Jon Sweeney
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Thomas Merton : An Introduction To His Life, Teachings, And Practices
$14.99Add to cartAn introduction to the spiritual legacy of Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk and one of the most influential spiritual figures of the 20th century. His writing on contemplation, monastic life, mysticism, poetry, and social issues have influenced generations and his legacy of interfaith understanding and social justice endures to this day. Thomas Merton: An Introduction to His Life, Teachings, and Practices offers an exploration of Merton as a monk, as a writer, and as a human being. Author Jon M. Sweeney delves into Merton’s life and ideas with an appreciation for his work and a deep understanding of the spiritual depth that it contains.
Thomas Merton offers a unique view of the popular and sometimes controversial monk, braiding together his thoughts and practices with the reality of his life to create a full portrait of a pivotal figure. The Merton revealed in its pages is a source of inspiration and insight for those wrestling with questions of faith and spirituality.
At its core, the book is about the search for wholeness–a search Merton undertook himself throughout his lifetime and one readers can also embark on as they draw inspiration and guidance from his life.
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Phyllis Tickle : A Life
$29.95Add to cartAuthorized text, initiated with Phyllis Tickle’s active involvement – Covers the full range of her life and work By the time of her death in 2015, Phyllis Tickle was one of the most beloved and respected figures in American religious life, and her writing offers a unique combination of the down-to-earth, deep spirituality, and scholarship. In this comprehensive new volume, Jon Sweeney, official biographer of Tickle’s literary estate, explores every aspect of her life, a more than 50-year legacy of poetry; plays; literary, spiritual, and historical/theological work; and advocacy. Himself an author and editor in the religion field, Sweeney examines Tickle’s personal and professional roots, from her family, long marriage, and life on The Farm in Lucy, Tennessee, to early academic career and move into book publishing, where her role as founding editor of the Religion Department at Publishers Weekly influenced the growth of spiritual writing and interfaith understanding during the 1990s. Sweeney also looks at pivotal relationships with John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, and Brian McLaren, as well as her great influence on the increasing number who adopted fixed-hour prayer, the Episcopal Church as a whole, and the Emerging Church, for which she served as historian, forecaster, and champion. A look at her early, passionate advocacy for the LGBT community, lecture circuit controversies, and projects left unfinished completes the picture.
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Saint Francis Holy Fool Prayer Book
$16.99Add to cartIn The Holy Fool’s Prayer Book, St. Francis scholar and admirer Jon Sweeney encourages us to be fools for Christ and provides some resources by which to do it, setting out a plan whereby his readers can let their words and actions run counter to what society expects, because in so doing, they might be most faithfully living the Gospel.
Readers will encounter stories from the lives of Francis and Juniper, passages from the Gospels, the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, and from St. Paul, who wrote a lot in defense of foolishness in one of his most popular letters: First Corinthians. Sweeney includes all these teachings in the week’s worth of prayer and inspiration, “Seven Themes for Seven Days.”
Sweeney reminds us that, for people like Francis and Juniper – and even Christ himself – being a holy fool is often not just a way of discipleship but an act of protest. They wanted people to see the truth, and sometimes we wear such thick blinders that we need to be shocked in order to see through them. Sweeney offers these words in the hope that his readers will discover that being a fool can be a way of finding a new source of confidence, away from what the world offers and values, in priorities that are known primarily to others who share in the foolishness, and that they will find freedom as holy fools.
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Complete Francis Of Assis
$29.99Add to cartThere are many editions of the writings of St. Francis, and biographies about him, but here in one volume are both, plus the complete text of the late medieval work, The Little Flowers, which did more to establish the legend of the man than any other work. This “Paraclete Giants” edition includes the complete Road to Assisi, Paul Sabatier’s ground-breaking and foundational biography of the saint, first published in French in 1894 and re-issued and expanded in 2002; the complete Francis in His Own Words: The Essential Writings; and The Little Flowers, thus offering the best introduction to St. Francis yet available between two covers. Other Paraclete Giants include The Complete Julian of Norwich and The Complete Introduction to the Devout Life, both translated and introduced by Fr. John-Julian, OJN.
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Irelands Saint : The Essential Biography Of Saint Patrick
$16.99Add to cartExplore Patrick’s place in history, the spread of Christianity beyond the Roman Empire, how Patrick first came to Ireland, the influence of the earlier Palladius on Patrick’s work, political and social conditions at that time, and the spiritual battles with the Druids. This 21st century edition includes notes from other notable biographers, mystics, historians, and storytellers of Ireland and is an ideal place to begin any exploration of this much loved but little-known saint.
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Saint Clare Prayer Book
$17.99Add to cartFor all who love St. Francis and his spirit of passionate creativity and devotion to God, this prayer book is an invitation to experience the spiritual gifts of one of his closest companions. Clare was a deep, ready source of wisdom-a well to Francis’s river.
Discover the spirituality of St. Clare and how it complements that of St. Francis. Enter into a week of morning and evening prayer centered on themes from Clare’s life. Pray with Clare’s own words in a variety of occasions. And enjoy a special appendix that dramatizes what it might have been like to be there on that first night when Clare fled to the little chapel called Portiuncula to become a brother, and much more.
