Virtues

Courageous Women: A Study on the Heroines of Biblical History is another volume in Stacy Mitch's popular Courageous series of Bible studies for women.

An example is worth a thousand words. Using the stories of Sarah, Esther, Judith, the Blessed Mother, and other heroines of Scripture, Stacy Mitch helps her readers see how they can follow these examples in their daily lives. Divided into nine sections, this book is ideal for individual or group study.

Even in a country as religious as the U.S., many people feel disengaged from their faith communities. More than half report that they really don't get the opportunity in their congregation to do what they do best. People just feel disconnected.

Maybe it's because those faith communities make unwitting missteps: Pastors ask shy people to be Greeters, or recruit innately disorganized people to coordinate church events.

The problem is simply this: Too many people's talents are going unappreciated. But it doesn't have to be this way. Living Your Strengths shows readers how to use their innate gifts to enrich their faith communities. The book --- written by onetime pastors Albert Winseman and Curt Liesveld, and Donald O. Clifton, co-author of the national bestseller Now, Discover Your Strengths --- shows people how to identify and affirm their talents, and how to use them for growth and service. Most importantly, Living Your Strengths helps people discover their true calling.

The book includes an ID code that gives readers access to StrengthsFinder.com, a personality assessment that reveals user's top 5 talent themes. Spiritual enrichment begins with turning talents into strengths. Living Your Strengths is an indispensable guide to help readers to just that.

If you want to make progress in the spiritual life, you must know your enemy. Best-selling author Kevin Vost shines a light on the seven deadly sins, showing how they take root in our souls and keep us from being raised to heaven.

In these pages, Dr. Vost unpacks the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas history's greatest theologian in an engaging and accessible way. He unveils the hidden connections between common sins and shows how each gives birth to daughters other thoughts and deeds that help it reach its sinful goals.

We all struggle with the seven deadly sins to varying degrees. Read this book, and you'll walk away armed with an arsenal of practical weapons to combat these sins and to clear the path for greater virtue, deeper happiness, and more profound union with God.