Healing, Health

Did you know that the latest research shows that one in three people will meet the criteria for anxiety disorder at some point in their lives?

Even those of us who do not require professional help have certainly experienced the crippling effects of anxiety.

World events, lockdowns, the destruction of traditional values, the rise of omnipresent screens and social media have all certainly contributed to the climbing levels of anxiety in today's world.

Catholics are not immune and may be searching for a solution that is both Catholic and clinically sound.

Anxiety. Even the saints struggled with its effects. From excessive worry about the future to ruminating about the past, anxiety can steal your joy, impact your health, and negatively affect your spiritual life.

Whether you experience brain fog, scrupulosity, panic attacks, or are constantly overwhelmed, it is possible to regain control of your life and experience freedom from anxiety.

Whether you or a loved one are struggling with anxiety, this book will help you understand it and take the steps necessary to remediate it and restore your tranquility.

The Bennetts' book Anxiety is a tremendous resource for those suffering and for those who aid them. It is replete with absorbing, real-life stories about individuals who endured various forms of anxiety and found healing through practical and spiritual means.

In these liberating pages, you will discover how your brain works; how biology, temperament, and past experiences contribute to anxiety; how to respond to anxiety calmly and rationally; and how to evaluate professional-help options. You will discover:

Tested remedies and exercises to assist you in regaining your calm when you are triggered

Practical tips for coping with insomnia, stress, and fear

Four ways to reframe difficult situations, whether socially or at work, and thereby grow in virtue

What to do when coping mechanisms become harmful

How to train your brain to rest in the present moment, regardless of what is happening

Methods to help liberate individuals from trauma and attain serenity and renewed dignity

"Anxiety is one of the authorities, powers, and dominions over which the Lord triumphed on the Cross and which he carried off captive and placed in chains," wrote Hans Urs von Balthasar. Through these stories of liberation, you will be consoled that God has given us the capacity to heal, to have our mental health restored, and to find lasting happiness.

Since the beginning of time, a fierce spiritual battle has raged between the forces of good and evil. Today the spiritual entities of wickedness are winning, burdening countless souls in a world lacerated by evil.

To claim victory, God is calling us to engage in spiritual warfare as the only way to save the world from the desolation that is sure to come.

In these pages, theologian Venatius Oforka explains that we are part of a spiritual web through which God acts to save souls. No longer does God create out of nothing. Instead, He achieves His purposes through the prayers and actions we pour in.

To win such a sophisticated war, Oforka introduces us to the supernatural weapons of war and how we can shape the events that affect our earthly and eternal destiny.

From Father Oforka, you will learn:

How the ministry of intercession can bring salvation to millions of hopeless souls

How to frustrate the Devil's evil schemes

How to free yourself from the encumbrances of the flesh so you can fully participate in spiritual warfare

The two basic actions Christians must undertake to survive evil days

The profound advantage you have over Satan and his works

How and why God needs intercessors to save souls

Why God requires us to act before He steps in

The critical role of the angels and the saints in fighting evil

The importance of suffering in spiritual warfare

Why God needs our prayers to make His Kingdom come

The Art of Spiritual Warfare is the one book you need to awaken our world from its spiritual hibernation and to exercise the awesome privilege of working with God in the realization of His Kingdom.

For anyone who thinks that comfort is equivalent to pity and that it is only priceless to those who need an emotional crutch, best-selling author Warren Wiersbe applies the words of the prophet Isaiah to prove that God's comfort is no such thing. The word comfort actually translates "to repent" in Hebrew; our English translation, however, adds another dimension to the word since it originated from two Latin words meaning "with strength."

With definitions and insights like this, the "pastor of pastors" and phenomenal author Warren Wiersbe continues to enliven the Scriptures as he weaves the words of Isaiah with historical explanations and thought-provoking questions for every chapter, creating a study guide that can be used in personal Bible study or with a group. With over 4 million copies of his "Be" series alone in circulation, he is a man who has given his life to a deep examination of the Word of God, to communicating it in such a way that the masses see its relevance for today.

Winner of a third-place award in the healing and self-help category from the Catholic Media Association.

We all have sexual wounds--some caused by over-sexualized culture, some by our personal choices, and some through the actions of others. Have you struggled with wounds from sexual abuse and molestation, pornography use, infidelity, divorce, sexual identity confusion, genophobia, or unwanted sexual compulsions?

In Be Restored, bestselling and award-winning author Bob Schuchts of the John Paul II Healing Center offers you concrete steps for healing and wholeness, relying on a combination of clinical expertise, Catholic theology, and personal experience as a survivor to guide you.

An essential guide to healing sexual wounds, Be Restored speaks to our deepest longing for sexual wholeness. It reveals the way to be freed from debilitating shame, sexual compulsions and sin, identity confusion, and wounds in psychosexual development. You will discover the reasons behind your emotional pain and how it's connected to your sexual wounds--whether those wounds come from acute moments of sexual trauma in the past or from the more subtle trauma of living in our sex-saturated world.

Speaking from his own experience of sexual woundedness and his professional background as a marriage and family therapist, Schuchts--the bestselling author of Be Healed--is sensitive to the shame of sexual wounds. In Be Restored, he compassionately guides readers through a comprehensive understanding of potential areas of sexual wounds and shame. He then lays out a practical roadmap for restoring sexual wholeness.

Each chapter in Be Restored contains "Take a Moment" reflections and personal activities that include prayer and scripture-based exercises, emotional mapping, and thought-provoking reflection questions.

Four appendices offer specific instructions and prayers for restoring sexual wholeness.

Hurts experienced in our youth, be they traumas or trials, might get stowed away, yet our inner child remembers. It doesn't matter how much time passes or how mature we become; such hurts can eventually cause friction in our daily lives, casting a long shadow over our relationships with ourselves, our loved ones, and our God.

Written in a compassionate and pastoral tone by licensed marriage and family therapist Brya Hanan, Befriending Your Inner Child: A Catholic Approach to Inner Healing invites you to venture deep into your heart and befriend your hurts, emotional wounds, and childish behavior--or in the world of psychotherapy, your "inner child"--to reclaim your truest self, experience inner wholeness and healing, and strengthen your relationship with God and others.

Part one of the book explains why it is essential to befriend your inner child as well as the wounds and self-protections that this "child within" holds. Through this discovery, you will learn how to transform your deepest hurts into opportunities for healing and integration. Part two of the book offers practical tools to tend to your inner child compassionately.

Through Hanan's practical "5 A's," you will learn how to

1. anchor yourself in God and in your God-given body;
2. acknowledge your feelings and where you notice them showing up in your body;
3. attune to your deepest wounds, core beliefs, and distressing feelings;
4. ask God to show you what you need and how to participate in his healing work; and
5. act consistently with loving compassion toward yourself.

Hanan vulnerably shares her own journey of "reparenting" her inner child with God and offers additional case studies from her clinical practice that highlight how different life stories and life stages can respond to befriending their inner child. Each chapter includes charts, lists, and "Befriend Work" exercises that challenge readers to reflect further on the content.

If you long to experience more fulfillment and wholeness, this book is for you.

It's almost undeniable that God is working miracles of healing in evangelization today. For theologians, pastors, and evangelists some questions arise: What is the relationship between physical healing and the message of salvation? Should the church really expect God to do healings in evangelization today? Father Thelen answers these questions by examining the relationship between the preaching of the gospel and physical healing in the New Testament. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not simply a message of fact; it is a message of power that is often expressed through the working of deeds that serve as signs of the reality preached: salvation. As signs of the kingdom, healings that accompany the preaching of the gospel play an indispensable role in bringing people to faith throughout the New Testament. The result of this biblical study is a clarion call for the church to renew its faith in God's desire and power to confirm his word through healing. As healing becomes more accepted and frequent in evangelization, a Catholic biblical and theological approach to healing as it relates to evangelization--an approach that can be different from its Protestant counterpart--is necessary. This modest book fits this need.

Join the millions who have learned how to take control of their lives by setting healthy boundaries with their spouses, children, friends, parents, co-workers, and even themselves--in order to live life to the fullest.

Do you feel like your life has spiraled out of control?

Have you focused so much on being loving and unselfish that you've forgotten your own limits?

Do you find yourself taking responsibility for other people's feelings and problems?

In Boundaries, Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend share the lessons they've learned in their years of practicing psychology and studying the patterns and practices that support clear biblical boundaries. You'll learn the ins and outs of setting the boundaries that will transform your daily life.

This updated and expanded edition of Boundaries, answers the most common questions on the science behind establishing boundaries:

Can I set limits and still be a loving person?

What are legitimate boundaries?

How do I effectively manage my digital life so that it doesn't control me?

What if someone is upset or hurt by my boundaries?

How do I answer someone who wants my time, love, energy, or money?

Why do I feel guilty or afraid when I consider setting boundaries?

Discover the countless ways that Boundaries can change your life for the better today!

Countless Christians -- including scores of saints -- have suffered profound, pervasive sorrow that modern psychiatrists call "depression." Then, as now, great faith and even fervent spiritual practices have generally failed to ease this wearying desolation of soul.

In these pages, Catholic psychiatrist Aaron Kheriaty reviews the effective ways that have recently been devised to deal with this grave and sometimes deadly affliction -- ways that are not only consistent with the teachings of the Church, but even rooted in many of those teachings.

Extensive clinical experience treating patients with depression has shown Dr. Kheriaty that the confessional can't cure neuroses, nor can the couch forgive sin. Healing comes only when we integrate the legitimate discoveries of modern psychology and pharmacology with spiritual direction and the Sacraments, giving particular attention to the wisdom of the Church Fathers and the saints.

Here, with the expert help of Dr. Kheriaty, you'll learn how to distinguish depression from similarlooking but fundamentally different mental states such as guilt, sloth, the darkness of sin, and the sublime desolation called "dark night of the soul" that is, in fact, a privileged spiritual trial sent to good souls as a special gift from God.

You'll come to know how to identify the various types of depression and come to understand the interplay of their often manifold causes, biological, psychological, behavioral, cultural, and, yes, moral.

Then you'll learn about exciting breakthroughs in pharmacological and other medical treatments, the benefits and limitations of psychotherapy, the critical place that spiritual direction must have in your healing, and the vital role that hope -- Christian hope -- can play in driving out depression.

Exorcist Msgr. Stephen Rossetti has a very active caseload of demonic possessions, and in each case two vivid lessons consistently emerge: demons possess or harass people in a myriad of ways (even when they do not enter a body), and they are defeated decisively by the power of Christ and His Church--and especially by invocations to the Blessed Mother.

In these pages, Msgr. Rossetti gives us an inside look at the intense experiences of an exorcist. He shares, without hype or varnish, what it is like, on a daily basis, to face demons who revile, threaten, and sometimes spiritually "wound" him. He describes the healing power of Christ for the possessed and for the exorcist, and reveals amazing moments when Christ and His Church visibly triumph over Satan. The reader is afforded a unique glimpse into the world of angels and demons, and the struggles of the possessed and those who minister to them. In this stunning, edifying, true diary of an American exorcist, you'll learn:

What demonic possession is, and is not

Common tactics of Satan and his typical lies

How God protects exorcists

The difference between strong and weak possessions

The hierarchy of demons (not all are equal)

What it's like for an exorcist to face Lucifer himself

Why demons choke people

How demons fear and hate one another too

"Do you want to be healed?"

Jesus asks that question several times in the Bible--of the woman at the well, Bartimaeus the blind man, the woman caught in adultery, the rich young man--and he asks the same of you as well.

Do You Want to Be Healed? is a 10-day personal retreat that uses a healing process similar to the one found in the author Bob Schuchts's bestselling book Be Healed.

Each day of the do-it-yourself retreat engages you with a question Jesus asked his followers and uses the traditional practice of lectiodivina (divine reading) to dive into a scriptural scene where Jesus heals the spiritually and physically sick.

Through the five movements of reading, meditation, prayer, contemplation, and action, you will encounter the biblical figures who received the healing words of Jesus, you will undergo your own spiritual healing and discover your personal response to Jesus's most probing questions, including:

Do you want to be made well?

What are you thinking in your heart?

Has no one condemned you?

Can you drink the cup?

Have you come to believe? and

Do you love me more than these?

Through these questions and the healing answering them brings about, you will come to understand the principles of spiritual healing--such as facing your brokenness, acknowledging your sin and shame, and discovering the healing power of the sacraments--Schuchts shares in Be Healed.

Those who have already read Be Healed will be drawn deeper into their healing with a refresher on the core principles of Schuchts's work. The book is also perfect for those who want to begin the process of spiritual healing. Do You Want to Be Healed? also is an essential resource for pastors, spiritual directors, therapists, and those who help lead others in an integration of their human and spiritual formation.

Life is an endless succession of ebbs and flows, and as we journey through nature's cycles, our human spirits yearn for the authentic integration of wellness and faith in our fast-paced world.

Feast, Faith, and Flourish is bursting with practical and spiritual wisdom drawn from the traditions of the seasons, the rhythms of the liturgical year, and the authors' deep understanding of creation, the human body, nutrition, movement, and how to live a more contemplative life while joyfully serving God. The reflections in this book were carefully selected from nearly four years' worth of favorite entries in The Ember Journal, a beloved seasonal print magazine for women. In these exquisite pages, you will enjoy delicious recipes and be uplifted by beautiful full-color photos, original meditations on the great celebrations of the year, explorations on the mysteries of the Rosary, and inspiring quotes from the saints. You will discover:

Ways to reduc

Grief, like a fingerprint, is unique to every person. The circumstances that cause grief are particular -- losing a loved one; losing a job or home; losing trust or a dream -- and can develop suddenly or over a long, painful period of time.

When we grieve, we all long for light in the dark places. We need a light to warm our hearts when they are chilled by grief. For Those Who Grieve includes 22 brief devotions and prayers, drawing on the saints, Scripture, and modern reflections to encourage readers to turn to God each day and find the light of hope, healing, and wholeness.

Part of the Companion in Faith series.

"'Jesus, where are you?' I prayed every night as I wept . . . I felt I had failed as a priest, for I had preached love and the people made genocide. . . .Then I heard God speak to me. Jesus wanted me to use these experiences to evangelize later. It was then that I knew my life would be spared. God would make a way."

During the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga tells the dramatic story of how he survived while losing more than eighty of his family members and 45,000 of his parishioners in the killings. In the aftermath, Fr. Ubald experienced a renewed sense of purpose as a minister of reconciliation and a healing evangelist in his homeland and around the world. In Forgiveness Makes You Free, he offers five spiritual principles that can help those traumatized by the past to experience healing and peace in Christ.

In 1994 the world looked on in disbelief and horror as Rwanda erupted in violent bloodshed. All across the landlocked African country, militant Hutus rose up to exterminate the Tutsi population, including women and young children. One hundred days later, a million bodies littered fields, streets, and even churches. Now, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, a powerful testimony emerges of the power of God to bring peace and reconciliation into hearts full of fear and hate.

In Forgiveness Makes You Free, Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga shares his own dramatic story of how he survived the genocide and its traumatic aftermath. He testifies about how God spared his life so that he might help others with deep physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds to experience peace and healing. In retelling the story of how he forgave the man who killed his family and cared for the man's children while he was in prison, Fr. Ubald demonstrates how showing mercy can facilitate true forgiveness even in the most painful circumstances of our lives.

Throughout the book, Fr. Ubald teaches about five spiritual keys that draw us to Christ, the only source of lasting peace:

be thankful and have faith

choose to forgive

denounce evil

decide to live for Jesus

claim the blessing

Each chapter combines Fr. Ubald's story with reflection questions that guide readers along their own path of healing: from fear to faith, from shame to freedom, from isolation to reconciliation, from resentment to mercy, and from conflict to peace.

The final chapter offers a guided meditation to help those who need to experience the power of God to release those held in bondage by fear and hate and to find the secret of peace. An appendix contains information about "The Mushaka Reconciliation Project," a catechetical tool that has been used successfully by parishes in Rwanda, and could easily be adapted by parishes in the United States, to mediate reconciliation between individuals and groups who have become estranged by violence, trauma, and ethnic or cultural divisions.

In an age in which the occult is becoming increasingly normalized, Teresa Yanaros's Freedom from Darkness offers a crucial beacon of hope and a guide to freedom.

Drawing from her profound personal journey out of the occult and into the light of Christ, Yanaros unveils with insight and precision the stark realities of spiritual warfare and the path to deliverance.

Freedom from Darkness is not just a book; it is a survival manual for those ensnared by the occult--be it through tarot cards, New Age ideologies, or the subtle allure of esoteric practices. It employs distinctive infographics and formulas to clarify complex concepts, paving the way for readers to grasp critical aspects of occult bondage and articulate these insights to others caught in its web.

Yanaros's landmark work sheds light on:

How seemingly harmless spiritual practices can open doors to demonic oppression

Common cultural traps that lead people unwittingly into occult ideation and practices

Personal stories of entrapment in and deliverance from the occult, providing both warnings and testimonials of hope

Key indicators of spiritual bondage and practical steps toward achieving true freedom

The powerful role of the sacraments and prayers of the Church in combating evil

Yanaros demystifies the complex dynamics of spiritual warfare, drawing on the wisdom of the saints and the teachings of the Church to arm her readers. With clarity and compassion, she offers strategies to reclaim one's spiritual life through Christ-centered living and the renunciation of false powers. She provides powerful insight into the transformative power of repentance and radical surrender to God's will.

Whether you are struggling with spiritual afflictions or seeking to help others find their way out of darkness, Freedom from Darkness is an essential resource. It encourages all to embrace the journey toward redemption armed with the truth and fortified by the power of the Gospel.