This March journey with Jesus as you walk through Lent with the following books:
For Adults
“Making Room for God: Decluttering and the Spiritual Life” by Mary Elizabeth Sperry
If cleanliness is next to godliness, do our closets have anything to say about the state of our souls?
Popular Catholic speaker and Bible expert Mary Elizabeth Sperry explores the relationship between our stuff and Catholic beliefs about grace, sin, repentance, prayer, and the common good. She boldly affirms the goodness of our stuff and of God’s abiding presence in the worldly goods all around us. She also reminds us of how sin can distort our relationships, including the ones we have with our possessions. Through spiritual disciplines—especially prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—we can protect this relationship so that we own our possessions but they don’t own us.
Making Room for God offers an enticing and entertaining approach to decluttering, discipleship, and the spiritual life that makes tidying up seem almost fun. Writing from an unabashedly Catholic perspective and with convincing practicality, Sperry looks at the role of material goods in the life of a follower of Jesus. Each chapter includes humorous and often self-deprecating details of the author’s own journey through decluttering to help us believe that we, too, can simplify. Alongside these adventures are Sperry’s rich spiritual insights gleaned from extensive knowledge of the Church’s tradition and helpful exercises for freeing ourselves from clutter and the temptation to sin it so often harbors.
“The Road to Spiritual Fitness: A Five-Step Plan for Men” by Danny Abramowicz
Thirty-five years ago, when I was at a low point in my life, the Lord called on me to go deeper in the Faith and to commit myself more fully to Him. My reply? “Yes, Lord! I desire renewal, but I can’t do it alone. I need your help.”
That day, I took my first halting steps down the long Road to Spiritual Fitness. Today, with these pages, I’m inviting you to join me on this rewarding path—and, along with the Lord, I’m going to give you the help you need to do so.
Much like physical fitness, attaining genuine spiritual fitness requires sustained commitment: you need to be in it for the long haul. I’ve often wanted to turn back, but the Lord assures me that although the path is long and may sometimes be rugged, the effort is well worth it.
In these pages, I share key details of my journey down the Road to Spiritual Fitness and provide you with some of the first-class tools that have sustained me along the way (and will sustain you, too).
Don’t fear . . . and don’t delay! These tools are for regular guys like you and me, down-to-earth men struggling against the many temptations that face us today. I can assure you that if you follow the steps outlined in these pages, you will, through the power of the Holy Spirit, become spiritually fit to overcome those temptations and face the many other trials of this life. So join me now on the Road to Spiritual Fitness and become the better man God is calling you to be!
For Families
“Catholic Kid 365: Lent 2022” by Heath Morber
With 2000 years under its belt, the Catholic faith has a depth and richness that is truly inexhaustible. From saints to sacraments, prayers to prophets, we can spend a lifetime and feel like we’ve only skimmed the surface. So how can we introduce our children to this treasury? Where do we start?
Catholic Kid 365 introduces a different aspect of the faith to children ages 8-12 every day. Using the liturgical year as its foundation, this book enables kids to encounter virtues, feast days, liturgical seasons, commandments, the mysteries of the rosary, Bible stories, even the seven deadly sins.
A scripture passage introduces the topic, then a brief entry unpacks its key elements. Children are then exhorted to act through the “Ora et Labora” section, in which an aspect of prayer is proposed as well as a concrete work to apply what has just been learned. A “Deep Dive” section provides one more angle on the topic such as a saintly quote, an interesting bit of etymology, or a slice of tradition.
At the heart of the book is the one who shines his light over all of creation: Jesus the Lord. Catholic Kid 365 is a great way to tap into the treasures of the faith!
For Children
“Awakening” by Claudia Cangilla McAdam
Age Range: 8 and up
Fear drives me forward as I rush down a rocky path in Jerusalem, trying to sort things out even as dusk makes it harder to hurry.
Am I really an American girl, cast back to the time of Jesus? Or a delusional Jewish teen, plagued with visions of a place called America, thousands of years in the future?
I don’t know anymore.
But I do know that something awful is about to happen to my Jesus: they’re going to arrest him tonight, and kill him.
No one believes me; they think I’m crazy. So it’s up to me to save him, hurrying down this dark path toward Gethsemane, toward the turning point of all history, the attempt to kill Jesus . . . toward the uncertainty of whether I can actually manage to change the future.
“The Thief Who Stole Heaven” by Raymond Arroyo
Once again, bestselling author and broadcaster, Raymond Arroyo provides readers with a cinematic, adventurous holiday story based on ancient legends filled with deeper themes. The Thief Who Stole Heaven introduces audiences to the largely hidden character of The Good Thief.
Bridging the gap between Christmas and Easter, this unique story brings to life a compelling redemption story that is destined to be treasured and revisited year after year.