Diocese of KalamazooThe Good News

Immanuel, Praying the Names of God through the Christmas Season is a unique Christmas devotional offering a balance of prayer, reflection and study. “In the ancient world names were thought to express a person’s essential nature, character or destiny” writes Grand Rapids books, author Ann Spangler in her foreward. “By knowing the names and titles of Jesus, we come to know him better. We begin to perceive how deeply God loves us and how outrageous his plan to save us truly is.”
            Drawing from her bestselling books Praying the Names of God and Praying the Names of Jesus, author Spangler has selected six names or titles for God — including Immanuel, Yahweh (Lord), and Yeled (Child) for study — one name a week for six weeks to cover the season of Advent and the two weeks after Christmas. Each exploration of a name includes Scripture passages that reveal the name, background information and a brief Bible study to aid in understanding.  Readers will be captivated by the background information and challenged by the reflection questions provided.

In My Life with the Saints, Father James Martin, shows that the saints are much more interesting and accessible — and sometimes, funny — than many people think they are. Rather than modeling unattainable levels of sanctity, the saints reveal that the call to holiness consists in being oneself.
     The 38 holy people featured in the book, so different one from another; show that there are a variety of ways to be Christian. Martin’s favorite spiritual companions include:

• an Albanian woman who devoted her life to serving the poor yet who struggled with doubt and despair until her death (Mother Teresa);
• a jovial Italian priest who became a beloved and groundbreaking pope (John XXIII);
• a roguish Spanish nobleman — perhaps the only canonized saint with a police record for brawling — who founded a religious order dedicated to contemplation in action (St. Ignatius);
• an American radical who converted to Catholicism and spent her life working alongside and agitating on behalf of the marginalized (Dorothy Day). 
     Martin’s own unusual history is woven through the book. The reader encounters the saints as he did, and can relate to his attempts to understand holiness and the life of faith