What do the feasts of the Bible reveal about our place in today’s tired world? In short, everything. From Genesis through Revelation, redemptive history is captured through feasts. Through them, God calls his people to commemorate mercy, delight in grace, and commune with him and with each other. In the process, he proves he doesn’t ration his rich, soul-satisfying love toward us but instead lets it overflow. Invitations to Abundance brings to life the festivities described in the Bible and illuminates how relevant they remain in a modern world defined by isolation and disillusionment. When your heart needs encouragement, these wondrous celebrations remind you why, where, and how you can find security, unity, and hope. Each chapter seats us at a unique feast from Scripture—from the well known to the less familiar—and considers how you can respond worshipfully as a partaker of these celebrations. Invitations to Abundance shows you how to reciprocate God’s initiating kindness and what it means to live knowing God’s table is spread before you.

A reissue of one of Henri Nouwen’s most powerful and most personal books: prayers that “reveal a fearful heart, a cry for mercy, rays of hope, the power of the Spirit, the needs of the world, and finally gratitude.” In his continuing search for a deeper understanding of the spiritual life, Henri Nouwen traveled twice to the Trappist monastery in the Genesee Valley of upstate New York. His first visit inspired The Genesee Diary, a moving account of his daily experiences and of contemporary monastic life. When he returned five years later, the familiar, comfortable daily rhythms of the contemplative life led him to concentrate his attention on meditation. He disciplined himself to write a prayer each day, an endeavor that became this extraordinary book. In these daily prayers, Father Nouwen confronts his own inner chaos as he tries to create a space in his heart where God can dwell. Powerful, searching, and painfully honest, Nouwen’s prayers, confessions, and petitions point to the final goal of all spiritual life: to live unceasingly in the presence of God. Like The Wounded Healer and The Return of the Prodigal Son, A Cry for Mercy is filled with freshness and insight. It speaks directly to the contemporary Christian’s need for a meaningful spirituality, a disciplined inner life, and a real sense of the divine presence in everyday life.

In every trial or tribulation, there is an opportunity that can bring us closer to God and to our goals when we allow God to take control. God, Take Over; I Am Finished is a cry for mercy and divine intervention when suffering seems unfair and you realize that no one else can help you. A dry valley and wilderness experience story, based on the author's tribulations and triumphs as she struggled, willingly and sometimes unwillingly, to submit to God's will. It reveals how she passed through the storm and survived and what she gained out of the pains she had to endure. Its principal message lies in the realization and fact that where human senses, strength, power, abilities, knowledge, and intelligence end, God's supremacy begins. By applying her experiences and the Word of God, Catherine Agada shows you how to discover divine strength in weakness; peace in chaos, and His love in suffering. She inspires and teaches you to love better, live happier, forgive faster, pray efficiently, and increase faith. God, Take Over; I Am Finished can restore hope and improve your relationships with God and man.

Lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting God’s goodness. Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God—but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust. Exploring how the Bible—through the psalms of lament and the book of Lamentations—gives voice to our pain, this book invites us to grieve, struggle, and tap into the rich reservoir of grace and mercy God offers in the darkest moments of our lives.

"Essays and talks on the theme of community by Henri Nouwen, the popular writer and spiritual teacher"--

Since its original release in the late 1980s, the Forgiveness book in the Take and Receive prayer-book series has been helping people re-imagine what it means to pray and see with new eyes God's presence and activity in their daily lives. Forgiveness: A Guide for Prayer have now been repackaged and reprinted by Loyola Press. Hailed as a classic in the Ignatian prayer tradition, this book by Jacqueline Syrup Bergan and Sister Marie Schwan provides a topic-based opportunity for people to grow deeper in their relationship with God through prayer. The topic of forgiveness directly correlates with a segment of the Spiritual Exercises, though no previous experience with the Exercises is needed to benefit from the book. Covering 36 days over a six-week period, each day offers scriptural passages with commentary, followed by a suggested approach to prayer for that day. Especially helpful is a section at the beginning of the book that explains the different types of solitary prayer that readers will be asked to engage in throughout the six weeks, such as meditation, contemplation, and centering prayer.

Given the widespread violence and terrorism of the twenty-first-century world, should Christians be seeking divine vengeance like that demonstrated in the retribution psalms of David? This book examines the theology of the curses in the Psalms as well as the ancient cultural context and then shows how mercy and vengeance should play out in our current world.