2023 Catholic Media Association Honorable Mention, Faithful Citizenship/Religious Freedom Has the contemporary American polity remained capable of asking itself questions about its purpose and integrity? We recall our optimistic beginnings, sure of God’s blessing, yet something has gone wrong. We are at odds with each other and even our friends. What brought us to this moment, and is there anything “we the people” can do? In Claiming Your Voice, Vest examines four contemporary deforming patterns: market culture, American empire, climate crisis, and racism. In consideration of the Christian foundations in prophetic imagination and Benedictine spirituality, she illustrates that Americans are called to provide energy for hope, to cut through public numbness, and to penetrate the deceptions of imperial consciousness so that God and the sacred again become visible and empowering for all our people.
In No Moment Too Small, Vest focuses on three of the foundations of the Benedictine way: silence, the exploration of Scripture and other spiritual writings (lectio divina), and the hours of prayer. These essentials of Benedict's sixth-century rule of life offer a practical framework for spiritual growth in our own day, a path to God through the events and people of ordinary lives. In her discussion of lectio-on-life, for example, Vest provides insight on the reading of our lives as the "text" in which we find God's Word written in the ordinary events of daily life. Exercises for individuals or groups follow each chapter on silence, prayer, and holy reading. Excellent for Lenten study groups as well as ongoing prayer or Bible study groups.
In this second book in her series on Benedictine spirituality, Norvene Vest brings the insights of Benedict’s Rule to the world of work. A gifted interpreter of Benedict’s wisdom, Vest examines with empathy and clarity the plight of men and women who wish for their work to be life-giving, a service to others, and the place where they can experience the presence of God. Vest brings Benedict’s perspective to three areas of work discontent today: the stress of performance, overproduction, and acquisitiveness. To these she opposes three Benedictine principles: vocation, or being called to what we do; stewardship, or taking care of what we are given; and obedience, or serving one another. Her emphasis is on the words of Benedict’s primary text and its application for people today. Each chapter concludes with extensive spiritual exercises and food for thought.
Many of us thirst for a meaningful spiritual life. We may even begin a spiritual journey, yet before we are very far along, we discover we need help. Is the living, compassionate God revealed in scripture in a way that offers guidance and comfort to us in our contemporary lives? Norvene Vest says a resounding "Yes!" Using the classic spiritual practice of lectio divina or "divine reading" in the context of small groups, she shows how this devotional and prayerful reading of the scriptures leads us to a deeper understanding of and relationship with God.
What Is Your Practice? presents a variety of foundational Christian ascetical practices, translated into contemporary idiom. Instead of relying on imperatives and fixed answers, readers are encouraged to experiment with and commit to sustained practices that can help them to live faithfully with important questions during unsettled times.
A modern approach to spiritual deepening using the ancient, but wise Rule of St. Benedict. The Rule of St. Benedict continues to attract those who seek to live a deeper life, connected to Christ. But with such an ancient text, how can we authentically engage St. Benedict’s Rule in a manner that is true to its profound insights—and to our own spiritual journey? Norvene Vest suggests that the answer lies in the way we read the Rule. “It shouldn’t be studied like a book of regulations, or a school textbook. It should be read as lectio divina.” This profound yet very practical volume speaks to our urgent spiritual need. People yearn for an interior life deeply rooted in God, humanly balanced, and substantially founded in the Christian heritage. Vest offers a valuable resource by rendering much more accessible the spiritual wealth of the key text of the ancient Benedictine charism. Here is the solid, balanced wisdom that has nourished and guided innumerable Christians for nearly fifteen centuries.
In Desiring Life, Norvene Vest brings the insights of Benedict's Rule to the wisdom tradition. Desiring Life is the third book in her series on Benedictine spirituality for people living in the world today. Vest asks questions of pressing concern today, such as: What is the "good life" we seek? How can we learn to live with integrity and compassion, despite the growing gap between public ethics and narrow self-interest? How can we live fully and well? What sort of people should we as Christians try to be? In sections on wisdom, virtue, and ethics Vest describes these contemporary questions and addresses them through passages from Benedict's Rule. Through the recovery of insights from the past, Vest believes, we can draw closer to the heart of our desire for life in all its fullness--union with God.
A primer on the spiritual discipline known as divine reading, or lectio divina, a prayerful and devotional way of reading the Bible that focuses on the divine word of God. Vest presents a history of the practice, step-by-step instructions, and suggested readings for individuals and groups. A HarperCollins resource for small groups and individuals.
Western Christianity today seems caught between a scientistic perspective insisting on empirical verification of truth and a literalistic faith hardened into a clearly defined and manageable representation of the divine. But the core experiences of the holy on which Christianity rests are mythic elements---vital, fluid, and ambiguous pointers toward mystery penetrating human life. This dissertation identifies and describes three basic shifts in perspective opening a way through the impasse between empiricism and literalism. However, a direct route toward mythic re-visioning is blocked by a set of assumptions implicit in contemporary Western culture. Those assumptions arise with the philosophies supporting science and now postmodern deconstruction, resting in a hermeneutic of suspicion that renders both theology and mythology irrelevant, unless credible alternatives present parallel values.
Has the contemporary American polity remained capable of asking itself questions about its purpose and integrity? We recall our optimistic beginnings, sure of God’s blessing, yet something has gone wrong. We are at odds with each other and even our friends. What brought us to this moment, and is there anything “we the people” can do? In Claiming Your Voice, Vest examines four contemporary deforming patterns: market culture, American empire, climate crisis, and racism. In consideration of the Christian foundations in prophetic imagination and Benedictine spirituality, she illustrates that Americans are called to provide energy for hope, to cut through public numbness, and to penetrate the deceptions of imperial consciousness so that God and the sacred again become visible and empowering for all our people.
In Desiring Life, Norvene Vest brings the insights of Benedict's Rule to the wisdom tradition. Desiring Life is the third book in her series on Benedictine spirituality for people living in the world today. Vest asks questions of pressing concern today, such as: What is the "good life" we seek? How can we learn to live with integrity and compassion, despite the growing gap between public ethics and narrow self-interest? How can we live fully and well? What sort of people should we as Christians try to be? In sections on wisdom, virtue, and ethics Vest describes these contemporary questions and addresses them through passages from Benedict's Rule. Through the recovery of insights from the past, Vest believes, we can draw closer to the heart of our desire for life in all its fullness--union with God.
In this second book in her series on Benedictine spirituality, Norvene Vest brings the insights of Benedict’s Rule to the world of work. A gifted interpreter of Benedict’s wisdom, Vest examines with empathy and clarity the plight of men and women who wish for their work to be life-giving, a service to others, and the place where they can experience the presence of God. Vest brings Benedict’s perspective to three areas of work discontent today: the stress of performance, overproduction, and acquisitiveness. To these she opposes three Benedictine principles: vocation, or being called to what we do; stewardship, or taking care of what we are given; and obedience, or serving one another. Her emphasis is on the words of Benedict’s primary text and its application for people today. Each chapter concludes with extensive spiritual exercises and food for thought.
In No Moment Too Small, Vest focuses on three of the foundations of the Benedictine way: silence, the exploration of Scripture and other spiritual writings (lectio divina), and the hours of prayer. These essentials of Benedict’s sixth-century rule of life offer a practical framework for spiritual growth in our own day, a path to God through the events and people of ordinary lives. In her discussion of lectio-on-life, for example, Vest provides insight on the reading of our lives as the “text” in which we find God’s Word written in the ordinary events of daily life. Exercises for individuals or groups follow each chapter on silence, prayer, and holy reading. Excellent for Lenten study groups as well as ongoing prayer or Bible study groups.
What Is Your Practice? presents a variety of foundational Christian ascetical practices, translated into contemporary idiom. Instead of relying on imperatives and fixed answers, readers are encouraged to experiment with and commit to sustained practices that can help them to live faithfully with important questions during unsettled times.
A primer on the spiritual discipline known as divine reading, or lectio divina, a prayerful and devotional way of reading the Bible that focuses on the divine word of God. Vest presents a history of the practice, step-by-step instructions, and suggested readings for individuals and groups. A HarperCollins resource for small groups and individuals.
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