Fun activities that teach children and their families about the holy season of Lent. Includes family Lenten devotionals. Suitable for any Christian denomination that follows the liturgical calendar. These fun-filled activities for home, pew, or church school, help children ages 4-7 learn about the seasons of Lent and Easter. This book includes mazes, crossword puzzles, connect the dots, and more. 41 pages of activities and a 4-page parent guide designed to promote parenting in the pews.

The Power of Forgiveness, Pope Francis on Reconciliation calls the reader to explore the mercy of God, received in a profound way by turning toward God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This heartfelt collection of the Pope's reflections on the need for repentance, awareness of sin, God's divine mercy, forgiveness of others, and confession and absolution, is a transformative read for Catholics of all vocational states!

Winner of a 2018 Catholic Press Association Award: Sacraments. (Second Place). In the first book to directly integrate the Twelve Steps with the practice of Catholicism, Scott Weeman, founder and director of Catholic in Recovery, pairs his personal story with compassionate straight talk to show Catholics how to bridge the commonly felt gap between the Higher Power of twelve-step programs and the merciful God that he rediscovered in the heart of the sacraments. Weeman entered sobriety from alcohol and drugs on October 10, 2011, and he's made it his full-time ministry to help others who struggle with various types of addiction to find spiritual wholeness through Catholic in Recovery, an organization he founded and directs. In The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments, Weeman candidly tackles the struggle he and other addicts have with getting to know intimately the unnamed Higher Power of recovery. He shares stories of his compulsion to find a personal relationship with God and how his tentative steps back to the Catholic Church opened new doors of healing and brought him surprising joy as he came to know Christ in the sacraments. Catholics in recovery and those moving toward it, as well as the people who love them will recognize Weeman's story and his spiritual struggle to personally encounter God. He tells us how: Baptism helps you admit powerlessness over an unmanageable problem, face your desperate need for God, and choose to believe in and submit to God’s mercy. Reconciliation affirms and strengthens the hard work of examining your life, admitting wrongs, and making amends. The Eucharist provides ongoing sustenance and draws you to the healing power of Christ. The graces of Confirmation strengthen each person to keep moving forward and to share the good news of recovery and new life in Christ. Weeman's words are boldly challenging and brimming with compassion and through them you will discover inspiration, hope, sage advice, and refreshingly practical help.

“Like many evangelicals who love the gospel, I had my doubts about Lent.” It’s true, Lent can often seem like an empty ritual. But what Aaron Damiani came to find, and what he describes inside, is something else entirely. Something exceedingly good. In The Good of Giving Up, Anglican pastor Aaron Damiani (who comes from a low-church background) explains the season of Lent, defends it theologically, and guides you in its practice. You’ll learn: The history and purpose of Lent How to practice it with proper motivation Ways it can reform your habits and convictions How to lead others through it, whether in the home or church Lent has been described as a “springtime for the soul,” a season of clearing to make room for growth. The Good of Giving Up will show you why, encouraging you to participate in what many know as a rich spiritual journey. “When I was finally ready to take the plunge, I learned that observing Lent is not a forced march of works-righteousness. But it was good medicine for [my soul], for the painful split between what I knew about God and what I experienced of Him.”

"Lent For Non-Lent People" is a daily guide to prayer, fasting, rest, and following Jesus for people who want training wheels for Lent. In ordinary language, this book explores prayer, fasting, and Sabbath. There are eight chapters. You can read them as chapters. But if you look closer, you will find seven sections in each chapter, a reading for every day of Lent and a bonus chapter for the week after Easter. So this can be a daily reader. In each reading, we explore what Lent is, what giving up and committing to can mean. Lent is an old word that means spring. But if you had to pick a phrase that best captures what people think of Lent, it's this: giving up. Not as in quitting a competition, but as in giving up something. People observing Lent give up something that matters to them. Often it's food, like meat on Friday or sugar for the forty weekdays. Sundays often are free days, exempt from the giving up. As best as I can tell, it started with the idea of helping people appreciate the festivities of Easter. If we spend the time before Easter preparing our hearts and our bodies, the celebration has more significance. The forty days are designed to resonate with the forty-day seasons that show up in the Bible. Jesus fasted for forty days. Moses was on the mountain for forty days. Noah and his family watched it rain for forty days and forty nights.Older than the name Lent is the term “fasting”. It is also about giving up. Fasting most simply is giving up that for this. That is something good in itself. This is something great. That is nourishing to a point. This is life itself. That's why Lent isn't about giving up sin. Think about it. “I'll give up my affair for forty days. But every Sunday, just for the day, I go back to my mistress.” Ludicrous. It's easy to get legalistic about forty days of fasting. When humans are presented with a boundary, we focus on the boundary. What counts as fasting? How much can you eat without breaking the fast? How long? What health matters? Focus may be a better word than Lent, fasting, or giving up. Often, the best way to give something up is to choose what to focus on instead. In the case of Lent, the intended focus is God. We'll talk about God a lot. This isn't a book of how to survive a fast. It's not about the health implications, good and bad, of fasting or praying or resting. We're going to give up some time, give some attention, and spend a few minutes, or a few weeks understanding ourselves and God.

The national directory addresses the dimensions and perspectives in the formation of deacons and the model standards for the formation, ministry, and life of deacons in the United States. It is intended as a guideline for formation, ministry, and life of permanent deacons and a directive to be utilized when preparing or updating a diaconate program in formulating policies for the ministry and life of deacons. This volume also includes Basic Standards for Readiness for the formation of permanent deacons in the United States, from the bishops' Committee on the Diaconate, and the committee document Visit of Consultation Teams to Diocesan Permanent Diaconate Formation Programs.

Forty meditations on Great Lent based on liturgical, scriptural and patristic texts.

You want to read your Bible. You know it’s important. And yet, between the constant demands of work and home and the intimidation you feel when trying to read Scripture, you give up. Don’t let an overflowing schedule and a lack of confidence rob you of the peace, joy, and purpose God offers you. In Fall in Love with God’s Word, Brittany Ann takes a “how to” approach to help you: Overcome seven common obstacles preventing you from spending time in Scripture Determine the personalized Bible-reading outline that works best for you Learn fifteen easy ways to make Bible reading more meaningful and enjoyable Use Scripture to conquer sin, false beliefs, and negative thought patterns Experience fresh spiritual growth and passion for God’s Word

The Angelus is a centuries-old Catholic devotion that recalls the annunciation of Christ’s birth by the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. In Praying the Angelus, popular author and speaker Jared Dees reinvigorates the devotion, shares intimately from his own experience of it, shows us how to get started, and enriches the practice with original meditations to reflect on the words of both the Angelus and the Regina Caeli. Jared Dees was twenty-seven and in his fourth year of teaching religion in a Catholic school when he first experienced the Angelus. The creator of The Religion Teacher website allows the devotion to anchor his prayer life and challenge him to daily conversion of heart and will. Dees introduces the Angelus devotion and explores its rich history and significance for the Church. As spiritual companion and guide, he offers meditations on the words and images of both the Angelus and the Regina Caeli, which is prayed during the Easter season. We find lessons about the power of repetitive prayer, the humility of being a disciple, the importance of admitting time belongs to God, the wisdom of taking time with discernment, and the joy of resting in the Lord’s presence. He shares personal stories of the life-change power of the Angelus and guides both newcomers and those already familiar with the prayer to contemplate the mysteries of salvation that lie at the heart of the devotion—the Annunciation, Incarnation, and Resurrection. Named for the opening words of the devotion's first prayer in Latin, "The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary," the Angelus is typically prayed at 6:00 a.m., noon, and 6:00 p.m. each day. Likewise the Regina Caeli is named for the opening lines of its prayer, "Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia." Praying the Angelus is supported by Dees’s website, TheAngelusPrayer.com, where people can gather online to participate in and share this devotion with others.