On July 16, 1983, in an abandoned house on an Italian hillside, Sister Rita Petrozzi, known today as Mother Elvira, opened Comunità Cenacolo. That dilapidated building quickly became God’s hope-filled answer to the desperate cries of the many lost, lonely, drug-addicted young people who soon began knocking on its door, seeking to be reborn. A potent apostolate was born. Today – barely thirty-six years later – Comunità Cenacolo consists of seventy houses stretched across the globe that welcome thousands of young people struggling with drug or alcohol addictions as they search for meaning in life. Mission houses in Africa, Central America, and South America shelter abandoned and orphaned street children, inviting them, too, on a journey of rebirth in love. Each house is imbued with God’s mercy and forgiveness. There young people live in a simple Christian family environment, transformed by the healing powers of prayer, work, friendship, sacrifice, and love. For decades now and on a daily basis, Mother Elvira’s humble spirituality has awakened hope and joy in the souls of the troubled and the lost, giving each of them new life. Open the pages of this wise, uplifting book. That same hope and joy can be yours.

Offers "new possibilities of interpretation for religious pluralism." Covers topics like God's global reach in salvation, a Christology of Grace, and how Scripture views other religions.

“Wherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis of mercy.” —Pope Francis Whether dealing with adoption, sobriety, bullying, the Boston Marathon bombing, or friendship with a Jehovah’s Witness, Mathew Schmalz’s own life serves as the backdrop for his reflections on the complex nature of mercy—how we give it, and how we receive it. From a home for lepers in India to a halfway house in the Bronx, the author probes his experiences to reveal mercy as a virtue that doesn’t necessarily come easily, but is infinitely rewarding. Discussion and reflection questions at the end of each chapter allow you to dig deeper into your own ideas about mercy, what it looks like in your life, and how to move toward a more merciful existence. Perfect for individual or group study.

It’s 1954 and the world is about to change—including the far Northwoods of Maine. But that change can’t happen soon enough for fourteen-year-old Mercy Millar. Long tired of standing in as the “son” her father never had, Mercy’s ready for the world to embrace her as the young woman she is—as well as embrace the forbidden love she feels. When childhood playmates grow up and fall in love, the whole community celebrates. But in the case of Mercy and Mick, there would be no celebration. Instead, their relationship must stay hidden. Good girls do not date young men from the Maliseet tribe, at least not in Watsonville, Maine. When racial tensions escalate and Mick is thrown in jail under suspicion of murder, Mercy nearly loses all hope—in love, in her father, and in God Himself.

Find refuge from your anxieties and fears. Embrace God's infinite mercy as revealed to Saint Faustina and draw hope and inspiration from the actual words of Our Lord, faithfully recorded in her diary. Saint Faustina and the Divine Mercy message were canonized by Pope John Paul II as ?God's gift to our time.? Make this gift your own through this short course on the merciful way.

How can a loving God send people to hell? Isn’t it arrogant to believe Jesus is the only way to God? What is up with holy war in the Old Testament? Many of us fear God has some skeletons in the closet. Hell, judgment, and holy war are hot topics for the Christian faith that have a way of igniting fierce debate far and wide. These hard questions leave many wondering whether God is really good and can truly be trusted. The Skeletons in God's Closet confronts our popular caricatures of these difficult topics with the beauty and power of the real thing. Josh Butler reveals that these subjects are consistent with, rather than contradictory to, the goodness of God. He explores Scripture to reveal the plotlines that make sense of these tough topics in light of God’s goodness. From fresh angles, Josh deals powerfully with such difficult passages as: The Lake of Fire Lazarus and the Rich Man The Slaughter of Canaanites in the Old Testament Ultimately, The Skeletons in God's Close uses our toughest questions to provoke paradigm shifts in how we understand our faith as a whole. It pulls the “skeletons out of God’s closet” to reveal they were never really skeletons at all.