The revised and updated edition of Encountering Jesus in the New Testament offers a complete survey of the four Gospels, the letters of St. Paul, and the universal Catholic letters that helped to define the Church's beliefs about Jesus Christ. The textbook provides a sweeping view of Christ, both from the understanding of his early followers and the inspired authors of the New Testament and from those in the first centuries who did not believe in Jesus and were his enemies.

This new edition is in a 6-inch by 9-inch, college-sized format and includes a number of new and special features:

• direct references to Scripture meant to send students directly to the Bible so they can read the passages and their commentaries;
• three chapter assignments, each pitched to a different learning style;
• a central focus question at the beginning of each chapter and repeated in the chapter summary;
• note-taking graphic organizers for each chapter section to help students highlight, outline, and remember what they have read, with section assessment questions geared to the note-taking prompts;
• chapter sections with clearly identified main ideas;
• section assessment questions in a variety of styles;
• section summaries with questions that can be used to review for the chapter test or as extra credit; and
• redesigned chapters with new infographic features and photo essays.

Encountering Jesus in the New Testament is a companion to a course on the New Testament. This course is typically taught in one semester, following an introductory course on the Old Testament. The text can also be used as the main textbook for the required courses I, II, and III of the USCCB curriculum framework.

Encountering Jesus in the New Testament is available on several different platforms, including in the popular enhanced Apple iText version with several supporting embedded videos from sources such as Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, Catholic Relief Services, and OBD Films. Online resources are available to accompany all formats and include directed reading worksheets, crossword puzzles, PowerPoint slides, YouTube writing and discussion assignments, chapter tests, and handouts.

A Teacher's Wraparound Edition (TWE) provides strategies and lessons to facilitate several different learning styles. Guides, approaches, rubrics, questions, and answers all make a teacher's planning and assignment of each chapter easier. The TWE also offers references to USCCB curriculum points for required courses I, II, and III of the doctrinal protocol.

This revised and updated edition of The Old Testament: Our Call to Faith and Justice covers the remarkable journey of God's Chosen People and the inspired record they left on the pages of Scripture. The relationship between God and his people is a journey that begins in the accounts of the origins of their family tree, covers their human failings, and is centered on their knowledge and hope that God would always be with them, forgive them, save them, and love them.

This new edition of The Old Testament is in a 6-inch by 9-inch, college-sized format and includes a number of special features:

• infographic presentations of key concepts in styles that resemble the type teens interact with on digital platforms;
• new to this edition are three assignments in each chapter, each pitched to a different learning style;
• note-taking graphic organizers for each chapter section to help students highlight, outline, and remember what they have read with section assessment questions geared specifically to the note-taking prompts;
• New Testament Connection points out comparable teachings between the Old and New Testaments.

Author and biblical scholar Daniel Smith-Christopher reaches into the Old Testament to explore passages in its forty-six books that emphasize God's compassion, mercy, and forgiveness and connect them with the roots of Catholic Social Teaching. He also examines the historical and cultural influences around the authorship and content of the Scripture, mindful of how the Old Testament is crucial to the history of salvation and permeated with the light of Christ. The text emphasizes the Second Vatican Council teaching that the economy of the Old Testament was deliberately so oriented that it should prepare for and declare in prophecy the coming of Christ, redeemer of all (Dei Verbum, 14).

The Old Testament is designed for a one-semester course or as part one to a year-long course on the Bible. The text can also be used along with the required course I of the USCCB curriculum framework. There are ten chapters in the book, each beginning with a focus question centering on information students will be expected to remember well after their time in this course. The chapters are clearly divided into sections in order to help teachers for seven to ten days of class time per chapter and to help students keep track of assigned reading.

The Old Testament is available for several different platforms. The popular enhanced Apple iText version comes with several supporting embedded videos from sources such as Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, Catholic Relief Services, and OBD Films. Interactive charts and maps and online references for all Scripture and Catechism citations are also included.

Additional resources are available online, including directed reading worksheets, crossword puzzles, PowerPoint slides, YouTube writing and discussion assignments, chapter tests, and handouts. A Teacher's Wraparound Edition provides strategies and lessons to facilitate several learning styles. Guides, approaches, rubrics, and questions and answers ease a teacher's planning and assignment of each text chapter. The TWE also offers references to USCCB curriculum points for required courses I, II, and III of the doctrinal protocol.

Winner of a third-place award in the backlist beauty category from the Catholic Media Association.

Catholic author and self-described recovering worrier Gary Zimak combines practical spirituality, daily scripture readings, and simple action steps to help you kick the worry habit as part of your Lenten renewal. He shows you how to let go of the anxiety-producing areas of life in order to find the lasting peace that comes from trusting God.

During the season of Lent, Catholics and other Christians frequently give up something they enjoy as a measure of penance or self-discipline--and often fall back into old habits at the first Alleluia! In Give Up Worry for Lent!, Zimak offers fellow worriers practical, scripture-centered advice on how to relinquish the need to control the uncontrollable--not just for Lent but for good--and how to find peace in Christ.

From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, Zimak guides you to ponder a scripture passage and to apply it to your own life by following four simple steps:

• read
• reflect
• respond
• pray

As you continue to meditate on scripture and practice the simple action steps at the end of each reflection, you will find it easier to replace old worries with new messages of hope and to change your life forever.

In this Lenten devotional, let Padre Pio guide you through the profound mysteries of the faith, sharing his unique way of the Cross as a spiritual father, warrior, and beloved son of God.

Susan De Bartoli, author of the bestselling Advent devotional Welcoming the Christ Child with Padre Pio, invites you on a transformative Lenten journey with her new book, Carry the Cross with Padre Pio. Through carefully selected excerpts from Pio's letters, you will follow in the footsteps of this holy Capuchin monk who spent fifty years carrying his cross and mirroring Christ's Passion.

Journey from the dust of Ash Wednesday to the glories of Easter, witnessing both the sufferings Pio endured and the graces he received. Discover how he embraced each day as a little Lent, drawing closer to holiness by uniting his sufferings and sacrifices with Christ.

Through the six weeks of Lent, you will accompany Pio through the significant spiritual moments of his life, including these:

• His childhood experiences that led him to consecrate himself to Jesus and Mary
• His teenage calling that erupted into a flame of intense, lifelong love
• His mystical gifts--including the stigmata--and purposeful suffering
• His spiritual battles against the powers of evil
• His mystical touches that consoled him and enabled him to persevere
• His devotion of Christ's Passion and his intent to offer himself for souls

Each week begins with a Marian-themed reflection followed by four days that explore aspects of Pio's supernatural gifts and challenges. Each week concludes with a story about his encounter with a consoling angel.

Before you begin your Lenten journey with Padre Pio, De Bartoli encourages you to consider what cross the Lord is asking you to carry for love of him as you journey toward Easter. Without suffering, there can be no healing, no redemption. Take a moment now to thank the Lord for the journey of love ahead as we walk together toward the glories of Easter.

Losing a loved one is wrenching, and, in times of grief, wordy reading on healing offers little solace. In ABCs of Healthy Grieving, nationally recognized grief educator Harold Ivan Smith combines over twenty-five years of professional experience into seventy-two brief suggestions that treat particular aspects of living with grief day to day. Each suggestion starts with a letter of the alphabet and ends with an I can statement that offers both realistic hope and a goal toward which to strive. Readers can read ABCs of Healthy Grieving cover to cover or choose a single topic to help them through each day.

Cómo pueden los cristianos crecer espiritualmente en medio de nuestra pecaminosidad? Cómo podemos transformar nuestras vidas de una manera que nos permita compartir la resurrección de Jesús?

Dios ya nos ha dado la solución perfecta: los sacramentos.

Ya sea el dolor de heridas pasadas, la tensión en nuestras relaciones o el estrés de la vida diaria, todos necesitamos ser consolados y sanados por Cristo. En esta continuación de su exitoso Sé sanado, Bob Schuchts explica cómo los sacramentos pueden impulsar su sanación emocional y espiritual y acercarte a Dios.

Basado en más de treinta y cinco años de experiencia como terapeuta y décadas dedicadas al ministerio parroquial, Bob Schuchts demuestra cómo cada uno de los siete sacramentos puede ser un encuentro con Cristo que cambia la vida, comunicado a través del poder del Espíritu Santo. Él empareja cada sacramento de la sanación con una de las siete heridas mortales que emanaron del pecado original en el Jardín del Edén. Perpetuamos y profundizamos esas heridas cada vez que pecamos, pero los sacramentos son el remedio de Dios para el pecado. Nos dan una manera de restaurarnos a la plenitud en Cristo.

En Sé transformado, descubrirás cómo cada sacramento puede ayudarte a sanar las heridas que pueden obstaculizar tus relaciones y tu sentido de autoestima. Con la ayuda de Schuchts, aprenderás cómo:

• El Bautismo nos hace hijos amados de Dios, sanando nuestras heridas del rechazo.
• La Sagrada Comunión sana nuestras heridas del abandono al invitarnos a compartir la presencia permanente de Jesús.
• La Confirmación vence nuestra impotencia a través del poder del Espíritu Santo.
• El Orden Sagrado sana las heridas de la confusión y del desorden al restablecer la autoridad de Dios en nuestras vidas.
• En el Matrimonio, el amor fiel de Dios sana las heridas del miedo y de la desconfianza.
• La Reconciliación restaura la pureza y nos libera de la vergüenza.
• La Unción de los Enfermos proporciona una esperanza duradera para superar nuestra desesperanza.

Sé transformado ofrece todas las herramientas que necesitas para una nueva comprensión de los sacramentos, incluidas preguntas de reflexión, meditaciones de las Escrituras, oraciones e historias inspiradoras. Saldrás hambriento de los sacramentos de una manera que nunca creíste posible.

First published in 1944 and now a spiritual classic for Catholics across the globe, The Reed of God contains meditations on the humanity of Mary, Mother of God. British Catholic writer and artist Caryll Houselander lovingly explores Mary's intimately human side, depicting Our Lady as a musical instrument who makes divine love known to the world. This refreshed edition is rich and rewarding reading for all Christians who wonder what Mary was really like.

While the Second Vatican Council led to a renewed interest in the theology and person of Mary, Caryll Houselander offered a simple yet profound reflection on the Mother of God almost fifteen years before the council began.

Confronting the static, surreal Madonna of the Christmas card, Houselander provides instead an intuitive, warmly human, and approachable image of the Mother of God. Through the central image of a reed that is played for music, Houselander demonstrates how Mary chose to make herself an instrument for the divine plan, giving her inmost being to the proclamation of God's greatness. In sharing her distinctive vision of Mary, Houselander offers the Mother of God as a model for all people seeking to be instruments of the Divine.

The essays and poems in The Reed of God also reflect on the mysteries of Mary's life and her impact on salvation history. In the book's four parts, Houselander explores key events of Mary's life, including her fiat, finding Jesus in the Temple, and the Assumption, as well as the themes of fruitful emptiness and the eternal search for union with God.

Every twenty-five years, pilgrims from all over the world flock to Rome for a jubilee year to witness the opening of a special door on the north side of St. Peter's Basilica--the Holy Door--and to receive a special blessing by passing through it. This bronze Holy Door uniquely depicts the salvation story, from the dawn of creation to the present, through sixteen panels that inspire the faithful to connect their lives to the timeless story of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

In Opening the Holy Door, scripture teacher and veteran tour guide Joan Watson examines these sixteen panels of the jubilee Holy Door, guiding readers to pray and reflect upon the deeper meaning of these images by contemplating them through the lens of scripture. With a unique combination of an attentive gaze and imaginative prayer, Watson guides you to experience, panel by panel, each image as a focal point in the scripture narratives.

• Meet the angelic messengers--first in the Garden of Eden, where hope is lost, and then at the Annunciation, where God's promise of the Messiah is fulfilled.
• Return to key moments in the life of Christ, from his Incarnation and Baptism to his Passion and Death.
• Place yourself in the scene of Christ's earthly ministry, and witness the healing of the paralyzed man and the witness of the woman who anointed Jesus's feet.
• Identify with the weaknesses and foibles of Jesus's closest followers, from denying Peter to doubting Thomas and the miraculous conversion of Saul.
• Meditate on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Hope, who invites us to a living encounter with the God who loves us.

Whether you're preparing for a visit to the Holy Door or embarking on an armchair pilgrimage from home, these reflections provide a meaningful way to celebrate the Year of Hope by exploring the people and holy moments that have been revered for centuries by Christians all over the world. Each reflection will help you to cross the spiritual threshold of this iconic door--located in the heart of the Church--as you enliven and enrich your faith by contemplating their timeless beauty.

This book is more than a guide for the jubilee year; it's a spiritual companion for anyone seeking answers and hope in a fractured world.

Winner of a second-place award in the lifestyle books category and a third-place award for design and production from the Catholic Media Association.

Erica Tighe Campbell, owner and designer of Be A Heart, created this stunning, full-color guide to creatively celebrating the faith throughout the year. Living the Seasons is brimming with clever, doable, and beautiful crafts and activities; vivid photographs; brief introductions to the seasons and the lives of the saints; heartfelt notes of encouragement from Campbell; and original Be A Heart illustrations. This gorgeous companion will become your favorite resource for living your faith at home for years to come.

In Living the Seasons, Campbell offers imaginative ideas, effortless directions, and gorgeous photos of crafts, activities, meals, and snacks for a diverse variety of Catholic feast days, holy days, and seasons in the Church. She uses supplies that can easily be found at your local craft stores, party shops, or online retailers.

You'll find ways to celebrate all of the Church seasons--Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Triduum, Easter, Ordinary Time--and Holy Days of Obligation in the United States, and feast days for saints from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. And you'll discover fun ideas and new traditions such as:

• throwing a baby shower for Mary;
• blessing your home in the New Year;
• celebrating Fat Tuesday with King Cake and a piñata;
• living like St. Joseph by spending time in silence and making a wooden baby rattle;
• constructing your own gratitude journal and rosary;
• making art for God, including a salt-dough Trinity wall hanging, an Assumption cloud pillow, and an orange garland for St. Nicholas Day;
• creating edible flower lollipops to remind us of the Garden of Mary's womb; and
• baking Cookies of Joy in honor of St. Hildegard of Bingen.

Campbell will help you discover that the liturgical calendar, which follows the seasons of a year in the life of the Church, is a tool that can draw you--individually, as a family, or as a community--closer to God in the midst of a fast-paced and ever-changing world. Along the way, the saints we celebrate teach us that the path to holiness is worthy of pursuing in our own unique way. Their lives can inspire you to listen to how God calls you to follow him as well.

This book is designed to inspire you to celebrate the feast days that speak to you personally. You don't have to start living liturgically on the first Sunday of Advent--you can begin your journey anytime during the year. You also don't have to celebrate every feast on a grand scale.

There are projects for all ages and levels of skill--from simple ways to honor a saint's feast day with your kids to more elaborate celebrations with family and friends.

Find all of the project templates referenced in the book on the Be a Heart website.

Together for Life has been the most trusted source for wedding planning in the Catholic Church for more than forty-five years. This new edition of Together for Life contains the new texts of the most recent translation of The Order of Celebrating Matrimony. It includes all the tools engaged couples use when meeting with a priest, deacon, or lay parish minister to plan their weddings and prepare for living the sacrament of Marriage.

Written by Msgr. Joseph Champlin (1930-2008) and first published in 1970, more than ten-million copies of Together for Life have been sold. The previous edition was updated in 2011 with the help of Rev. Peter A. Jarret, C.S.C., to include the revised liturgical texts of the third edition of the Roman Missal. The 2016 edition contains all the necessary texts from The Order of Celebrating Matrimony.

Each reading choice is accompanied by a reflection written by lay married theologians or pastoral leaders who are committed to the sacramental life of the Church. Contributors include Ann M. Garrido, Msgr. Michael Heintz, Diana Macalintal, H. Richard McCord, Geoffrey D. Miller, Tim Muldoon, Julie Hanlon Rubio, and Deacon William F. Urbine.

Together for Life includes all of the information, prayers, blessings, and readings needed to plan a wedding that will be held within Mass, without Mass, or between a Catholic and a catechumen or non-Christian. FAQs address questions couples may have about traditions such as readings, music, witnesses, and unusual circumstances.

Together for Life includes:

• Approved texts for The Order of Celebrating Matrimony and prayers from the& Roman Missal
• The Word Brought Home, scripture commentaries by Catholic leaders
• Catechetical commentary by Rev. Peter Jarret, C.S.C., to help couples deepen their understanding of the Church's liturgy
• Hints for incorporating ethnic and cultural devotions and practices into a Catholic wedding
• Sample intercessions
• How-to guides to help parish ministers
• FAQ section about the celebration of Catholic weddings

The material in Together for Life is supported by TogetherforLifeOnline.com. The site includes an online selection form, Catholic wedding planning resources, and articles providing enrichment to both married and engaged couples.

Somewhere deep inside each one of us is a burning desire to finally become the person God created us to be.

Do you suffer from spiritual or emotional wounds that are keeping you from reaching that goal? Sé sanado--the new Spanish-language edition of the bestselling book Be Healed--is based on retired Catholic therapist Bob Schuchts's popular program for spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. Incorporating elements of charismatic spiritually and steeped in scripture and the wisdom of the Church, this book offers hope in the healing power of God through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments.

Schuchts, founder of the John Paul II Healing Center, sensitively shares his own journey of healing after enduring a series of betrayals in high school--his father's infidelity, his parents' divorce, his older brother's drug addiction--and his subsequent periods of struggle with God and faith.

Sé sanado includes helpful tools such as charts, tables, lists, reflection questions, and personal challenges to guide you on your journey of healing. Schuchts's trusted process for finding inner peace and healing is boldly Christ-centered, maintaining focus on the person of Jesus as the life-giving and ever-present physician of our souls. Schuchts will help you recognize your brokenness and find your hope and healing in the risen Christ.

En algún lugar profundo de cada uno de nosotros hay un deseo ardiente de finalmente convertirnos en la persona que Dios nos creó para ser

Sufre de heridas espirituales o emocionales que le impiden alcanzar esa meta? Sé sanado, la nueva edición en español del libro Be Healed, se basa en el popular programa del terapeuta católico retirado Bob Schuchts para la curación espiritual, emocional y física.Incorporando elementos de la espiritualidad carismática e impregnado de las Escrituras y la sabiduría de la Iglesia, este libro ofrece esperanza en el poder sanador de Dios a través del Espíritu Santo y los sacramentos.

Schuchts, el fundador del Centro de Curación Juan Pablo II, comparte con sensibilidad su propio viaje de curación después de soportar una serie de traiciones en la escuela secundaria--la infidelidad de su padre, el divorcio de sus padres, y la adicción a las drogas de su hermano mayor--y sus posteriores períodos de lucha con Dios y con su fe.

Sé sanado incluye herramientas útiles como gráficos, tablas, listas, preguntas de reflexión y desafíos personales para guiarlo en su viaje hacia la curación. El proceso de confianza de Schuchts para encontrar la paz interior y la curación está audazmente centrado en Cristo, manteniendo el enfoque en la persona de Jesús como el médico vivificante y omnipresente de nuestras almas. Schuchts lo ayudará a reconocer su quebrantamiento y a encontrar su esperanza y sanidad en Cristo resucitado. Schuchtslo ayudará a reconocer su quebrantamiento y a encontrar su esperanza y sanidad en Cristo resucitado.

Hurts experienced in our youth, be they traumas or trials, might get stowed away, yet our inner child remembers. It doesn't matter how much time passes or how mature we become; such hurts can eventually cause friction in our daily lives, casting a long shadow over our relationships with ourselves, our loved ones, and our God.

Written in a compassionate and pastoral tone by licensed marriage and family therapist Brya Hanan, Befriending Your Inner Child: A Catholic Approach to Inner Healing invites you to venture deep into your heart and befriend your hurts, emotional wounds, and childish behavior--or in the world of psychotherapy, your inner child--to reclaim your truest self, experience inner wholeness and healing, and strengthen your relationship with God and others.

Part one of the book explains why it is essential to befriend your inner child as well as the wounds and self-protections that this child within holds. Through this discovery, you will learn how to transform your deepest hurts into opportunities for healing and integration. Part two of the book offers practical tools to tend to your inner child compassionately.

Through Hanan's practical 5 A's, you will learn how to

1. anchor yourself in God and in your God-given body;
2. acknowledge your feelings and where you notice them showing up in your body;
3. attune to your deepest wounds, core beliefs, and distressing feelings;
4. ask God to show you what you need and how to participate in his healing work; and
5. act consistently with loving compassion toward yourself.

Hanan vulnerably shares her own journey of reparenting her inner child with God and offers additional case studies from her clinical practice that highlight how different life stories and life stages can respond to befriending their inner child. Each chapter includes charts, lists, and Befriend Work exercises that challenge readers to reflect further on the content.

If you long to experience more fulfillment and wholeness, this book is for you.

Discover the timeless spiritual counsel of St. Teresa of Avila, first woman Doctor of the Church, in an easily accessible format. In Let Nothing Disturb You, selections from Teresa's writings have been carefully chosen and arranged for morning and evening meditation.

Each book in theGreat Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.

Although originally full of athletic ambition and goals for a career in sports news, Heidland was transformed in a very slow but deep way during her undergraduate years, moving from party girl to bride of Christ. In Loved as I Am: An Invitation to Conversion, Healing, and Freedom through Jesus, Heidland helps readers learn from her experience of seeking love in the wrong places and instead finding it in Christ. She shares her struggles--learning she was adopted, battling alcoholism, and healing from childhood sexual abuse--as signs of hope that anyone who desires to know Christ can find him and be loved intimately by him in return. By bringing readers into Heidland's healing process, Loved as I Am provides a gentle and subtle template for finding peace and freedom in Jesus.

Drawing deeply from the wisdom writings of medieval English mystic Julian of Norwich, All Will Be Well welcomes even spiritual newcomers to the spirituality of this fourteenth-century visionary who was well ahead of her time.

Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.

This Is Our Faith: A Catholic Catechism for Adults is a bestselling overview of the faith for those preparing entry into the Church, as well as for both newly initiated and lifelong Catholics who wish to understand Church teachings more clearly. This revised and updated edition strengthens one of the strongest endorsements of the book: that it communicates important Church teachings in an engaging and understandable manner.

Revised and updated in collaboration with longtime RCIA leaders, this new edition of This Is Our Faith has been refreshed with two new chapters, with language and style more in line with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and with updated cultural and historical references.

The text maintains the popular book's accessible tone and easy-to-follow organization, following the four pillars of the Catechism:

• the Profession of Faith
• celebration of the sacraments, liturgy, and the Paschal Mystery
• life in Christ: foundations of Catholic morality
• Christian prayer

Chapters in each of the four parts lead with a thought-provoking story that connects the reader to important teachings, which are then communicated through an easy-to-understand question-and-answer format. Discussion questions and suggestions for additional reading are included for RCIA and parish adult-education groups wishing to explore Church teachings in a group environment.

This Is Our Faith provides a solid, clear presentation of the Catholic faith for adults at any stage in their faith journey.

The Notre Dame Book of Prayer is the collection of prayers and reflections for alumni, parents, and friends of the university. First published in 2010 and now updated with dozens of new prayers, this book shares the vibrant Catholic spiritual life of the University of Notre Dame.

This bestselling book is arranged around twelve stunning, full-color photos of sacred and beloved sites on campus--including the Grotto, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, St. Joseph and St. Mary's lakes, Touchdown Jesus, and Notre Dame Stadium. These beautiful photos were taken by Matt Cashore, the university's award-winning senior photographer.

This book contains hundreds of traditional and contemporary prayers written by faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the founding Congregation of Holy Cross. There are prayers for every occasion and season of life, including:

• morning and evening;
• meal times;
• an engagement;
• the birth of a child;
• anxiety and depression;
• birthdays;
• graduations; and
• liturgical seasons.

You'll also find guidance on how to pray and inspiring testimonies on the power of prayer. Contributors include President Emeritus Fr. Edward Monk Malloy, CSC; former head football coach Lou Holtz; writer Brian Doyle; Fr. Ted Hesburgh, CSC; and Lisa M. Hendey, founder of CatholicMom.com.

From St. Nicholas shoes, St. Lucy lights, and Simbang Gabi, Wren Day, king cakes, and Candlemas to Easter egg trees, May Crowning, and Dia de los Muertos, Catholic traditions from around the world evoke memories of cherished celebrations that connect us to one another and draw us closer to God. In Festive Faith, Steffani Aquila, founder of Liturgy Culture & Kitchen by His Girl Sunday, brings to life liturgical living as more than simply observing seasons. It's about joyously celebrating God's presence in our midst, every day and in every way.

Festive Faith is a treasury of more than seventy festive traditions celebrated in various cultural groups during specific seasons or on particular days of our liturgical year. For each one, Aquila shares a brief history, a description of what the custom involves, and practical adaptations for celebrating it today. She tells you the why and the how of these traditions and shares tips on how to make them accessible, attainable, and authentic for everyone in your household, neighborhood, and parish communities.

Festive Faith also includes stories from twenty individuals of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds who share personal experiences of living the liturgical traditions of their communities. Learn from them how the faith of generations has been deepened by traditions such as these:

• The Mexican tradition of La Posadas, where the community travels from house to house looking for a place in the inn
• The practice of making and eating king cakes to represent Christ the King
• The Polish tradition of blessing of the Easter basket on Holy Saturday to signify the end of fasting and the anticipation of the Easter season
• The Holy Thursday tradition of visiting seven churches with family and friends to stay awake during the time Christ was in the garden of Gethsemane

Whether you're well-versed in these practices or just beginning your journey, Festive Faith equips you with practical tools and insights to make these traditions your own. Each showcased custom is accompanied by actionable steps that invite you to carry on the tradition, adapt it to your context, and extend it from your home into your parish and back again.

This handbook isn't just for personal or family enrichment; it's a valuable resource for catechists, parish leaders, and religious educators alike. With its blend of personal anecdotes, historical insights, and practical tips, Festive Faith is a celebration of Catholic heritage and a roadmap for embracing liturgical living in today's world. Dive in and discover the joy of celebrating God's presence in every season and every moment.