A great preacher understands the power of God's Word and knows how to communicate that power in the most effective way possible. With The Sacred Conversation: The Art of Catholic Preaching and the New Evangelization priests will be renewed in their mission to preach the Gospel and equipped to do so with practical advice from Fr. Joseph Mele. Fr. Mele surveys the current norms in Catholic preaching and supplies helpful background on the Church' s most recent teaching on the subject. Paying special attention to the needs of the lay faithful, Fr. Mele then provides priests with the "nuts and bolts" of homiletics to ensure their preaching penetrates the hearts of those in the pews. An essential text for priests and seminarians. About the Author Fr. Joseph Mele is Vicar General in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, director of formation at St. Paul Seminary, and director of post-ordination formation. He graduated from St. Francis College and St. Francis Seminary, Loretto, Pennsylvania and was ordained on May 5, 1973. He received a master' s degree from Duquesne University and his doctorate in philosophy in 2008. Fr. Mele is the author of The Sacred Conversation: The Art of Catholic Preaching and the New Evangelization. Endorsements "As one responsible for forming our future priest-evangelizers for the Church in the United States, I would highly encourage seminarians to read Fr. Mele' s excellent work. How often we preachers get frustrated because of our human limitations inpreaching. Fr. Mele gives us excellent direction on how to keep our preaching fresh, lively, and meaningful. As a seminary rector, I will encourage my seminarians to read this excellent reflection on preaching." --Fr. James Wehner, Author, Rector-President of Notre Dame Seminar "The very core of the vocation of the priest is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This has been done well and not-so-well throughout the years. Fr. Mele lays out the history and the problems of Catholic preaching and then offers some very practical ways for the preacher to be God' s Instrument of the Good News. Read this book and become the Instrument God is calling you to be!" --Fr. Larry Richards, Author, radio host, and founder of The Reason for Our Hope Foundation "Preaching for the new evangelization! From his experience aspastor and seminary rector, and drawing upon many years of responsibility for the pre-ordination and post-ordination formation of priests, Fr. Mele truly understands the challenges and the urgency of effectively preaching the Word of God in the twenty-first century." --Fr. Thomas Acklin, Author, Rector and Professor of Theology, St. Vincent Seminar "This is more than a manual for good techniques. It' s a recovery of the very purpose of liturgical preaching: to guide us into the divine mysteries. Fr. Mele has produced a manifesto for a Church alive with grace." --Mike Aquilina, Author of numerous bestselling books, including The Fathers of the Church "It is not often that a book on homiletics can be recommended for a general audience as well as the priest and deacons meant to learn from it. But I am giving Fr. Joseph Mele' s The Sacred Conversation to friends that will never provide a homily in their lives. His steps for a ' reform of the reform' of Catholic liturgical practices are inspiring to those of us who are in the pews, not just the pulpits." --Robert P. Lockwood, Author, national columnist for Our Sunday Visitor

Cultivate the potential for deeper connection in every conversation. "To think of conversation as a sacred art challenges us to imagine all the conversations in which we participate, from the acquaintance we run into at Target to the dialogue for which we've spent weeks in preparation, as a potentially sacred conversation." --from the Introduction We often find ourselves distracted and overwhelmed by a constant stream of information and demand for connectivity. Now more than ever, we need to develop our capacity for greater presence in our daily lives and relationships. One of the best ways to do this is by improving the quality of our conversations. Dr. Diane M. Millis offers us inspirational stories, insights and spiritual practices from many faith traditions to increase our awareness of the deep, natural holiness waiting to be unlocked in our everyday encounters. This resource is a catalyst for anyone who would like to enrich seemingly ordinary conversations as well as for leaders in educational, ministry and corporate settings who want to: Increase their capacity to listen deeply Become more self-aware and attentive to others Learn how to move beyond conventional topics to exploring purpose, meaning and values in conversation.

Through the power of everyday words, find and deepen your connection with faith and self in the spiritual practice of writing. Whether you approach this book primarily as a reader or a writer, you can open a rich correspondence with yourself and learn what your own heart has to say. Karen Hering offers a path of self-exploration and a contemplative practice of writing that engages memory and imagination, story and poetry, images and the timeless wisdom of world religions and myth-ology. It will open your ear to your own truths while opening your heart to the world around you. Blending writing prompts, meditations, and stories, this book invites you to begin wherever you are and discover your own unique relation­ship with language, spirituality, and the world around you. The next chapter is yours to write, and Writing to Wake the Soul offers all you need to write it.

"A testimony to the power of prayer as a form of sacred conversation"--

God created humans with the desire to both know others and be known. People weren’t meant to go it alone on their spiritual journeys, and God has provided many fellow travelers to accompany us. Some of these fellow pilgrims—spiritual directors—are called to walk the spiritual path with others. The spiritual director, however, does not seek to tell their counterpart how to live out the faith. Instead, the spiritual director accompanies others on their spiritual journey and helps them discover how God may be working in their lives. The spiritual director listens, notices, encourages, asks questions, and prays for the person receiving spiritual direction. In Sacred Conversation, readers will learn what spiritual direction is and what it isn’t. They will explore spiritual practices that have helped people for hundreds of years develop a closer relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Marsha Crockett introduces readers to seven gifts of spiritual direction: awakening, hospitality, story, pilgrimage, silence, meditation, and belonging. Each chapter contains reflection questions for individuals to use in conversation with their spiritual director, as prompts for journaling, or for sharing with small groups.

2024 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Winner in "Religion / Spirituality of Western Thought" CategoryWinner of the Living Now Book Award, Church of the Wild reminds us that once upon a time, humans lived in an intimate relationship with nature. Whether disillusioned by the dominant church or unfulfilled by traditional expressions of faith, many of us long for a deeper spirituality. Victoria Loorz certainly did. Coping with an unraveling vocation, identity, and planet, Loorz turned to the wanderings of spiritual leaders and the sanctuary of the natural world, eventually cofounding the Wild Church Network and Seminary of the Wild. With an ecospiritual lens on biblical narratives and a fresh look at a community larger than our own species, Church of the Wild uncovers the wild roots of faith and helps us deepen our commitment to a suffering earth by falling in love with it--and calling it church. Through mystical encounters with wild deer, whispers from a scrubby oak tree, wordless conversation with a cougar, and more, Loorz helps us connect to a love that literally holds the world together--a love that calls us into communion with all creatures.

Engaging in interreligious, intercultural, and interdisciplinary conversations throughout the world, the Sisters of the Holy Cross remain steadfast to their call to be women of compassion, bearing witness to God’s desire for the transformation of human hearts and human relationships. The author, a member of the congregation, discusses “sacred conversations” as a way of achieving this goal.