Finding Virginia follows David's search to regain solid ground after being hit by the same economic woes that have shaken America's middle class -- the dot.com bust, real estate crash, college debt -- problems suddenly compounded by his father's failing health during the summer of 2011. A true story, his journey takes an unlikely and compelling path that includes romance, humor, jeeps, and reflections on a coming-of-age summer working at an island resort in 1986. His stories weave into an entertaining and satisfying whole, a bumpy ride cushioned by an underlying optimism that characterizes the American spirit. ""Finding Virginia is a fun read, an interesting yarn about a guy whose life has followed the Jeep trail less traveled." Arches Magazine, Spring 2012 ""Just finished your book. It was an excellent piece of literature. It had just the right amount of love story, jeeps, and life in general. A+. I'll recommend it to all my friends." " William Dabney ""Dave, you hit a home run. It is Not Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintenance....Your book is much more readable than that was . . . This is a book that you CAN give your wife to read....and she will enjoy it."" Bill Reiss ""I finished your book and, although I don't share your love of jeeps (but do now have more of an appreciation of them), your passion for jeeps, life, and food, your compassion for your parents, and your emotional honesty was most touching. Few autobiographies that I have read which were written by men have achieved this level emotional intimacy- entirely unvarnished by a layer of machismo."" Leslie Guerci ""David, I just have to tell you I loved your book. Your descriptive writing style is just wonderful and it kept me glued to the pages wanting to know more."" Robert Christy ""And the book is great I end up feeling like I just heard a story from a long lost friend. David, you are really good at painting a picture with your stories. I like that kind of writing. And I just love how you flow from family to jeeps to Virginia...it's all connected...but not. I just like it okay."" Dana Foster Wilfert ""Bought and read the book. You have a great style and should attack a good novel. In my life I have read many writers as they have written a number of books. I think you have started at a higher level than most. Keep it up. As for connections that can never be broken, you have and will find that they have an uncanny way of finding the right place which is of course the point of being so naturally connected. Too philosophical but when you write about such topics you are bound to open up the topic. Take care and good fortune to you. Once again good job on the book. I enjoyed it greatly. Keep writing "" Wade Hall ""Thanks for the new book.I started to read mine lastTuesday and I am already in Page 80; Wow , I haveto say you did a great job. It is funny because I am learning so much about you that actually feels strange. You have had a very singular life, with some many different aspects. Theplotis fascinating, it is really hard to stop reading."" Sebastian Logo-Guerrero

This major volume is a collection of the writings of Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) on the theology of the Liturgy of the Church, a subject of preeminence to him as a theologian, professor and spiritual writer. It brings together all his writings on the subject, short and long, giving his views on liturgical matters and questions over many years and from various perspectives. He chose to have his writings on the Liturgy for the first volume published of his collected works (though listed as vol. 11) because, as he says in the Introduction: "The liturgy of the Church has been for me since my childhood the central reality of my life, and it became the center of my theological efforts. I chose fundamental theology as my field because I wanted first and foremost to examine thoroughly the question: Why do we believe? But also included from the beginning in this question was the other question of the right response to God and, thus, the question of the liturgy." By starting with the theme of liturgy in this volume, Ratzinger wants to highlight God's primacy, the absolute precedence of the theme of God. Beginning with a focus on the liturgy, he said, tells us that "God is first". He quotes from the Rule of St. Benedict, "Nothing is to be preferred to the liturgy", as a way of ordering priorities for the life of the Church and of every individual. He says that the fundamental question of the man who begins to understand himself correctly is: How must I encounter God? Thus learning the right way of worshipping is the gift par excellence that is given to us by the faith. The essential purpose of his writings on the liturgy is to place the liturgy in its larger context, which he presents in three concentric circles. First, the intrinsic interrelationship of Old and New Testament; without the connection to the Old Testament heritage, the Christian liturgy is incomprehensible. The second circle is the relationship to the religions of the world. The third circle is the cosmic character of the liturgy, which is more than the coming together of a circle of people: the liturgy is celebrated in the expanse of the cosmos, encompassing creation and history at the same time.

There was no neutral response to the announcement that the "enforcer"—Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—had been elected Benedict XVI, the next pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Conservatives saw it as the final triumph of their agenda. Liberals were aghast. Everyone else wondered what to expect. Award-winning religion journalist David Gibson explores the "war of ideas" that will be a defining feature of this new papacy. Gibson persuasively argues that by tackling the modern world head-on Benedict XVI is gambling that he can make traditional, orthodox Catholicism the savior of contemporary society. But if the elderly Benedict fails in his battle with modernity, will Catholicism wind up as a "smaller-but-purer church"—the new kind of fortress Catholicism that some conservatives want? Such fears haunt millions of American Catholics pressing for change. Gibson points to the early warning signs of a papacy hyperfocused on "right belief" and shows how the key decisions of this surprising papacy will profoundly impact the future of Catholicism.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's election as Pope Benedict XVI brought a world-class biblical theologian to the papacy. There is an intensely biblical quality to his pastoral teaching and he has demonstrated a keen concern for the authentic interpretation of sacred Scripture. Here a foremost interpreter of Catholic thought and life offers a probing look at Benedict's biblical theology and provides a clear and concise introduction to his life and work. Bestselling author and theologian Scott Hahn argues that the heart of Benedict's theology is salvation history and the Bible and shows how Benedict accepts historical criticism but recognizes its limits. The author also explains how Benedict reads the overall narrative of Scripture and how he puts it to work in theology, liturgy, and Christian discipleship.

In examing Ratzinger's earlier works and essays from the insights of his later publications, this book offers a complete re-reading (retractation) of Ratzinger's theological thought on revelation, Christology and ecclesiology. It also highlights Ratzinger's contribution to catholic theology, especially his theological input at Vatican II and beyond.

Joseph Ratzinger's report on the debates and struggles that made up each of the four sessions of Vatican II (1962-65), along with theological commentary.

From scholarly monographs to papal homilies, Joseph Ratzinger has insisted consistently over decades that Christianity is not a set of ideas to believe or, even less, moral laws to follow. Rather, Christianity is about a person and our encounter with that person. In The Word Made Love, Christopher Collins identifies in the structure of Ratzinger's thought the presentation of God as one who speaks and who ultimately speaks Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Humanity's posture before God is one of hearing and responding. For Ratzinger, then, dialogue is the basic structure of all reality, and the Christian Vision articulates the radical transformation that happens when we enter into this divine dialogue. Collins argues that this dialogical, communicative structure is a distinctive aspect of Ratzinger's thought and a unique contribution to the renewal of theology in our day.