Charismatic / Holy Spirit

Drawing on more than thirty years of ministry experience, Father Dave Pivonka, T.O.R., walks readers through a new way of relating to the Holy Spirit by sharing personal encounters, including an experience that changed his life. What he learned along the way will lead readers to have their own unique encounter and discover the joy of living a life moved by the Spirit.

Catholics know God as their father and Jesus as their friend, yet most bypass the third person of the Holy Trinity in their spiritual lives. In this essential guide for those who want to recognize and receive the Holy Spirit, Franciscan priest Dave Pivonka takes readers on his journey as a twenty-something Catholic encountering the Holy Spirit and Charismatic movement for the first time.

Breath of God: Living a Life Led by the Holy Spirit dives into the scriptures that convinced Pivonka to pursue a life in the Spirit and shows readers how God’s Spirit is present and active in everyday life. Pivonka’s experience and compelling stories of faith from the lives of those to whom he ministers demonstrate how receiving the Holy Spirit allows the love between the Father and the Son, which animated Jesus’ life on earth, to pour into the hearts of God’s people.

In the Bible, the Holy Spirit staggers us with its unexpectedness. The Holy Spirit is not just about speaking in tongues, spiritual gifts or "fruits"--but also about our deepest breath and our highest human aspirations. Popular teacher Jack Levison brings a scholar's knowledge of this complicated biblical topic to a wide audience that crosses all denominational boundaries. His new book aims to do nothing less than clarify 2,000 years of confusion on the topic of who the Holy Spirit is, and why it matters. Provocative and life-changing, Fresh Air combines moving personal anecdotes, rich biblical studies, and practical strategies for experiencing the daily presence of the Holy Spirit. In brief chapters, the book finds the presence of the Holy Spirit where we least expect it--in human breathing, in social transformation, in community, in hostile situations, and in serious learning. Fresh Air will unsettle and invigorate readers poised for a fresh experience of an ancient, confusing topic.

Who is the Holy Spirit? What role does the Spirit play in the life of the Church and of the individual Christian? Beginning with the belief in the Holy Spirit as a Person of God, and not just a "force," this book reveals the Catholic understanding of the presence and influence of the Spirit God in every aspect of the Christian life. The book focuses on the unique aspects and development of Catholic devotion to the Holy Spirit from antiquity to the present, culminating in a look at Catholic theology of the Holy Spirit today and the new and exciting ways the Spirit is working among Catholics and all Christians in the 20th and 21st centuries.

How do you let the Spirit work in you to bear good fruit when you're dealing with the never-ending drama of social media, a frustrating coworker, or the aggravating next-door neighbor? How do you stop letting stress and anger take control of your life?

Using the nine fruits of the Spirit as a guide, bestselling author Gary Zimak will help you free yourself from anger and stress to find peace and to live the life God has planned for you.

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" Galatians 5:22-23.

In Let Go of Anger and Stress!, Catholic author and self-proclaimed expert worrier Gary Zimak reminds us that the Holy Spirit is gifted to us by God in Baptism and strengthened in Confirmation. Because of that precious gift, we have everything we need to produce Christ-like fruit in our lives. And it's by those fruits that we will be judged at the end of our lives. "No good fruit = no heaven," Zimak writes.

Zimak shares his own story of overcoming destructive habits that caused anger, drama, and stress by allowing the Holy Spirit to work in his life. Throughout this practical and engaging book, you will discover

At the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, Blessed Pope John XXIII offered a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to "Renew your wonders in our time, as though for a new Pentecost." The rediscovery of the charismatic gifts by ordinary Catholics throughout the world was an answer to that prayer. Damian Stayne, who is known internationally for his healing ministry, shows readers how the spiritual gifts of prophecy, healing, and deliverance were used by Jesus, the early Church, and the saints-and why we need them operating in the Church today. He provides not only amazing stories of God's presence and work in our time but also a host of practical instructions on how to grow in these gifts. This book is both inspiring and a challenge to Catholics to be open to the gifts of the Spirit in order to bring others to Christ.

Many of us fail to recognize that obtaining the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to getting to heaven. We often block their reception through our own faults. We fail to see how they are passed on or strengthened in the sacraments. And, sadly, we forget to petition God in prayer to bestow these gifts upon us.

In these pages, Dr. Kevin Vost best-selling author of The One-Minute Aquinas provides us with a substantive yet readable introduction to the seven gifts and how we can humbly submit our wills to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit.

As Dr. Vost explains, these God-given gifts help us to conform our lives to His image, intellect and will. They prevent us from being drawn into frustration and possibly self-destruction by following our own sensual appetites. Indeed, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are the only path to being fully happy on earth and in the life to come.

We tend to overlook Peter's opening words to the crowd that first Pentecost morning, to our own peril. His denial of drunkenness in the wake of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit should stop us in our tracks. What was going on here? How did the apostles experience the Holy Spirit? What was he teaching them? How was he empowering them? What does this scene in the streets of Jerusalem mean for us today?

Father Raniero Cantalamessa offers pastoral advice and leads the reader through passages of Scripture and the Fathers of the Church to remind us of the incalculable power of the Spirit available to us. This spiritual "intoxication" is an infilling--through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and the action of God--that purifies us of sin, renews the heart and enlightens the mind. As St. Augustine said of the Spirit, "He found you empty and he filled you...I like this kind of intoxication. The Spirit of God is both drink and light."

Sonja Corbitt's passionate faith and natural storytelling ability combine to create a refreshing message of how God, in his continual pursuit of us, speaks to us through the positive and painful circumstances of life, relationships, and his Word.

In Unleashed, Corbitt testifies that prayerful and regular study of the scriptures is the key to hear the voice of God, to see the Holy Spirit at work even in times of suffering, and to receive all the graces God wants to give.

Corbitt has been captivating Catholic women across the country with her message about God and his desire to know them in a deep and personal way. Endorsed by her bishop as a "credit to her faith," Corbitt inspires Catholics everywhere to engage with the scriptures with renewed vigor and energy.