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At the heart of Seeking God in Scripture is the conviction that only through deep prayer, reflection and meditation do people of faith come to know God and God's purposes for us. There is also an understanding that the Scriptures are themselves the sources of discipleship and prayer; and that only by sustained reflection on their teachings do we become aware of the Spirits leading us to complete truth, about God, about the Christ, about the Spirit, about ourselves within the community of believers.The book's origins are the Abbot's teaching to the novices at Tarrawarra Abbey in Victoria. He shares his insights, experiences and tradition; all based on and sustained by the ancient Rule of St Benedict, lived and practised by monks for centuries.But the book is not only for those in monastic vows but for all who long to live spiritual lives more richly, to learn the art and skills of meditation, especially within the discipline known as Lectio Divina. The author's purpose is to offer to the general Christian reader some basic ideas about Lectio Divina: how we may understand it better, how it may be practised in a variety of ways, how the Scripture itself informs both content and process. Above all, to remind us that Lectio Divina is more to do with listening than reading; and listening as our way of entering the very Presence of God.

This New Day is the fourth book of reflections by Patrick Jurd, with inspiration for each day of the year. The book invites us to open at a particular date, to be inspired, to refresh our faith in our God who makes all things new, each day, every day.The daily reflections begin with passages from Scripture, Franciscan or Lasallian writings, acknowledging that Scripture especially always has something new to say to us, offering new possibilities to grow in faith.The themes in This New Day affirm, challenge and transform. They cover a variety of topics - discipleship, education, prayer, formation, spirituality, integrity, life choices, building relationships - in ways that are thoughtful, caring gentle, inspiring, and concerned to remind readers that the Holy Spirit is constantly guiding us, every day.

But who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15)Jesus' question to Peter and the others is one that every disciple needs to consider, a question that is as old as the Christian tradition. And behind the question an even deeper and challenging one: Who is God?Michael Fallon argues that the response to both questions must be informed by how we read the New Testament. There, we find the portrait of a man who lived and died in our world, a human being like ourselves, someone recognised by his followers as free from the fear of God or other people - someone who taught us to respond to the divine, someone in whom they acknowledged the human expression (the incarnation) of God.The author gladly accepts that eh historical Jesus has been distorted in many ways through the centuries, with the consequence that often the Jesus presented by Christians has failed to connect with people's life-questions, as if he had lived in a world unlike our own, without doubt or struggle, without insecurity or uncertainty. A life so unlike our own as to make him inaccessible and unreal.He argues to the contrary. The Jesus portrayed in the New Testament lived in a real world. He was concerned with real people, naming and opposing anything that made it difficult for people to live. In so doing, he incurred opposition and rejection; hence his death. But he also won the confidence of the oppressed. They trusted him, and so learned to trust God, and to believe in themselves, in their world and their future. This was because Jesus revealed the powerful love of the redeemer God.This is the challenge to us, his followers. Our world has so much idolatry, false religion and even false Jesus. If we have the faith enough to present Jesus as the answer to our modern ills, we need to make sure that it is the real Jesus of Nazareth that we present.Such is the purpose of this book.

This is a book about vocation, written by a once-upon-a-time religious Sister. The years following the Second Vatican Council were critical ones in the development of the Australian Catholic Church when, encouraged by the proliferation of small Gospel Groups, lay women began feeling their way into new ministries. A Gentle Unfolding is the story of one of those women. In easy-to-read chapters, Judith Scully writes of the ministry possibilities that came and sometimes went and the challenges remaining if the Church is to appreciate the giftedness of women's spirituality.

God's Foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25).Reflecting on his own life and on the lives and teachings of a range of spiritual writers, Brian Gallagher discovers God's foolishness, 'wiser than human wisdom'. He gladly acknowledges the influence of these women and men on his personal spirituality, a spiritual heart.He calls them 'prophets, leaders, saints', and though human wisdom held little expectation for any of them, God's foolishness saw them with very different eyes.

In Dear Movies, Peter Malone draws on his long experience of film reviewing and of writing and leading workshops on films and values. He has often been asked, 'What's your favourite film?' Dear Movies is part of his answer.He as chosen to write letters to over 100 movies, each letter beginning a conversation with the film, opening up some of their themes, their ways of telling stories, their roles as fables and parables. He also shares what each movie means to him, inviting us - the readers - to discover our dear movies: how the movies we enjoy help us to explore values, offering insights into the spirituality of daily living and more demanding challenges.He remembers that Jesus told stories about the ordinary, familiar things of everyday life - stories that still teach us to look more deeply into ourselves and identify what is real, lasting, precious, encouraging, difficult and demanding.This is the kind of storytelling we look for in films. Dear Movies reminds us that while we have always looked for values and spirituality in music, in the visual arts, in theatre, in poetry and novels, movies too invite us to share experiences and to connect film with our understanding of God's purposes for our lives.Reading Peter's Dear Movies is more than a joy and revelation. It is a reminder of the power of pictures, and the important role movies still play in al our lives today - Forward by Jan Epstein.

Cardinal Martini approaches the figure of Stephen, the first martyr, by beginning with what is described in Chapters 6-8 of the Acts of the Apostles, 'an impressive document of a man's retrospective view in the face of death, of himself, the history of salvation, of what Christ has meant for him and the future to which he has been called.' Reflection on the figure of Stephen is important for the entire community of believers; in fact with Stephen 'the Church feels the seriousness of being both witness and servant: It understands that abandoning oneself to God does not save one from death, but it does allow one to pass through death, contemplating the glory of God; it recognises what it is that God saves us and does not save us from and what he prepares us for.'The richness of these meditations lies in this summary of things. It lies in the experience of a man who is approaching the revelation of the proximity of a transcendent and immanent God and at the same time arrives 'at the culmination of his mission as servant witness,' experiencing the mystery that he proclaims, contemplates and adores, in his very own body.

By taking the figure of Jeremiah, one that can be immediately associated with that of Jesus, Cardinal Martini highlights in this volume the prophetic life afflicted by dark and difficult times.As is typical of his style, however, Martini does not offer an exegetical commentary on the Book of Jeremiah, nor a continuous reading of the fifty chapters we find in the Bible. He simply chooses to explore some of the more surprising pages of this prophet that are particularly useful for pursuing the dynamic which is proper to the Spiritual Exercises: purifying the heart, freeing it from all forms of slavery in order to discover God's will. In other words, putting one's life in order, the order the Lord would like.The human being does not understand this order nor keep to it, precisely because we are not free. Nor is it easy to discover God's will in the context of a city that is as divided, idolatrous, lost and humiliated, as wounded as Jerusalem was in Jeremiah's day, and as our cities are today. What does it mean, then, to be prophetic voices today and how can we still achieve that?

This volume brings together in a single text meditations given by Cardinal Martini during two separate retreats based on the Second Letter to Timothy. We are shown the figure of Timothy, Paul's young and very faithful disciple who is carrying out his service as bishop in the Church at Ephesus in a community that is no longer as joyful and conquering as it was at the beginning. It is weary and caught up in a difficult and confused situation.Martini believes that this is the best choice for reflecting on what it means to evangelise today. He offers a continuous reading of one of the most important of Paul's Pastoral Letters. Cardinal Martini draws out fundamental teachings for today's Church and society from the Apostle's life experience and message: the Christian horizon of meaning, the need to preserve the 'deposit of faith', to proclaim the gospel of the primacy of grace over law, of the essential over the relative, of the mystery of the cross and the Eucharist, the relationship between the Pastoral Letters and 'pastoral work' in our times.

Abraham, notes Cardinal Martini in this book dedicated to the figure of the great patriarch, is the father of faith on the move, a symbol of all those who seek God. He is our father 'not only in life as it is lived, in faith considered objectively' but also 'for his radical attitude of faith' which makes him 'the exemplary model of the human being in an attitude of acceptance and availability.'His setting out on the journey reminds us, of course, of the need to free ourselves from the ambiguity of a certain 'traditional belief'. In fact, Abraham would learn the heard way how unpredictable God is in his incredible irruption into history. He would learn this by going through fear and temptation, discovering how God's ways are capable of surprising and disturbing us. In the name of the promise he had received from God, Abraham would be capable of making great and free choices, moved by a social justice bearing the mark of availability, magnanimity and gift. his journey, like that of every human being, is not a straight one, but it does lead to the discovery of the true God.

The marginalisation of Christianity in Western societies is a growing crisis for contemporary believers. One positive response is to deepen our own faith journeys through adult life and faith formation that should always be a priority in evangelisation.Opening Doors: A Seeker's Reflections on the Rooms of Christian Living takes seriously the invitation of the Lord for us to open the door to him, and with confidence consider how our faith may be enhanced and energised through the wisdoms of contemporary theology and spirituality. The book is written for those whom Charles Taylor describes as 'seekers' - Christians who are searching to reconcile their faith with emerging insights from modern science, cosmology and consciousness.We are invited to open eleven doors and enter eleven rooms of Christian living. Each room offers a flavour of each of the topics in the Christian Story followed by focused questions for individual reflection and shared conversations in self-directed groups. The topics of the rooms include everyday spirituality, the universe story, humans and religion, the mystery of God, meeting Jesus, the church, ministry, women and faith communities, a Christian ethical way of life, Christian spiritualities and faith communities in a global world.

The Pope is first of all the pastor of the Church and sign of its unity. He can be a theologian professionally, or he cannot be, as it has happened for the majority of popes. ln both cases, in his teaching as well as in the choices he makes or in the orientations he offers, his teaching and his style are imbued with a theological perspective and ask theologians to confront with them.The collection "Pope Francis' Theology", calling upon the expertise of eleven theologians from various Countries of the world, aims at showing us what theology is at the base of such incisive words and such simple gestures with which Pope Francis has made us so familiar.They are eleven easy volumes, written in a captivating way yet able to show in a rigorous way the deep roots of his thought and action.Journeying in Love aims to answer the many questions that concern the Christian lifestyle that is proposed and emerges from the behaviour and theological reflection of the Pope. His way of inhabiting the Church and the world that transpires from his gestures and words are an expression of a style of life and not a mere doctrinal teaching. In fact, Fumagalli's analysis shows the strong bond between Pope Francis and the Gospel and its centrality within a message of which he is a bearer. The value of the moral theology of his pontificate transpires from the most relevant texts of his magisterium. The study proposed is dedicated, in the first part, to its ethical teaching of a fundamental nature and, in the second part, to that which more specifically concerns the world of affectivity. The intent is to highlight the lymph that animates the teaching of the Pope. For this reason the reflections focus on Christian love, the vital essence of moral theology, and on its conjugal declension, as a fruitful nucleus of family morality.

The Pope is first of all the pastor of the Church and sign of its unity. He can be a theologian professionally, or he cannot be, as it has happened for the majority of popes. ln both cases, in his teaching as well as in the choices he makes or in the orientations he offers, his teaching and his style are imbued with a theological perspective and ask theologians to confront with them.The collection "Pope Francis' Theology", calling upon the expertise of eleven theologians from various Countries of the world, aims at showing us what theology is at the base of such incisive words and such simple gestures with which Pope Francis has made us so familiar.They are eleven easy volumes, written in a captivating way yet able to show in a rigorous way the deep roots of his thought and action.

Three studies from a celebrated Australian biblical scholar contribute to the debate about how we understand priestly ministry within the Catholic tradition.Frank Maloney argues that any assessment regarding the ongoing viability of an institution must include study of its origins which is why central to the book is the chapter that explores the New Testament origins of priesthood. The chapter questions and challenges some traditional teaching connecting priesthood with Last Supper narratives or the so-called priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17.Yet, he also acknowledges the centrality of Eucharist in the ancient Christian communities as disciples gathered to remember the teachings of Jesus and to celebrate his memory in the breaking of bread. The importance of Eucharist led to a growing sense of the dignity and significance of those chosen to preside, resulting in a natural development of the church's understanding of that special ministry within the community.So the first and the third chapters serve as a 'frame' around these reflections. Chapter One 'Encountering Jesus: Exploring our Biblical Heritage' argues that all biblical reflection upon the Christian life - including priesthood and leadership in the church - must start with the person and message of Jesus of Nazareth; while Chapter Three develops this challenge to contemporary Catholicism, asking where we find access to this Jesus Christ whose memory we recall at the breaking of the bread and the pouring out of the cup.Although the focus and the centre-piece of this collection is the Catholic priesthood, the message at the heart of Broken for You is directed to everyone in the church, asserting - against the scourge of clericalism - that there is no class distinction among the people of God who look to Jesus Christ as their guide, light and hope.

Communal Wisdom invites and promotes a Spirit-led Church and builds on the author's conviction that the Spirit of God is ever-present and all-pervading. God's Spirit dwells in all people and all creation - and in the communion of all people and all creation. (Romans 5:5) Many of the movements in our times stem from this truth: the movement towards justice and peace for oppressed peoples, the feminist movement seeking full equality of women and men, and the ecological movement calling for a renewed relationship with the earth.Discernment is the process of listening to this Spirit of God, noticing in one's inner experience the signs of the Spirit's invitation and the signs of the work of any spirits not-of-God, luring us away from God. Traditionally, the term discernment means to separate or sift these signs.Communal Wisdom treats discernment on an individual level, listening to the signs of the spirits in human experience, and then applies this to the parallel work of the spirits in community. The wisdom of a group is not only in the shared contribution of all members but in the group as a whole listening to movements of the spirits in themselves and amongst themselves. Brian Gallagher builds on long experience in group facilitation, offering concise explanations of the ways of God's Spirit and spirits not-of-God in group experience and a step-by-step process for group decision making. Theologian Denis Edwards' Foreword notes that Pope Francis is calling for a more synodal church. This involves participation at all levels of the church, including parish groups, diocesan synods and plenary councils. In these situations, community discernment, communal wisdom, has a fundamental role to play. And Peter Bentley of WellSpring Centre in Melbourne notes that the volume 'is packed with practical insights into discernment processes that promote a contemplative and spiritual approach to decision making within communal contexts'.