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The Radical Christian Life: A Year with Saint Benedict

ISBN: 9780814633656 (Liturgical Press)
ISBN: 9780814633656 (John Garratt Publishing)
Author(s): Joan Chittister OSB, Publisher: Liturgical Press

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Very little in this world stays fresh and life-giving for 1,500 years. But when that happens we should ask ourselves why and what that had to do with us.

In this book, The Radical Christian Life: A Year with Saint Benedict, Joan Chittister encourages us to look at that question. In an introductory essay she examines how the insights and values of the sixth-century visionary Saint Benedict can illuminate today's search for a meaningful life. Then she leads us through the year, reflecting on twelve stories from Benedict's life, anecdotes that give us glimpses into his soul. More than that, she draws from these stories daily thoughts for the development of our own spiritual lives in this day and age.

Joan Chittister, OSB, is a Benedictine sister and international lecturer who has been a leading voice in spirituality for more than thirty years. She has authored over forty books, most recently Uncommon Gratitude and The Monastery of the Heart, part of a program she is helping to develop to enable lay groups to live Benedictine spirituality in a contemporary way.
 

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Songs of the Heart: Reflections on the Psalms

ISBN: 9781585958351 (23rd Publications); 9781921946110 (John Garratt)
Author(s): Joan Chittister OSB Publisher: 23rd Publications; John Garratt

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Who but Sr Joan Chittister could break open the psalms in such fresh and piercingly tender ways! Her 'soul points' and 'wisdom stories' are unforgettable, both contemporary and timeless.

Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun, author and speaker, is a bold, clear voice who shows the way to God in all aspects of life, and particularly through prayer. She is author of The Breath of The Soul and the best-selling book, God's Tender Mercy.

In this simple and profound book, Sr Joan offers poignant and challenging reflections on twenty-five psalms, each offering a spiritual oasis away from the stresses of a world that demands more than the human soul can sometimes bear.

She believes that the psalms, all pieces of poetry and music, have rich meaning for people today. Her hope is that readers will find new meaning here and then make songs of their own.
 

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The Monastery of the Heart: An Invitation to a Meaningful Life

ISBN: 9781933346342 (Hardback); 9780281066193 (Paperback)
Author(s): Joan Chittister Publisher: BlueBridge

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Every age has answered the questions and challenges of spiritual living in its own particular ways through its languages, arts, and lifestyles, giving seekers various concepts for guidance. In this original manifesto, bestselling author Joan Chittister delivers a roadmap based on the ancient Rule of Benedict that stands as a practical model upon which to build a satisfying life, despite the seemingly limitless (and at times meaningless) supply of options in the modern world. By giving spiritual seekers — individuals, couples, families, and small groups — a new opportunity to live a better life from the very center of their world without ever having to withdraw from it, Chittister's new approach redefines Benedictine living for modern day seekers while remaining firmly rooted in its monastic values.
 

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God's Tender Mercy

ISBN: 9781585957996
Author(s): Joan Chittister Publisher: Twenty-Third Publications

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Sister Joan Chittister is a bestselling author for a very good reason. She takes difficult and even mysterious concepts and 'breaks them open' for us. Here she tackles the virture of mercy and its connection to forgiveness. She challenges us to stop judging, accusing, and criticising those we label 'sinners' and to see ourselves in their number. She invites us to be realistic about our own actions before we 'throw that first stone' at another. This is spiritual reading at its very best.

Sr Joan taps into the contemporary global mood in which minorities are being condemned, harassed and persecuted. Instead of leading the cause of love and respect for all, many conservative Christian churches are failing to demonstrate love, understanding and compassion.

In her discussion of guilt and conscience, she commends both as healthy aspects of human responsibility. She also writes about the power of forgiveness to free us from the burden of anger: 'What I refuse to forgive continues to harm me. It consumes my heart, poisons my mind, drains my energies and cements my soul.' Forgiveness does not tolerate revenge and that is a lesson that is slowly becoming appreciated.
 

Listen to an interview Sr Joan gave about her new book

In the closing chapter of this profoundly prophetic book, Chittister calls us to the spiritual practices of weeping and healing. Of the first, she comments, 'Weeping is a very life-giving thing. It wizens the soul of the individual and it sounds alarms in society. The Book of Ecclesiastes may be nowhere more correct than here. There is definitely a time for weeping. If we do not weep on the personal level, we shall never understand other human beings.'

The spiritual practice of weeping softens our hearts and opens us to the suffering of others and it blesses us with a keen sense that we are all flawed creatures in the same world. Chittister concludes that we cannot heal ourselves by clinging to our wounds. And neither can we contribute to the repairing of the world without practicing forgiveness again and again.

REVIEWS:
"Joan's is a prophet's voice telling us that when love breaks through in even one person, the effect for the world is immense. Weep and heal, she writes, willing us to to find, through courageous self reflection and forgiveness, the fullness of our humanity and in that, the kind of love that will lift this world." ...Paula D'Arcy, author of Waking Up to This Day

"I'm sure Sister Joan is tired of being called a prophet. Identifying her message as prophetic leaves the rest of us off the hook as just ordinary souls with considerably limited vision and ambition. This plain-speaking little book on forgiveness will not give the reader that satisfaction, however. She challenged me to reconsider the brazenness of God's mercy, the necessity of my guilt, and the value of continuing to cry — until none of us has anything left to cry about." ...Alice Camille, co-author of The Forgiveness Book with Paul Boudreau
 

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Uncommon Gratitude

ISBN: (US Hardback) 9780814630228
Author(s): Joan Chittister & Rowan Williams Publisher: Liturgical Press

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Rowan Williams, writing in partnership with the bestselling American Benedictine author, Joan Chittister, explores the meaning of a word often spoken in Christian worship, but rarely considered. What are we doing when we say the word 'Alleluia'? In the Old Testament, it is a summons to praise – when it feels appropriate and when it doesn't. In the New Testament it becomes part of the language of praise, used at all times, even to this day in the funeral liturgies in the Eastern Orthodox church. Here then is a clue – it is a call to see the whole of life 'as one long Alleluia moment' as the authors put it, to discover the richness and manifestations of God even when they are hidden from us. Some things we naturally feel grateful for – life, health, comfort, pleasure – but how is it possible to say 'Alleluia' to the parts of life that weigh us down and drain our spirits dry? This book aims to give some very practical answers to how we cultivate 'an Alleluia view' of every present moment, to find the meaning in Dag Hammerskold's famous words: 'For all that has been, thanks – for all that shall be, yes'.
 

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For All That Has Been, Thanks: Growing a sense of Gratitude

ISBN: (UK Hardback) 9781848250178
(UK Paperback) 9781848250536
Author(s): Joan Chittister & Rowan Williams Publisher: Canterbury Press Norwich

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Rowan Williams, writing in partnership with the bestselling American Benedictine author, Joan Chittister, explores the meaning of a word often spoken in Christian worship, but rarely considered. What are we doing when we say the word 'Alleluia'? In the Old Testament, it is a summons to praise – when it feels appropriate and when it doesn't. In the New Testament it becomes part of the language of praise, used at all times, even to this day in the funeral liturgies in the Eastern Orthodox church. Here then is a clue – it is a call to see the whole of life 'as one long Alleluia moment' as the authors put it, to discover the richness and manifestations of God even when they are hidden from us. Some things we naturally feel grateful for – life, health, comfort, pleasure – but how is it possible to say 'Alleluia' to the parts of life that weigh us down and drain our spirits dry? This book aims to give some very practical answers to how we cultivate 'an Alleluia view' of every present moment, to find the meaning in Dag Hammerskold's famous words: 'For all that has been, thanks – for all that shall be, yes'.
 

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Uncommon Gratitude: Alleluia for All That Is

ISBN: (Audiobook) 1616360062
Author(s): Joan Chittister & Rowan Williams Publisher: Liturgical Press

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Rowan Williams, writing in partnership with the bestselling American Benedictine author, Joan Chittister, explores the meaning of a word often spoken in Christian worship, but rarely considered. What are we doing when we say the word 'Alleluia'? In the Old Testament, it is a summons to praise – when it feels appropriate and when it doesn't. In the New Testament it becomes part of the language of praise, used at all times, even to this day in the funeral liturgies in the Eastern Orthodox church. Here then is a clue – it is a call to see the whole of life 'as one long Alleluia moment' as the authors put it, to discover the richness and manifestations of God even when they are hidden from us. Some things we naturally feel grateful for – life, health, comfort, pleasure – but how is it possible to say 'Alleluia' to the parts of life that weigh us down and drain our spirits dry? This book aims to give some very practical answers to how we cultivate 'an Alleluia view' of every present moment, to find the meaning in Dag Hammerskold's famous words: 'For all that has been, thanks – for all that shall be, yes'.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is acclaimed by many as the world's leading theologian. His Canterbury and SCM books have sold 75,000 copies. Joan Chittister is a Benedictine nun and popular spiritual writer.