Don’t Forget to Enter to Win Pope Francis and Feast Books!
Thanks to Image Books and Franciscan Media for their generous sponsorship of this giveaway.
This week’s giveaway:
2 copies – The Joy of the Gospel: Evangelii Gaudium
By Pope Francis (Image Books, 2014)
About the book:
The perfect gift! A specially priced, beautifully designed hardcover edition of The Joy of the Gospel with a foreword by Robert Barron and an afterword by James Martin, SJ.
This special edition of Pope Francis’s popular message of hope explores themes that are important for believers in the 21st century. Examining the many obstacles to faith and what can be done to overcome those hurdles, he emphasizes the importance of service to God and all his creation. Advocating for “the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned,” the Holy Father shows us how to respond to poverty and current economic challenges that affect us locally and globally. Ultimately, Pope Francis demonstrates how to develop a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ, “to recognize the traces of God’s Spirit in events great and small.”
2 copies – The Feasts: How the Church Year Forms Us as Catholics
By Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina (Image Books, 2014)
About the book:
Every day is a holiday in the Catholic Church. In their latest collaboration, Cardinal Wuerl and Mike Aquilina examine the history and traditions behind both favorite and forgotten holidays, from Christmas to Easter, from the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity to the Feast of the Holy Angels.
Catholic faith is festive, and the Catholic faithful count their days by celebrating the mysteries of Jesus’ life. There is a message to be found in the passing of days, weeks, and seasons. Through the feasts, ordinary Christians learn the life of Christ, share it, and come to imitate it.
This book continues the work the authors began in their books The Mass and The Church, exploring the meaning and purpose of the most basic and beloved aspects of Catholic life. Each chapter uncovers the biblical origins and development of one of the great feasts or fasts — Advent, Epiphany, the Holy Angels, all the Marian feasts, and even this very day. The calendar can be a catechism for Catholics who know how to live it.
“The feasts form us,” write the authors, “They help to make us and remake us according to the pattern of the life of Jesus Christ. We number our days as we walk in his footsteps, from his birth to his baptism, from his passion to his resurrection, from his Ascension to his sending of the Spirit to make us saints. We do this faithfully every year, and it defines us as who we are.”
3 copies – Pope Francis and Our Call to Joy
By Diane M. Houdek (Franciscan Media, 2014)
About the book:
Pope Francis has set a new tone for the interaction between the church and the world, and that tone is one of joy, hope, and new life. Like his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, he locates that joy in a personal encounter with Christ in the Gospels. By reflecting on his words and following his example, Christians can transform their own lives and relationships.
Pope Francis and Our Call to Joy looks to discover the real Jesus in the Gospels, to understand the Church in the real world, to locate the special place of the poor and vulnerable and to find peace and the common good as part of our call in life.
Reflections, discussion questions and suggestions for action take Pope Francis’s accessible words of encouragement and apply them to the everyday life of ordinary Christians.
