With joy and thanksgiving, the Congregation of Holy Cross will celebrate the final profession of vows of six men at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame.
Rev. Thomas J. O’Hara, C.S.C., provincial superior of the United States Province of Priests and Brothers, will preside at the Mass and receive the vows of Matthew E. Fase, C.S.C.; David J. Halm, C.S.C.; Timothy N. Mouton, C.S.C.; Stephen C. Pepper, C.S.C.; Daniel M. Ponisciak, C.S.C.; and Christopher M. Rehagen, C.S.C.
The six – the largest class of Holy Cross deacons in more than a decade – will take the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience according to the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross. For the past several years, they have been in a period of temporary vows, which they renewed annually. On Sept. 13, they will commit their lives and work to the communal life and ministry of Holy Cross.
They will be ordained to the Order of the Deacon at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014, in the Moreau Seminary Chapel by Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, Bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese.
Ave Maria Press is the publishing apostolate of the U.S. Province.
Read more about the six men on the U.S. Province website.
Our final book in the summer Book of the Week series is Rebuilt, which has stormed the world in just over one year of publication. With more than 70,000 copies sold, the book has been read, studied, and applied in many parishes. The authors, Fr. Michael White and Tom Corcoran, have become sought after speakers about parish renewal and evangelization. They teamed up a second time for a follow-up book titled Tools for Rebuilding and are working on another project together to be introduced at a later date.
We asked Tom Corcoran a few questions about his experiences since Rebuilt released in 2013.
1. When did you first have the idea to compile your experience at Church of the Nativity into a book?
In fall 2009, we had the idea of sharing our story and some of the strategies that were working in our church. We had learned a great deal from evangelical mega-churches and had seen some success in our parish from implementing their best practices. We were encouraged by these churches and wanted to encourage Catholic parishes and help them know there is a way forward. I began writing and over time Fr. Michael began rewriting and making it better.
2. Since its publication more than a year ago, Rebuilt has sold more than 70,000 copies. As you were writing the book, did you ever think it was going to be such a huge success?
We come at two different perspectives on this. Fr. Michael just wanted to get the book out and didn't set any expectations about what the book would accomplish. I prayed that it would sell 100,000 copies. That number was not based in anything as I tend to just get numbers in my head and shoot for them. I didn't know that was a big number, so over all I would say no we didn't quite expect the success of the book.
3. You receive tons of emails and phone calls with questions from other parishes. Based on those interactions, what would you say are the most common questions and challenges that Catholic parishes are struggling with today?
One of the biggest questions comes down to how to handle the inevitable push back from making changes in a parish. People want to know if there will be conflict (and the answer is almost always "yes") and how to handle the conflict well.
Another big question comes from parishioners and volunteers in a parish about how to influence their pastor to read the book and apply some of the principles. We tell people to build a solid relationship with the pastor and go humbly.
The third biggest question is about small groups and how to start or develop them.
4. You wrote Tools for Rebuilding, a follow-up to Rebuilt, soon after the publication of your first book. How would you explain the difference between those two books to new readers?
Rebuilt tells our story and the main strategies we tried that God blessed in the transformation of the parish. Tools for Rebuilding gives some practical advice and lessons we have learned working at the parish. Rebuilt is about vision, mission, and strategy for a local parish while Tools offers more tactical advice.
5. You and Fr. Michael worked together for a number of years in the parish, but what was the experience like writing a book together?
We are blessed in that we compliment each other very well when it comes to writing a book or communication of any kind. I love a blank page and get energized by it. Michael loves to edit and re-write, while that drains me. The books are an extension of our working relationship. It is really a great partnership and we are blessed by it.
Dr. Bob Schuchts, the author of Be Healed, experienced inner healing through a transformative encounter with Christ that led him to found an organization that has touched the hearts of thousands more. In conjunction with week five of this summer's book of the week series, we checked in with Schuchts and asked him a few questions about his life, his ministry, and the need for inner healing in all of our lives.
1. Tell us briefly about you and your ministry today.
I am a husband, father, and grandfather and a daily communicant. My life is focused primarily around Jesus, Church, family, and ministry. I also enjoy sports, friendships, and walking.
Our ministry (John Paul II Healing Center) supports the Church in the New Evangelization by offering healing and training experiences to priests, seminarians, religious, lay leaders, and families. We offer conferences and resources to help facilitate transformation in the hearts of the people who in turn bring about transformation within the heart of the Church.
2. How did your passion for healing ministry begin?
My own encounter with the Holy Spirit on a retreat weekend (mentioned in Chapter 1 of Be Healed) was the initial catalyst. From there I experienced more healing for me and my family. These experiences ignited a passion within me for the healing of every person and family. I carry in my heart Jesus’ burning desire for the healing of everyone.
3. What was it about St. John Paul II’s life and teachings that inspired you to name your organization after him?
As a Catholic marriage and family therapist and teacher, I was first drawn to St. John Paul II’s teaching on marriage and family, especially the Theology of the Body. From there, I wanted to read everything he wrote as I encountered Jesus’ truth and wisdom through his writings. I then began to develop a deep love for JPII as a man and admired the way he lived the message of the gospel with such strength and grace. St. John Paul II foresaw this new springtime of renewal in the Church and inspired many to help facilitate it. As an organization we all felt inspired to live this message in our personal life and ministry.
4. Why do we need healing?
We need healing because we are all broken from the effects of sin--our own and others. God created and redeemed us to become both holy and whole. We need the Holy Spirit to transform us in our individual lives, families, and communities. He is the source of our holiness and wholeness.
5. Even before the book was published, you led people through a Be Healed program called Healing the Whole Person. What kinds of impact have both the book and the program had on people’s lives?
I could tell story after story of people who were touched by the Holy Spirit in our conferences and through reading the book. People have been freed from habitual sins and have experienced healing in and areas of chronic woundedness. These healings have made a substantial difference in their lives. Whole families have been healed; one member of the family receives healing and then it has a ripple effect. Religious communities and seminaries have been deeply impacted as they go through these conferences, resulting in entirely new levels of openness, intimacy, and spiritual renewal.
I have heard many stories of healing from those who have read the book. Several people told me that they cried through the first few chapters and didn’t know why, but that Jesus healed them as they read. I have had others tell me that they experienced the most cleansing confession of their life, or that the book inspired them to go to confession for the first time in decades.
I could go on and on because it is such a joy to hear these encounters that people have with Jesus. I look at the conferences and the book as a way to invite people into an encounter with Jesus, and as everyone who encounters Him knows, our life can not be the same after that.
This week we sat down with bestselling author Bert Ghezzi to talk about his latest book, The Heart of Catholicism. Bert has written more than twenty books in his career and been the editor of many more. During this interview, he shares some insights into his story as a Catholic and a writer. He also gives us insight into how Catholic spiritual habits can be transformative for us today.
This interview is a part of this summer's Book of the Week series. Get more resources for The Heart of Catholicism
In this interview you will learn about:
How Bert Ghezzi was led by the Holy Spirit to leave a profession as a college professor to become an editor and later writer of Catholic books.
Bert's early years and involvement with the charismatic movement and how it influences his work today.
The spiritual habits that all Catholics can practice in their daily lives.
The importance of prayer, study, community, and service.
How to make prayer a daily habit: the importance of establishing a time and place to pray.
How to pray if you're just getting started.
How to commit yourself daily to the Lord.
The value of going to daily Mass.
The five steps to effective evangelization.
The great hope we can have for the Church's future.
Quotes and Highlights:
"Faith is caught more than taught."
On making a daily commitment to the Lord: "Once they start doing it, it will catch on."
On prayer: "Do you try to have breakfast? Do you try to have lunch? Do you try to have dinner? You can't just try, you have to do it."
On evangelization: "Prayer, affection and love, service, invitation, and conversation. Those are the activities that you do in a way that is non-threatening to people who are away or inactive from the Church."
This week's author spotlight is on bestselling author Robert J. Wicks. Wicks has been an Ave Maria Press author for nearly two decades with more than 200,000 copies sold. As a part of this summer's Book of the Week series, we asked him to share some insights into his latest work, No Problem: Turning the Next Corner in Your Spiritual Life.
1. You have been a very prolific writer over the years with more than forty published books. What inspired you to get started as a writer of spirituality books?
Psychology was wonderful but it didn't address the whole person or the Source of what I felt was truly good in life.
2. Your newest book, No Problem, offers readers an “inner workshop” for moving forward in their spiritual lives. Where did the idea for this new book come from?
Gabriel Marcel once wrote, "Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived." I think we often see the "spiritual life" as if it is a problem and see God as a manager or boss instead of the loving source of life that is calling us to be all we can be without embarrassing us that we are where we are. No Problem was written with these two points in mind.
(Also: since the young people no longer say "You're welcome" but instead "No problem" when we thank them, I thought surely this title will be easily remembered.)
3. Could you give us some insight into your daily spiritual practice? What kinds of things do you do on a daily basis that helps you turn the next corner in your spiritual life?
I try to practice an informal and formal "rule of prayer" as the Desert Fathers (Abbas) and Mothers (Ammas) of the fourth century desert did. It started years and years ago when I was sitting with Henri Nouwen in the little kitchen of his apartment right off Harvard Square. We were discussing a book I was writing at the time and reflecting a bit on my own spiritual life which was quite undisciplined. He suggested I start each day with reading the scripture readings and then take a bit of quiet time to let them form a nest in my heart for the day. Following doing this, I began to realize that if we mean well but don't provide a structure to meet God every day, then the Divine sense of life which makes it truly full and meaningful would be absent.
Following this I also added the following elements to my "rule of prayer":
Taking advantage of the crumbs of silence and solitude that were already in my life
Taking a breath and becoming more aware or mindful by being in the present with my eyes wide open to what I was experiencing rather than judging myself or others
Getting into a spirit of Intrigue about all that came to mind to find out what God was trying to teach me about myself and the Divine rather than getting caught in the 3 cul de sacs of arrogance (projecting the blame on others), ignorance (unduly picking on myself), or discouragement because I wanted immediate results
Formal prayer such as reading psalms or reciting the Rosary or saying the Lord's Prayer slowly also centers me
Have a circle of friends who inspire me by their attending to what is important in life
All the above and a bit more help move me away from Chronos (secular values such as success) toward Kairos (the true source of peace and joy in life).
4. Among many other concepts, you invite readers once again into the “desert,” a concept you described in and earlier book, Crossing the Desert. What interests you the most about the desert?
Crossing the Desert is a book I continually thank God for the privilege of writing. I wanted to be able to share with readers what I felt was the heart of the messages and life of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. I also wanted them to begin to value what I call a contemporary "desert apprenticeship" a bit more. By this, I mean to see themselves as role models for others--not simply in what they say but how they live and treat others. Furthermore, I wanted them to find formal and informal mentors in their own lives--even if it be ones encountered only in books.
I enjoy studying other religions. When I saw how Buddhists really were aware of the need for "alonetime"--time in silence and solitude or reflectively in oneself even when in a group--I returned to my own Christianity and asked, "Where is that in my own tradition?" In response I found it in the practice and lives of the Desert Fathers and Mothers and realized as both Merton and Nouwen did in their own lives and writings that these lessons had great import for us today.
I must confess, I really packed in a great deal of information in this book via quotes, personal stories, and ways to implement past wisdom into our daily routine.
5. As such a well-published author, what advice do you give to new writers just starting out in their careers?
Take a theme that is truly of great value, ask yourself: "Can I address it in a slightly different way that will help people?" and then find a title that will inspire you. Once you have the title, ask what ten or so points do I want to make given this purpose and those will be your chapter headings. For each chapter indicate what five or so points you wish to make and the illustrations and quotes that would make sense given them.
Finally put together a proposal that includes: brief description, tentative length, similar books and how yours is different, audience you are directing this at (professional? people in the pews?), an introduction, and a sample chapter or two. If there are things about you to indicate you already have an audience (platform) because of your role, a blog you have, etc., include that as well because publishers want to know they can sell a minimum amount of books so they can stay viable as a company. After you do this, have people review it so it can be as perfect as it can. Once this is done, then send it out to several publishers and see what happens.
In honor of Basil Moreau: Essential Writings, this week's Book of the Week, we asked Fr. Andrew Gawrych, one of the editors of the book, a few questions about his experience. Fr. Drew edited the book with Fr. Kevin Grove, with whom he has worked on two other books including The Cross, Our Only Hope and You Have Redeemed the World, both prayer books in the Holy Cross tradition. Fr. Drew and Fr. Kevin are both priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
1. What made you and Fr. Kevin decide to work on this project?
Over the years, Fr. Kevin and I had been privileged to receive and read several unpublished translations of Fr. Moreau's writings. What we found was a real, hidden treasure of works, and we realized that this treasure needed to be shared with others, so that they too could learn and grow from the writings of this truly remarkable and holy priest.
We in the Congregation of Holy Cross extremely value our opportunity to collaborate with lay men and women in serving the Church and proclaiming the gospel to the world. The more we can get the writings of our founder in their hands as well too, the more that collaboration can deepen.
2. With so much to choose from, how did you decide which selections to include in this collection of essential writings?
There was a wealth to choose from! We could have published several volumes of his writings. To condense it into one volume, we highlighted excerpts that are most illustrative of both Moreau's way of thinking and doing theology as well as his spirituality and the charism that he passed on to Holy Cross. We also favored documents that had not been previously published elsewhere, such as his Meditations and Spiritual Exercises.
3. As a Holy Cross priest, what was it like for you personally to delve into this material?
This was truly an amazing experience for both Kevin and myself to deepen our understanding of our founder through this immersion into our community's spirituality and charism. We learned a lot along the way, which in turn has re-shaped how we envision and carry out our ministry as Holy Cross priests today. It was also a tremendous experience working together with Kevin and the many other Holy Cross religious who were indispensable in the putting together of this work. We could not have done it without them.
4. This isn't the first project you have worked on with Fr. Kevin Grove. How did you two get connected and what would you say enables you to work so well together?
Fr. Kevin and I overlapped in the seminary, and it was there that our friendship as well as our first collaboration on a book began. Although we like to joke with each other as we work on our books that we are each other's "cross," we have a deep respect for one another and our respective gifts.
Working on these three books with Fr. Kevin has been a powerful experience of what it means to be united in mind and heart in a mission that shares a common vision while having different perspectives and gifts to bring to that mission. We work together well, but even more importantly, I think we both allow the Spirit to work through us, as best as we can. All of the projects we have worked on together would not have been nearly as good if we had worked alone. Hopefully, we have a few more projects left to do together!
5. If there was just one thing that you would want every Catholic to know about Blessed Basil Moreau, what would it be?
Hopefully, every Catholic would be able to draw on the truly deep faith that Blessed Basil Moreau had in the immeasurable power of God's love and the victory of that love for us on the Cross. Faith is what allowed Fr. Moreau to trust even in the darkest times of his life and the life of our community. God wants us to live with that invincible hope; God wants us to know that nothing can separate us from His love, and I believe the life and writings of Fr. Moreau can truly make that Truth come alive for us in our lives. I believe that in reading this collection of his writings all believers can come to live more in the hope that comes from the Cross of Christ.
We are very pleased to announce that multiple Ave Maria Press books were selected as Catholic Press Association award winners this weekend. Congratulations to all these wonderful authors!
Check out all the results at the Catholic Press Association website.
Pastoral Ministry Category (First Place)
Rebuilt by Fr. Michael White and Tom Corcoran
Spirituality (Soft Cover) (First Place)
Atchison Blue by Judith Valente
Best Trade/Seasonal Catalog Category (Second Place)
Ave Maria Press Fall 2013 Trade Catalog by John Carson, Chris Tobin, and Heather Glenn
Professional Book Category (Third Place)
Redeeming Administration by Ann Garrido
Gender Issues Category (Third Place)
Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious by Pat Gohn
Design and Production Category (Honorable Mention)
Rebuilt by Fr. Michael White and Tom Corcoran (Design by John Carson)
Other Awards for Ave Maria Press Authors
A number of Ave Maria Press authors received awards for their work in magazines, newspapers, blogs, and books with other publishers.
“Ora Pro Nobis” by Elizabeth Scalia: First Place, Best Regular Column: Spiritual Life
“CatholicMom.com” by Lisa Hendey, Sarah A. Reinhard: Third Place, Best Online Blog: Group or Association
U.S. Catholic, Chicago, IL, “The Subtle Theater” by Brian Doyle: First Place: Best Short Story
The Thorny Grace of It by Brian Doyle, Loyola Press, Chicago, IL: Third Place (Tied): Popular Presentation of Catholic Faith
Catholic Mom's Café by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle, Our Sunday Visitor Press, Huntington, IN: Third Place, Family Life
When Faith Feels Fragile by R. Scott Hurd, Pauline Books and Media, Boston, MA: Second Place, Popular Presentation of Catholic Faith
Congregation of Holy Cross Award Winners
Several priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross also won awards from the Catholic Press Association, including Fr. Matthew Kuczora, Fr. Daniel G. Groody, and Fr. Ronald Raab. Read about their awards at the United States Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross website.
When Pope Francis was elected in 2013, Msgr. Charles Murphy was working on the manuscript for a book on Saint Francis and the New Evangelization. It was providential. Murphy's book pointed to Saint Francis as the model for the modern New Evangelization. With a new pope taking the name Francis, it became clear he was on the right path. After the election, Murphy went back to work writing about the many important similarities between the saint and the pope and the worlds that encountered.
An Interview with Msgr. Charles Murphy
Msgr. Murphy took a few minutes to answer our questions about this book in honor of this summer's Book of the Week series. Here is the interview:
1. What inspired you to write Reclaiming Francis?
I was inspired to write this book in response to Pope Benedict's call for a new evangelization. St. Francis led the greatest religious revival in the history of the church. What can we learn from him for today?
2. What has the response been from readers of the book so far?
Everyone loves St. Francis but few know much about him. Some readers have commented "I love St. Francis but he is not for everyone". I disagree. He followed the Gospel with great literalness as we all must do.
3. If you had to pick one characteristic of St. Francis that could best help us carry out the new evangelization today, what would it be? Why?
Perfect joy. Pope Francis has reiterated this in his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.
4. Same question, but for Pope Francis. If you had to pick one characteristic of Pope Francis that could best help us carry out the new evangelization today, what would it be? Why?
Witness. When you encounter Pope Francis you are meeting someone who witnesses to Jesus.
5. A few weeks ago, you presented Pope Francis with a copy of your book. What was that experience like?
After the Wednesday public audience I presented my book to Pope Francis. He had already been driven around St. Peter's Square 45 minutes before the audience began greeting people. He shook every bishop's hand. At the end he greeted the sick, then married couples (in their wedding attire). Then, though he seemed tired, he gladly received my book and thanked me for it. We spoke in English.
6. How has your ministry changed as a result of writing this book?
I find myself challenging people more to practice evangelical simplicity of life, not buying into consumerism, and being more mindful of the poor in our midst.
Reclaiming Francis is this week's Book of the Week. Find out more at www.avemariapress.com/bookoftheweek/reclaimingfrancis/.
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