Why not take a walk with Jesus this Lent? In his new, pocket-sized devotional booklet, Daily Reflections for Lent 2008: Walk With Jesus, Fr. Alfred McBride provides short, inspirational reflections for each day of Lent, based on the daily Scripture readings, with an eye to uniting us to the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.

As Fr. McBride notes in the introduction: “Jesus walks with us and helps us carry our crosses and make sense out of our pain. The secret is love. Reason has short wings. Love has an eagle’s wingspan. The lenten liturgy is our angel showing us how to undergo a spiritual conversion....”

If your parish has not yet explored the rewarding idea of “twinning” with another, possibly less-advantaged parish in another city, region or country, a new book, Bridges of Faith: Building a Relationship with a Sister Parish, can show you how to do it, step-by-step. “Twinning” parishes are given an opportunity to share the blessings they have received with a “twin” parish that might have more pressing needs and issues. As the United States Bishops’ Pastoral Letter, Called to Global Solidarity, instructed: “We are members of a universal Church that transcends national boundaries and calls us to live in solidarity and justice with the peoples of the world....[P]arishes need to be more Catholic and less parochial.” The letter continued, “[M]ore than 1,700 parishes in the United States have connected in special relationships with Catholic communities in Central and South America....These bridges of faith offer as much to U.S. parishes as their partners. We are evangelized and changed as we help other communities of faith.”

Bridges of Faith: Building a Relationship with a Sister Parish is an excellent tool for the manager of the twinning process. A companion book, Bridges of Faith: A Personal Journal, provides participants with an active, hands-on opportunity to record their dreams and experiences of the twinning process, as well as practical tips for better approaching and appreciating cultural differences.

Make Room for God: Clearing Out the Clutter

by Susan K. Rowland

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat review Susan K. Rowland's book, Make Room for God: Clearing Out the Clutter, in SpiritualityandPractice.com , an online review of resources for spiritual journeys. Read the review here.

Sr. Patricia Proctor is collecting stories from 9/14/07 until 1/15/08 for a new book to be released in May, 2008, entitled 101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer. Stories should provide answers to the following questions:

• How did you pray? What kind of prayer? The rosary, Scripture or just a heart-to-heart conversation with God?
• How committed were you to praying? Maybe you didn't pray all that much...that's okay...tell us that...but if you prayed a lot—spell it out. Help us to really get into how much heart and soul went into your prayer.
• What effect did the answer to your prayer have on your future relationship to God and prayer?

Submit your story directly to Sr. Patricia. All submissions are eligible to be in Sr. Patricia's Inspirational Story Contest. Winners in each category will receive a $50.00 cash prize and a free one-year subscription to Saint Anthony Messenger. Categories include: Prayer in a Work Situation; Prayer in a Family Crisis; Prayer in an Addictive Situation; Prayer in a Conversion Experience; Prayer in a Health Situation; General Category of Prayer Experience.

Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, a new book from best-selling author Richard Rohr, takes us deeply into the underlying themes of Scripture, from Old Testament to New. Rohr finds patterns that move us beyond a surface understanding of what God is telling us there about himself, his world and his Incarnation in Jesus Christ. In this insightful and often surprising book, Rohr traces the texts and subtexts of Scripture, finding fertile ground to explore such themes as forgiveness, grace, the fullness of God, intimacy, humility, and more.

Rohr speaks to both the head and the heart in the book, and we emerge at once more knowledgeable and more compassionate. As he states in chapter one, “This marvelous anthology of books and letters called the Bible is for the sake of astonishment! It’s for divine transformation (theosis), not for intellectual or ‘small-self’ coziness.” Take time with Richard Rohr to go deeper into Scripture. You won’t be the same after reading Things Hidden.