In A Little Book of God's Mercy, you'll see how God reveals His plan to be merciful to all those who live until the end of the world. This includes billions of people who will never be saved. In fact, the Bible reveals that only a small number of all those alive on the last day will be saved. Some of what you find in this book will be familiar if you were a Family Radio listener for a while before May 21, 2011 and heard the late Mr. Harold Camping teach about the Bible's timeline. Although many people have now dismissed his teachings, you will see that he actually came very close to correctly understanding what the Bible reveals about the last days. And if you are not familiar with Mr. Camping's teachings, you will find in A Little Book of God's Mercy a coherent solution to many questions that have puzzled Christians for centuries. This claim is based on the Bible, because the Lord reveals that only in the last days will the elect understand certain truths. This was God's promise to the prophet Daniel when He spoke to him about the "time of the end." Daniel didn't understand. When he asked for more information, the Lord told him that the words were "closed up and sealed till the time of the end." Even though what Daniel heard was sealed until our day, the Bible actually shows pictures of this information being unsealed. We find them in Revelation, recorded by the apostle John about 600 years after Daniel finished recording his book. Revelation is the last book of the Bible and is God's final word to mankind. It describes many visions seen by John when he was on the island of Patmos near the end of the first century A.D. Many people have heard some references to Revelation, but they may have no idea what they mean. The seven seals, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the battle of Armageddon are often mentioned in discussions about the end of the world. In A Little Book of God's Mercy, you will find these visions explained along with several lesser known visions from Revelation (such as those about the two witnesses and the little book that John ate), and see how they relate to certain other passages from elsewhere in the Bible, such as Joseph's coat of many colors, the parable of the ten virgins, Balaam's talking ass, Satan's head wound, and Jacob's deathbed prophecies about his twelve sons - from whom are descended the twelve tribes of Israel. You'll find all these explained in A Little Book of God's Mercy, along with a discussion of hell and the question of whether there is punishment after death for the unsaved (there isn't!). And you'll see how God reveals that Israel spent 430 years in Egypt. Many Jewish scholars reject this number because it doesn't seem to agree with other numbers God provides. However, when we correctly analyze all numbers given in the account, we find that Israel did indeed spend 430 years in Egypt. You'll find discussions about all these subjects in this book, but you won't find a prediction for the end of the world. The Bible reveals we cannot know that date. It does, however, reveal the purpose for which the Lord has provided so much time information. It allows us to calculate that Creation was in the year 11,013 B.C., and Noah's flood in 4990 B.C. - and it allows us to understand that salvation ended in 2011. Yes, it was for the purpose of proclaiming the approaching end of salvation that God has given us so much information about time. We find support for this conclusion in several passages where God reveals that the elect remain here even after salvation has ended. For example, in Ecclesiastes 12 we see the elect pictured as a dragging grasshopper. This chapter is a picture of today: the period between the date when salvation is over and the last day. And when will that day arrive? All we know is that there is a long delay after salvation ends. However, some people who are living today will live long enough to see the Lord return. You may be among them!

Sister Joan Chittister is a bestselling author for a very good reason. She takes difficult and even mysterious concepts and "breaks them open" for us. Here she tackles the virture of mercy and its connection to forgiveness. She challenges us to stop judging, accusing, and criticizing those we label "sinners" and to see ourselves in their number. She invites us to be realistic about our own actions before we "throw that first stone" at another. This is spiritual reading at its very best.

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.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In his first book published as Pope, and in conjunction with the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis here invites all humanity to an intimate and personal dialogue on the subject closest to his heart—mercy—which has long been the cornerstone of his faith and is now the central teaching of his papacy. In this conversation with Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielli, Francis explains—through memories from his youth and moving anecdotes from his experiences as a pastor—why “mercy is the first attribute of God.” God “does not want anyone to be lost. His mercy is infinitely greater than our sins,” he writes. As well, the Church cannot close the door on anyone, Francis asserts—on the contrary, its duty is to go out into the world to find its way into the consciousness of people so that they can assume responsibility for, and move away from, the bad things they have done. The first Jesuit and the first South American to be elected Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis has traveled around the world spreading God’s message of mercy to the largest crowds in papal history. Clear and profound, The Name of God Is Mercy resonates with this desire to reach all those who are looking for meaning in life, a road to peace and reconciliation, and the healing of physical and spiritual wounds. It is being published in more than eighty countries around the world. “The name of God is mercy. There are no situations we cannot get out of, we are not condemned to sink into quicksand.”—Pope Francis Praise for The Name of God Is Mercy “Francis speaks succinctly—and with refreshing forthrightness. . . . He emphasizes moral sincerity over dogma, an understanding of the complexities of the world and individual experience over rigid doctrine. . . . The pope has an easy conversational style that moves effortlessly between folksy sayings and erudite allusions, between common-sense logic and impassioned philosophical insights.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “What makes his book most moving is the way in which this man, without disrespecting his own privacy or offering false bromides of modesty, opens the sacred space of his conscience to explain how he came to center his ministry, and now his papacy, around mercy.”—James Carroll, The New Yorker “As he has done throughout his papacy, Pope Francis shows in this book a compelling way to present God’s love anew to a skeptical world without denying the ancient teachings of faith. But now he is challenging the entire Church to trek a new way forward.”—Time “Francis enjoys sharing personal stories of God’s grace and mercy in the lives of parishioners from his native Argentina, people he has known and who have recognized themselves as sinners.”—The Washington Post “Powerful . . . Francis’s book signals a plea for a change of attitude on the part of the faithful and their pastors. . . . Bishops and priests will talk and quarrel over the text for months, even years to come. And that, perhaps, is what Francis intends.”—Financial Times “Deepens his calls for a more merciful Catholic Church . . . The question-and-answer book is told in simple, breezy language, with the pope referring to experiences and people in his own life.”—Newsday “Francis has offered his most detailed outline yet for the role of the Catholic church in the modern era.”—National Catholic Reporter Translated by Oonagh Stransky

You cannot make it without God’s mercy. Do we just need God’s grace in dark and shameful moments? Are prayers for mercy only for those times when we really mess up? Jonathan Parnell says we need God’s mercy all the time. In fact, contrary to many church cultures, Parnell shows that asking God for mercy should be as regular as asking God for our daily bread. There’s no doubt that David was in a terrible predicament when he first prayed the words of Psalm 51. It was a dark and shameful moment in the Bible, and one so dark and shameful it seldom feels relevant to us today. But David’s most desperate prayer is really a prayer for all of us—and not just for our worst moments, but for our every moment. In these pages, you'll discover: how to pray a daily, memorable prayer derived from Psalm 51 how to practice daily repentance and soul care how to pursue God and experience his joy in the Christian life This is God’s mercy, and it’s Mercy for Today.

In five interwoven meditations, Mystical Hope shows how to recognize hope in our own lives, where it comes from, how to deepen it through prayer, and how to carry it into the world as a source of strength and renewal.

Pope Francis is a pope of the people, and his teachings have been praised and shared by the faithful and nonreligious alike. Exploring themes universal to all people, Pope Francis’ Little Book of Compassion offers inspiration and hope from one of the world’s great spiritual leaders. In it, the Holy Father explores how living a life of compassion can be practiced in five areas of life: prayer, mercy, forgiveness, solidarity, and charity. Pope Francis appears to be changing the face of Roman Catholicism. He has infused the fusty institution with openness and optimism, faced off against established power interests within the Vatican, reformed the Church’s finances, and, most importantly, asked that Catholics approach one another and non-Catholics with candor, humility, and love. He has made the papacy and the Church relevant once again. Words from Pope Francis: “A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.” “There is so much indifference in the face of suffering. May we overcome indifference with concrete acts of charity."