighting at Gettysburg.” —Civil War News “Priest’s distinctive style is rife with anecdotes, many drawn from obscure diaries and letters, artfully stitched together in an original manner.” —David G. Martin, author of The Shiloh Campaign
Confession is a crucial ritual of the Catholic Church, offering absolution of sin and spiritual guidance to the faithful. Yet this ancient sacrament has also been a source of controversy and oppression, culminating, as prize-winning historian John Cornwell reveals in The Dark Box, with the scandal of clerical child abuse. Drawing on extensive historical sources, contemporary reports, and first-hand accounts, Cornwell takes a hard look at the long evolution of confession. The papacy made annual, one-on-one confession obligatory for the first time in the 13th century. In the era that followed, confession was a source of spiritual consolation as well as sexual and mercenary scandal. During the 16th century, the Church introduced the confession box to prevent sexual solicitation of women, but this private space gave rise to new forms of temptation, both for penitents and confessors. Yet no phase in the story of the sacrament has had such drastic consequences as a historic decree by Pope Pius X in 1910. In reaction to the spiritual perils of the new century, Pius sought to safeguard the Catholic faithful by lowering the age at which children made their first confession from their early teens to seven, while exhorting all Catholics to confess frequently instead of annually. This sweeping, inappropriately early imposition of the sacrament gave priests an unprecedented and privileged role in the lives of young boys and girls—a role that a significant number would exploit in the decades that followed. A much-needed account of confession’s fraught history, The Dark Box explores the sources of the sacrament’s harm and shame, while recognizing its continuing power to offer consolation and reconciliation.
Let me begin today, illumined by Thy light, to destroy this part of the natural man which lives in me in its entirety, the obstacle that constantly keeps me from Thy Love. Taught this prayer as a boy by his grandfather, James Dressler recites it each time he's tempted by earthly desires. Originally drawn to the priesthood by the mystery, purity, and sensual fabric of the Church, as well as by its promise of a safe harbor from his tempestuous home, James finds himself -- just a few years after his ordination -- attracted again to his first love, Betty Garc a. Torn between these opposing desires, and haunted by his familial heritage, James finds himself at a crossroads. Exploring age-old and yet urgently contemporary issues in the Catholic Church, and infused throughout by a rich sense of the history and vibrant texture of St. Paul, and infused throughout by a rich sense of the history and vibrant texture of St. Paul, this is an utterly honest and subtly lyrical novel.
Christmas Eve. You are hours away from a three thousand-mile flight cross-country. The phone rings. Your great friend tells you that she wont make it through the night without your help. What would you do? A doctor tells your daughter that her seven-day-old son had a tumor and might not survive. What would you do? Many Christians believe we are living in the post-Christian era, a time when God is no longer sought for comfort and assurance. The Bushel and the Candlestick, by Priest John, proclaims Nine Lifesaving Miracles that will serve to instill great hope in a society languishing in near-spiritual despair. Personal accounts of the saving power of God, accompanied by scriptural support, will bless readers in a time of question, a time of hopelessness, a time of despair, and will remind those faithful to shine their light brightly, for neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, (basket) but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:15-16, KJV).
On the surface, John and George Esseff seem to have traveled very different paths in life: George as a successful scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist with a wife, children, and grandchildren; John as a celibate priest whose life has been spent mostly with the poor. But from their humble beginnings in Depression-era Wilkes-Barre, PA to this day, the Esseff brothers' lives have been very much intertwined. Their shared story takes us from the poorest places on the planet to the bastions of wealth and power, with these remarkable men touching and changing lives all along the way. Gripping and inspirational, this book is the story of faith made real in the lives of two men who are BROTHERS & FATHERS.
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