Reflections on the Sunday Gospel
How to More Fully Live Out Your Relationship with God
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Pope Francis illuminates a new, vibrant way of experiencing the Gospel through moving, intimate, and deeply meditative reflections that encourage us to live fully with meaning, purpose, and strength.
We live in an unprecedented time that has threatened to upend our daily rhythms, our work, our homes, even our faith. More than ever, we need books like Reflections on the Sunday Gospel to stir us to hope, to comfort, to peace. We need to remember what we live for and how good God is.
These reflections—published in English for the first time, drawn both from homilies given by Pope Francis and readings from the Fathers of the Church, including Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome, and Saint Ambrose—do more than offer a way to enter into the liturgical year with weekly readings to enrich your devotional time. They offer Christ, and the power of His resurrection. They offer His words of assurance: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33, ESV).
Ultimately, as Pope Francis guides us through these timeless words, we will glean how even the giants of the faith needed God as much as we do, and how we can draw near to a good and faithful God no matter where we are or what season we’re in.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This inspiring compendium of sermons by Francis (Against War) reflects on how to follow the word of God. He emphasizes the "value and significance of the Holy Mass" for teaching how to develop "our relationship with God ever more fully," and to that end offers homilies for each Sunday and holiday of the liturgical calendar. Each reflection includes Francis's meditation on a scriptural passage and a brief excerpt from an early church father, including the well-known Saints Augustine and Ambrose as well as such lesser-known figures as St. Irenaeus (women saints are unfortunately underrepresented). Francis weaves personal anecdotes into his exegesis, recounting in his Easter Sunday sermon a conversation he had with a severely ill young man who struggled to reconcile his suffering with his faith; Francis asserts that Christians must not let their faith waver even in the face of hardship. His contemplations for Ordinary Time are also stirring, as when he unpacks a verse from Matthew and contends that though many people are inclined to turn inward when life gets rough, readers must instead seek the counsel of Jesus. Catholic readers will enjoy the straightforward style and uplifting musings. These heartening sermons deliver.
