People look for God's presence in many places. They gather in the basilicas of Rome or at the red rocks in Sedona. I find God's presence quite nearby-in the magnificent complexity of the human person. -Dominic Grassi We bump into God's grace every day in all kinds of humorous, serious, mysterious, random, and sometimes completely unlikely ways. This charming collection of thirty-five stories reveals one person's myriad encounters with God in both the mundane and extraordinary moments that make up our days. This is not a book about ideologies, but about people. . . . There are miracles and ordinary moments to celebrate, grace and joy to share, silly folk and saints to relish. -Dominic Grassi A natrual storyteller, Dominic Grassi invites readers to share his warm memories of life in Chicago over the past five decades. He shows how God is reflected in the people we meet every day: a butcher, a bookstore owner, a short-order cook. With rich and often funny descriptions of human triumphs and struggles, laughter and tears, youthful pranks and quiet maturity, Grassi uncovers grace in the most unexpected places. Stories such as Wisdom Teeth and Window Washers and Thumping Watermelons help us see not only moments of grace in Grassi's life but also times when we too have unexpectedly bumped into God.

What can philosophy contribute to the study of religion? This book argues that the study of religion needs philosophy in the form of multidisciplinary comparative inquiry. Contradicting the current tendency to regard philosophical reflection and the academic study of religion as independent endeavors best kept apart, Wesley J. Wildman brings them together, offering a broader vision than that of traditional "philosophy of religion" and surmounting many of its difficulties. His newer conception of "religious philosophy" is well suited to the modern, multicultural, secular university. Through multidisciplinary comparative inquiry, religious philosophy allows for a variety of approaches—from historical and analytical work to evocative description and theoretical evaluation of truth claims—and both secular and religious thinkers participate. The tasks and varieties of religious philosophy as they arc across the world's religions and philosophies are discussed along with religious philosophy's modern and postmodern contexts. Wildman's thoughtful and thought-provoking book will be essential reading for all those concerned with the study of religion, present and future.

We really can find God in all things, but sometimes our encounters with God can be incredibly small, subtle, and simple. Bumping into God Again by Fr. Dominic Grassi gives us a glimpse of the graces we can experience in everyday life and in places where we might least expect to find God's presence. These 35 stories remind us that unexpected graces can be found in countless simple yet marvelous ways. To find God in all things, we need only be open and listening.

"Remarkable...mesmerizing...compelling.... An entire world unfolds in Tolstoyan tide of event and detail....Give yourself over to the world Ms. Tan creates for you." —The New York Times Book Review Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past—including the terrible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events that led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949. The Kitchen God's Wife is "a beautiful book" (Los Angeles Times) from the bestselling author of novels like The Joy Luck Club and The Backyard Bird Chronicles, and the memoir, Where the Past Begins.

Second Place, Liturgy category Catholic Press Association book awards, 2012 “This little book is a gem!” From Sunday Mass to Monday mayhem: Can the central act of Catholic worship transform our daily lives? In the United States, only 25% of self-proclaimed Catholics attend Mass on a weekly basis. Many Catholics believe that far more people would attend if only the homilies were better, or the music were more inspiring, or . . . the list goes on. But best-selling authors Fr. Dominic Grassi and Joe Paprocki are convinced that the real problem lies not in the Mass itself but in a lack of understanding of how the Mass prepares each person to live day in and day out as a baptized Catholic Christian. In Living the Mass, Grassi and Paprocki show how each part of the Mass relates to our baptismal call, closing the chasm between Sunday Mass and daily life. This newly revised edition takes into account the changes in the new Roman Missal, yet rather than isolating those texts or commenting on them, the authors have integrated the changes seamlessly into the book. This assimilation ensures that readers stay focused on the core message of the book—how the Mass as a whole changes us—rather than become sidetracked by the Missal’s new texts. Ideal for the countless Catholics who attend Mass simply out of habit, for the many who haven’t been to Mass in a while, or for anyone seeking to join the Catholic Church, Living the Mass compellingly demonstrates how the one hour spent at Mass on Sunday can truly transform the other 167 hours of the week.