Young Adults

What are the sources of anxiety, stress, and fear you experience in your life? Popular Catholic speaker and author Sonja Corbitt believes that these often-paralyzing emotions are the direct result of our everyday battles against sin and temptation. In Fearless, she equips us with the spiritual tools we need to restore our spiritual well-being.

The term "spiritual warfare" conjures images of heavenly battles between archangels and demons, but Sonja Corbitt insists that there is a realm of spiritual warfare that is more domestic than it is cosmic--in the trenches of dirty bathrooms, fighting children, irritable spouses, the struggle to stop smoking or overeating, crazy schedules, and overwhelming workloads.

In her new book, the author of Unleashed takes us deep into scripture and the spiritual practices of the Church in order to show us how to resist the avalanche of temptations that can threaten us and lead to paralyzing anxiety and fear. Through her powerful personal story and teaching, Corbitt shows us how to put on the armor of Christ and learn to live fearlessly, love with abandon, and embrace life with confidence.

In Unleashed, Corbitt identified the spiritual wounds that reveal themselves through the harmful patterns and relationships in our lives. In Fearless, she offers scriptural tools that help us understand and conquer the demons of sin, Satan, self, and sloth. She helps us recognize the methods the devil uses to keep us enslaved and she immerses us in a profound contemplation of love, which is the only possible weapon against the spirit of fear. In this book you will come to understand

the spiritual roots of fear, depression, and anxiety;

ways to "abide" in Christ and find freedom from fear;

signs of negative spiritual suggestion and influence in your daily life;

the deep, personal lies we believe that keep us slaves to fear;

specific truths about the limitations of Satan's power and character;

the "pieces" of spiritual armor that protect us from fear; and

how to rest fully in God's goodness and love.

Each chapter contains features that will make it a popular resource for personal and group study: review notes, an invitation to prayer, and a series of probing questions (called God Prompts) that encourage you to explore the content in a deeply personal way. Fearless offers encouragement to those who are anxious or fearful about the future and who seek a spiritual solution.

As a young Christian woman, do you struggle with insecurities and feel bogged down by the pressures and expectations of society? Do you find it challenging to take care of yourself and be a faithful daughter of God?

Emily Wilson Hussem used to feel the same way. In Go Bravely, the Catholic musician and speaker offers twenty bits of advice that will equip you to tackle your deepest concerns about relationships, self-esteem, and dating while strengthening your faith at the same time.

"Sometimes even the smallest acts of living out faith require great bravery."

In Go Bravely, Wilson Hussem offers readers warm and friendly encouragement as she shares her experiences with other young women as their youth minister as well as her own struggles with insecurity, relationships, loving and forgiving herself, and living her faith. You'll feel right at home as she challenges you to be a light in the world while simultaneously offering you easy-to-digest advice on your most pressing questions.

Fresh off figuring out who she is as a daughter of God, how to cultivate healthy friendships, how to save sex for marriage, and how to develop a prayer life, Wilson Hussem gives you advice about what she learned in the midst of becoming a young woman. Aware of the information overload that young people face today, she shares simple wisdom for bravely living your faith, such as:

Always be kind to other women.

Work hard at what you love.

Recognize God's plan for your life.

Remember that nobody is perfect.

Cultivate authentic friendships.

These are basic ideas, Wilson Hussem says, but taking care of yourself and loving others are easy tenets of our faith to forget. A book that can be read in short snippets or in one sitting, Go Bravely offers you the encouragement and tools you need to live out your Christian faith with purpose and zeal.

It's time for an updated, compelling, teen-friendly explanation of God's plan for life, love, marriage, and sex, in light of St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body, and that's exactly what this book provides. This is a useful update to a very popular book that works well for individual reading but also for group study and discussion. It's an excellent resource for youth ministers, catechists, pastors, and parents, as well as a must-read for Catholic teens.

A Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar, and devout Catholic tells you everything you need to know about keeping your faith at a modern university. Drawing on her recent experience, Aurora Griffin shares forty practical tips relating to academics, community, prayer, and service that helped her stay Catholic in college.

She reminds us that keeping the faith is a conscious decision, reinforced by commitment to daily practices. Aurora's story illustrates that when you decide your faith matters to you, no one can take it away, even in the most secular environments and under strong peer pressure. Throughout the book, she shows how being Catholic in college did not prevent her from having a full "college experience," but actually enabled her to make the most of her time at Harvard.

Aurora encourages students who are about to begin this formative journey, or those now in college, that the most valuable parts of college life -- lasting friendships, intellectual growth, and cherished memories -- are experienced in a more meaningful way when lived in and through the Catholic faith.

Adapted by Sister Halcon J. Fisk, this Abridged Edition of the Imitation of Christ from Catholic Book Publishing is designed specifically for contemporary readers. Second only to the Bible in popularity, the Imitation of Christ is Thomas à Kempis\'s masterwork on Jesus, and this Abridged Edition makes it accessible to all readers. With a brown vinyl cover and appropriately sized for easy and frequent use, this 160-page volume captures the spirit and meaning of the original classic.

"What would Jesus do?"

That's the primary question Thomas à Kempis answers in his universally acclaimed work, The Imitation of Christ. In 114 short chapters organized into four simple parts, this handbook on the spiritual life offers guidance on dozens of topics such as resisting temptation, avoiding hasty judgments, putting up with others' faults, remembering God's many blessings, self-surrender, minding our own business, and performing humble works.

William Creasy succeeds in creating a dramatically different interpretation of The Imitation of Christ by working through its historical, cultural, and linguistic contexts.

This book inspired the likes of St. Thomas More, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Thérèse of Lisieux, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton. Along with such classics as Augustine's Confessions, Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle, and Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises, The Imitation of Christ continues to confront each generation of readers with the perennial truths of the Gospel.

An excellent companion to The Imitation of Christ, this book is composed of writings about Our Lady carefully culled from the words of Thomas à Kempis and set forth in the style of The Imitation of Christ. It offers a splendid way to grow in the imitation of Jesus through the imitation of His holy Mother.

If cleanliness is next to godliness, do our closets have anything to say about the state of our souls?

Decluttering became trendy with the 2014 release of Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. And while there's no shortage of secular books promoting the practice, Making Room for God is the first book on organization from a Catholic perspective. Self-proclaimed pack rat Mary Elizabeth Sperry will help you make decluttering a prayerful, peace-filled, and soul-expanding experience.

Popular Catholic speaker and Bible expert Mary Elizabeth Sperry explores the relationship between our stuff and Catholic beliefs about grace, sin, repentance, prayer, and the common good. She boldly affirms the goodness of our stuff and of God's abiding presence in the worldly goods all around us. She also reminds us of how sin can distort our relationships, including the ones we have with our possessions. Through spiritual disciplines--especially prayer, fasting, and almsgiving--we can protect this relationship so that we own our possessions but they don't own us.

Making Room for God offers an enticing and entertaining approach to decluttering, discipleship, and the spiritual life that makes tidying up seem almost fun. Writing from an unabashedly Catholic perspective and with convincing practicality, Sperry looks at the role of material goods in the life of a follower of Jesus. Each chapter includes humorous and often self-deprecating details of the author's own journey through decluttering to help us believe that we, too, can simplify. Alongside these adventures are Sperry's rich spiritual insights gleaned from extensive knowledge of the Church's tradition and helpful exercises for freeing ourselves from clutter and the temptation to sin it so often harbors.

Sperry draws liberally from the Bible, liturgy, Fathers of the Church, lives of the saints, and Church teaching--especially that of Pope Francis--as she explores the relationship between our stuff and our spiritual lives. Practical elements offer a step-by-step approach to decluttering living spaces, getting rid of unused and excess items, and limiting future accumulation.

One of the most important Christian books of the 20th century, C.S. Lewis's classic, Mere Christianity, is now available in a beautiful keepsake edition 60 years after its original publication. A timeless and thought-provoking spiritual work from the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters--one of the leading Christian writers and thinkers of our age--this beautifully illustrated anniversary edition includes a new foreword and fascinating background information on the story behind the book, and remains fresh and relevant for the modern reader.

Modeled on the fifteenth-century classic The Imitation of Christ, this well-loved Clarence Enzler masterwork helps Christians today hear the voice of Christ. In this powerful book, Christ addresses you personally as "my other self," urging you to embody his love and compassion for others.

Through a creative dialogue between Jesus and the reader, Clarence Enzler leads you through the journey of the Christian life, beginning with the call to live in friendship with Christ and fulfill his desire. Enzler then examines elements of the Christian life: detachment, virtue, prayer, the Eucharist, and avoidance of sin. Finally, he explores the goal of the journey--a life of union with Christ as his disciple and complete joy with him in eternity.

Each chapter includes short, eloquent meditations on scripture and beautiful prayers, making My Other Self ideal as a daily devotional and source of prayer.

This book is meant for teens to older adults of all educational levels who aspire to spiritual growth; it's also a great aid for parents and grandparents who need help in teaching children and young people how to grow in God. There are many Catholics who are not familiar with having a plan of life that includes these basic elements. Many Catholics would like to grow spiritually, but don't know where to start and welcome this kind of practical, doable approach.

Father Augustine Wetta reaches back into monastic history to answer one of the most critical questions facing young people today: "How do I make up my mind?" With his characteristic wit and novel approach to classical art, Father Augustine looks to the wisdom of the Desert Fathers to unearth an ancient and highly efficient method for resolving life's most pressing dilemmas--even in the midst of distractions, temptations, and disruptions.

Profoundly Biblical and astonishingly practical, these trailblazing saints laid the foundations of Christian discernment by combining their genius for interpreting Scripture with their uncompromising search for the truth. Their patience and remarkable sense of humor gave their words a practicality that speaks as clearly today as it did in the third century. In three steps, each broken down into three parts, the Desert Fathers will teach you how to make decisions in a way that is peaceful, joyful, focused, realistic, and open to the ever-prodding finger of God.

As he did in his best-selling Humility Rules, Father Wetta illustrates each chapter with color reproductions of famous works of art that he has embellished with comic flourishes. He provides a discernment worksheet to help anyone with making a difficult decision.

"I wish to show all that they may lay claim, not to the same distinct favors, but to the same love, the same self-abandonment, the same God . . . and to eminent sanctity. Let us not distress or refuse anyone, or drive any away from eminent perfection." --Fr. De Caussade Written to help those who despair of ever becoming holy, Father De Caussade elucidates in Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence how surrendering our will to God is the key to attaining peace and holiness in this life, and that it is readily available to all people-from beginners to those well advanced in the spiritual life. Father De Caussade's teachings were deeply influenced by St. Francis de Sales, St. John of the Cross, and the Sisters of the Visitation founded by St. Jane Frances de Chantal. These influences are apparent in his explanation that the perfection God expects from us consists mainly in our purifying the innumerable little actions that occur in the course of every day; in our heroic attention to every detail in our lives and humble acceptance of the lot God has chosen for us. This edition of Self Abandonment to Divine Providence includes over 150 letters from Father De Caussade to his spiritual children on the practice of self abandonment. These exchanges provide many profound insights and practical tips for applying the timeless lessons found in this classic guide to achieving holiness.

A recent Newsweek poll reports that 76 percent of Americans believe in heaven. Yet even avid believers have difficulty conjuring up more than vague images of halos, harps, and wispy angels in flowing robes. Anthony DeStefano knew there had to be a more complete, meaningful, and comforting vision of what heaven is like, and A Travel Guide to Heaven is the entertaining and enlightening result.

Using the Bible as his guide, the author notes that heaven is not only a spiritual place, but also a physical place, a fabulous "luxury resort" more sumptuous than any on Earth. The residents are real, their bodies transformed into their most perfect selves--physically, emotionally, and spiritually. By making a spiritual subject immensely physical, the book provides a picture of amazing places to visit, things to do, luxuries for pampering--not to mention deep, abiding joy.

Combining the clarity and logic of C. S. Lewis with a terrific sense of fun and adventure, DeStefano creates a brilliant, reassuring portrait of heaven, a place that has intrigued and puzzled humankind throughout history. With its clear view of the afterlife, A Travel Guide to Heaven might best be compared to James Van Praagh's Talking to Heaven or Betty J. Eadie's Embraced by the Light in its tremendous message of comfort and reassurance.

What should I do?

We ask the question when we pray. We ask it when we run out of answers to our problems. We ask it when we face big decisions. We ask it when we get out of bed in the morning: How should I live this day as well as I can?

We can find answers through learning the art of discernment-the wisdom that enables us to see and interpret the leading of the Holy Spirit as it is manifested in the inner lives of our hearts. The great master of this art was St. Ignatius Loyola, author of The Spiritual Exercises, who believed that the ability to discern the spirits is one of the most important skills a Christian could have. Ignatius believed that the answer to the question "What Should I Do?" is found in the shifting sea of feelings, insights, leadings, and intuitions of our affective lives.

What Do You Really Want? shows us how to understand these emotions and use what we learn to make the choices that best serve God and bring his love to the people in our lives. It shows the truth of one of Ignatius's greatest insights-that when we find what we really want, we find what God wants too, because the deepest desires of our hearts were placed there by God.