Parish Ministry
Love of God and neighbor: Jesus says this is the greatest commandment . . . which means that it's also your personal mission -- a mission these pages will help you to fulfill.
Praying through just one of its 60 short, singularly potent chapters each day will usher you through a two-month-long spiritual retreat. It's guaranteed to increase your knowledge of God, to intensify your love for Him, and to cultivate within you the steadfast virtues of a missionary disciple, able and eager to lead others to that same knowledge and love.
Are there greater gifts you can receive? And then pass on to your neighbors?
Masterfully combining Bible passages and Church teachings with practical directions, Fr. John Bartunek, author of the best-selling book The Better Part, here serves as your personal 60-day retreat master. He shows you how to overcome the inevitable spiritual obstacles you'll face, how to nurture your holy desires so that they become stronger and more vibrant, and how to concentrate every element of your soul and personality in service of loving God and neighbor.
Among other things, he also shows you:
What it truly means to be in Christ, and how that sublime state of soul can be yours
How to become conscious of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in every moment
What you must do now to let God bring full spiritual maturity to your mind, your emotions, and your will
How to properly manage the roller coaster of everyday life
How to regulate your spiritual growth prudently, so as to avoid missteps and burnout even as you work tirelessly to bring others to Christ
And much more to equip you to love God and your neighbor as an inspired and enthusiastic missionary disciple!
In her first book, Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus, Sherry Weddell, cofounder of the Catherine of Siena Institute, captured the attention of Catholics across the globe as she uncovered the life-changing power that accompanies the conscious decision to follow Jesus as his disciple.
Now, in the groundbreaking Becoming a Parish of Intentional Disciples, she has gathered together experienced leaders and collaborators whose exceptional field-tested wisdom and enthusiasm for transforming Catholic parishes into centers of discipleship and apostolic outreach is both inspiring and practical.
The authors consider:
As Sherry asks in her own chapter, "Are we willing to answer the call and pay the price necessary to become a new generation of saints through which God can do extraordinary things in our time?"
Every human society possesses a moral and spiritual imaginative vision, a set of assumptions and ways of looking at things according to which life proceeds. This essay is an attempt to contribute effective strategies to engage our own time and culture once more with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and – for a weary world – to awaken the Catholic imaginative vision. (Toda sociedad humana posee una visión imaginativa moral y espiritual, un conjunto de supuestos y formas de ver las cosas de acuerdo con las cuales se desarrolla la vida. Este ensayo es el resultado de un esfuerzo por contribuir con estrategias efectivas para comprometer una vez más a la cultura de nuestro tiempo con el Evangelio de Jesucristo y – en un mundo abatido – despertar la visión imaginativa católica.)
2025 Catholic Media Association Second Place Award, Liturgy or Worship
2025 Catholic Media Association Honorable Mention, Church Professional
In eucharistic adoration, the faithful spend time in the presence of Christ, who in turn is present to them. In communion services, the faithful unable to participate in the sacrifice of the Mass can still receive its fruit. The Catholic Church wraps both ceremonies inside a larger book called Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery outside Mass. A revised English translation invites a renewed acquaintance with these forms of prayer. Where did they come from? What is their purpose? How are they best celebrated? In Eucharistic Reservation, Paul Turner explains the new translation of these guidelines and refreshes all those who find delight in the eucharistic presence of Christ even when Mass is over.
Every human society possesses a moral and spiritual imaginative vision, a set of assumptions and ways of looking at things according to which life proceeds. This essay is an attempt to contribute effective strategies to engage our own time and culture once more with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and – for a weary world – to awaken the Catholic imaginative vision.
"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples." -- John 15:8
How does God's grace change our individual lives, families, neighborhoods, parish communities, and cities? In Fruitful Discipleship: Living the Mission of Jesus in the Church and the World, Sherry A. Weddell describes how the Holy Spirit is at work in all the baptized--calling and gifting us to "say yes" in ways that will be the longed-for answer to someone else's prayers and fuel the mission of the whole Church.
God has chosen to be present in this world through the faith and obedience of missionary disciples who witness to Jesus Christ and bear abundant fruit. In Fruitful Discipleship, Sherry
In 1993, Sherry A. Weddell created the first charism-discernment process for Catholics. She co-founded, with Father Michael Sweeney, O.P., the Catherine of Siena Institute (CSI) in 1997 to train twenty-first-century Catholic leaders. Her previous book, Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus (2012), has been influential in shaping Catholic leaders for successful evangelization and discipleship in the twenty-first century.
What if the Church radically shifted the focus of her mission to making disciples one person at a time?
Everett Fritz outlines a framework for one-to-one outreach that helps us develop as mentors in faith, furthering the Kingdom of God as Jesus commanded when he told us to go and make disciples. When we learn how to focus on a ministry of one, we will multiply our efforts to create a movement that meets the spiritual needs of many.
Whether you're someone who's actively involved in professional or volunteer ministry or an everyday Catholic who wants to share your faith, One Disciple at a Time reveals how you can live out your calling to spread the Gospel by focusing on forming disciples one at a time.
Drawing on insights gleaned from his personal spiritual journey and work in Catholic parish ministry, Fritz--founder and executive director of Andrew Ministries--shares practical steps for transforming our approach to living our faith and sharing it with others. In this book, you will learn:
Five years after she graduated from high school, teacher, youth minister, and sought-after speaker Katie Prejean McGrady returned to her alma mater in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to teach freshman theology. In the early years of her career, McGrady’s hormonal, sometimes grumpy, and often confused students taught her what it means to evangelize. Her frequently witty and always candid stories—and the ten lessons she offers—will inspire anyone who works with youth in the Church today.
As she began her first year of teaching, McGrady was eager to impart the Catholic doctrine she loves to her class in room 24 at St. Louis Catholic high school, but she was quickly rattled by the magnitude of the task, especially when she was challenged by a teen who said he didn’t believe. In ten brief and compelling chapters, McGrady shares humorous and hopeful interactions she’s had with her students that helped her learn that teaching them about Jesus and his Church is not as important as knowing them, loving them, and inviting them to know and love Jesus as a personal friend and savior.
Her frequent mistakes and occasional successes with her students taught McGrady how to evangelize young people by building relationships in joyful, humble, and prayerful ways. Likewise, McGrady determined that the power of inviting conversation, welcoming questions, and witnessing to faith through personal stories engages students and helps them fall in love with Jesus.
2019 Best Book Awards, Finalist: Religion--Christianity
2020 Catholic Press Association, 3rd Place: Future Church
2020 International Book Awards, Winner: Religion--Christianity
Julianne Stanz wants to help you and your parish community make sure the answer to this question is a resounding, "Yes!" Serving parishes in her diocese as the Director of New Evangelization, Stanz has recognized a practical and motivational way to restructure a parish's mission - start with Jesus.
Start with Jesus is a book about people, process, and culture, rather than an emphasis on quick fixes or unsustainable efforts. She aims to help regular people be transformed from the inside out by growing in relationship with Jesus Christ through individual and group experiences, thus transforming our parish communities.
Start with Jesus will be an essential resource for decision-makers and thought-leaders in parishes, but its true strength lies in its value for the countless Catholics longing for peace, healing, and hope in the context of our parish communities. It will be an inspiration to Catholics who come to Mass each week, parents trying to instill the faith in their children, leaders searching for an effective and sustainable approach to parish renewal, and to all who are curious about developing a relationship with Jesus.
The fourth edition of the bestselling booklet Together at Baptism includes texts from the new English translation of The Order of Baptism of Children, which must be used by parishes in the United States beginning on April 12, 2020, but may be used as early as February 2, 2020. Author Robert M. Hamma helps parents understand the sacrament with brief commentaries that provide insight not only on the celebration of Baptism but also on handing on the Catholic faith to their children in the midst of everyday life.
Together at Baptism offers parish staff a practical, concise tool to help prepare parents and godparents for the Baptism of a child. It offers both spiritual support and important information about the sacrament. The booklet contains twenty-six brief commentaries by Robert M. Hamma on the essential elements and liturgical texts of TheOrder of Baptism of Children. Parents will learn about their role as first witnesses to the faith, the essential support of godparents, the distinctively Catholic understanding of the sacrament, and the joys and challenges of lifelong commitment to the faith.
The familiar and popular features of earlier editions of Together at Baptism remain in place, but have been updated to meet the realities of today's Catholic families, including shifting family structures, the influences of digital distractions on family life, and the need for basic education about the faith. The words of the baptismal celebration and the three-fold immersion in or pouring on of holy water are the same, but many of the greetings, prayers, and instructions of the liturgy have subtle, important changes shifting the tone to the more formal language of the newest edition of the Roman Missal. These changes affect such elements as:
The booklet also contains all the Lectionary readings assigned for the celebration of Baptism, the alternate prayer texts provided by The Order of Baptism of Children, and a selection sheet for parents invited to choose readings, prayers, and other texts for the liturgy.
