“Sacramentalized, but not evangelized” is a phrase often used by those in the Church involved in pastoral outreach and evangelization efforts. While the phrase gets at a truth — many Catholics who have received the sacraments are still in desperate need of evangelization — it is theologically and spiritually imprecise. The problem is not that people have “only” received their sacraments, but that we do not fully understand the evangelizing work of the sacraments themselves. In Invitation and Encounter: Evangelizing Through the Sacraments, theologian, author, and speaker Timothy P. O’Malley shows how the sacraments, as efficacious signs, are Christ working in the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit. This book presents a pastoral introduction to sacramental theology from the standpoint of evangelization. How do sacraments evangelize? How do sacraments both heal and divinize those who receive them? Invitation and Encounter introduces the major terms and ideas of sacramental theology and helps the reader recognize how the sacramental life is integral to evangelization. By evangelizing through the sacraments, the goal of the New Evangelization is fulfilled, building up the Body of Christ with more Catholics who are sacramentalized and evangelized. About the Author Timothy P. O’Malley is director of McGrath Online and the academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. He is a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, where he teaches and researches in the areas of liturgical-sacramental theology, catechesis, and spirituality.

Let's face it: Real-life friendship is hard! We find ourselves challenged by superficial #girltribe social media posts, so how can we really achieve authentic friendship? And is friendship even worth it? Sisterhood isn't just a trend or unreachable goal; in fact, friendship with other women is a necessity. Why? Because we're made for it. We're created in the image and likeness of the triune God. "Relationship" is stamped into our spiritual DNA -- just as God desires to be in relationship with us, he also longs for us to be in authentic relationship with others. Whether you're in a steady place with the women in your life or you're not confident at all when it comes to friendship with other women, each and every one of us always has room to grow in the art of friendship. In Sisterhood: Giving and Receiving the Gift of Friendship, Catholic wife, mom, author, and friend Chloe Langr offers a practical guide to discerning, developing, and keeping authentic friendships. About the Author Chloe Langr is a writer, blogger, editor, and author of Created for Love: Reflections for the Catholic Bride-to-Be and Letters to Women: Embracing the Feminine Genius in Everyday Life. She hosts the Letters to Women podcast and is passionate about the feminine genius and women's ministry. When she isn't buried under a growing stack of books, you can find her in a local coffee shop, spending time with her husband, Joseph, and their daughters Maeve and Ada.

Dreams and Supernatural Encounters is a collection of personal experiences between God and an ordinary young woman through dreams and angelic visitations that are explained in great detail. Each supernatural encounter teaches something unique about God and how He communicates with His beloved children. From the United States to Israel, Asia, Iceland, and Poland, each experience brings God closer to hearts worldwide. From the tragedy of the sex trade to the committed houses of prayer, each dream encourages believers who are facing uncertain seasons in life. Your dreams mean more than you know! Don’t be surprised if, while reading these dreams, you think, “Wow, God is talking directly to me!” You will be encouraged, inspired, and uplifted with every encounter shared.

For too long we’ve lacked a compact, inexpensive, authoritative, and compulsively readable book that offers American readers a clear, informative, and inspiring narrative account of their country. Such a fresh retelling of the American story is especially needed today, to shape and deepen young Americans’ sense of the land they inhabit, help them to understand its roots and share in its memories, all the while equipping them for the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship in American society The existing texts simply fail to tell that story with energy and conviction. Too often they reflect a fragmented outlook that fails to convey to American readers the grand trajectory of their own history. This state of affairs cannot continue for long without producing serious consequences. A great nation needs and deserves a great and coherent narrative, as an expression of its own self-understanding and its aspirations; and it needs to be able to convey that narrative to its young effectively. Of course, it goes without saying that such a narrative cannot be a fairy tale of the past. It will not be convincing if it is not truthful. But as Land of Hope brilliantly shows, there is no contradiction between a truthful account of the American past and an inspiring one. Readers of Land of Hope will find both in its pages.

The person of Jesusand our need to encounter him personallyis the common thread through all that Pope Benedict XVI has written and taught. As he once urged young people, Open, open wide the doors to Christand you will find true life. In this book, popular Catholic writer Amy Welborn highlights the many ways in which the pope is inviting his listeners, both inside and outside the church, to discover the saving, healing, life-giving love of Jesus. As we listen with open minds and hearts to Pope Benedicts persistent and heartfelt invitation, we will be inspired to put friendship with Jesus at the center of our lives. And as the pope shows us, we can encounter Jesus in ourselves, in Scripture, in the liturgy, in prayer, and in everyday life.

An Unlikely Missionary Dispels the Myth That Miracles Happen Only in Africa Michele Perry may be an unlikely person to start a missionary orphanage in war-torn Sudan. Born without her left hip and leg, she is no stranger to overwhelming impossibility. She's learned from childhood to rely fully on God, who constantly surprises her--and she and her Sudanese children, more than one hundred of them, have witnessed him moving in miraculous and wondrous ways again and again. Here she shares some of these amazing, inspiring stories. More than that, she shows how readers can genuinely, fully experience God in their everyday lives--whether in Africa or at home, wherever they are. She helps them understand what he looks like, what it means to hear his voice, what it's like to see a vision, and how to recognize the holy in the ordinary. With these practical keys, believers will be able to open the floodgates of life changing, supernatural encounters with God.

John Paul II, the most charismatic religious leader of our time, is a man whose actions truly reflect his beliefs. At the dawn of the new Millennium, AN INVITATION TO JOY brings together a selection of John Paul's messages with the most poignant photographs documenting his life both before and after his election to papacy. For the first time, here is an illustrated devotional keepsake album that distills the essence of his message and shows the intimate connection between his words and deeds. Three main sections, THE HUMAN FAMILY, THE PEOPLE OF GOD, THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON, encompass the themes that are most important to the Pontiff. Resonant passages on everything from love and family, suffering and evil, freedom and human rights, other religions and the role of women are coupled with striking photographs. A fourth section, A LIFETIME OF DEVOTION, provides a portrait of the Pope's entire life in pictures, from his early childhood to his current day-to-day activities in the Vatican. Reflecting the Pope's all-embracing outreach to people around the world, AN INVITATION TO JOY will inspire both those inside and outside the Catholic Church.

Luke's account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus has an amazing power to inspire us today, just as it has given life to every generation of Christians. How do we understand that encounter on the road, and how can we be open to its message? How can it help us deepen our prayer life and understanding of Scripture so that we can grow closer to Jesus? How can it help us open our eyes to our liturgical encounter with Jesus and to all the ways he reveals himself to us each day? Finally, how might meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus energize us to share Jesus' message with other believers and with the world? Here, in this insightful and prayer-provoking new book, Father Dennis Billy invites us to join the two disciples on the way to Emmaus and experience for ourselves the power of the Risen Lord. Meeting Jesus on the Road to Emmaus will lead you to a greater awareness of how Jesus accompanies you in every moment of your life. It is an excellent companion to guide us all on the path of true and vibrant discipleship.

From the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Paris Apartment and The Guest List, an evocative love story set along the Italian Riviera about a group of charismatic stars who all have secrets and pasts they try desperately — and dangerously — to hide. Rome, 1953: Hal, an itinerant journalist flailing in the post-war darkness, has come to the Eternal City to lose himself and to seek absolution for the thing that haunts him. One evening he finds himself on the steps of a palazzo, walking into a world of privilege and light. Here, on a rooftop above the city, he meets the mysterious Stella. Hal and Stella are from different worlds, but their connection is magnetic. Together, they escape the crowded party and imagine a different life, even if it's just for a night. Yet Stella vanishes all too quickly, and Hal is certain their paths won't cross again. But a year later they are unexpectedly thrown together, after Hal receives an invitation he cannot resist. An Italian Contessa asks him to assist on a trip of a lifetime -- acting as a reporter on a tremendous yacht, skimming its way along the Italian coast toward Cannes film festival, the most famous artists and movie stars of the day gathered to promote a new film. Of all the luminaries aboard — an Italian ingénue, an American star, a reclusive director — only one holds Hal in thrall: Stella. And while each has a past that belies the gilded surface, Stella has the most to hide. As Hal's obsession with Stella grows, he becomes determined to bring back the girl she once was, the girl who's been confined to history. An irresistibly entertaining and atmospheric novel set in some of the world's most glamorous locales, The Invitation is a sultry love story about the ways in which the secrets of the past stay with us — no matter how much we try to escape them.

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.