A  JESUS  BREVIARY          

(All Eight Volumes)

     A Jesus Breviary is full of meditation renderings of scripture passages on the love of God, the person of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian life. A "breviary" is a portable prayerbook, usually with psalms, canticles, songs, scripture readings, and prayers. This volume is a compilation of a series:

     31 Days of God's Love-Call is from Hebrew scriptures to help sit with God saying "I love you" for as long as we can stand it.

     31 Days of Jesus Incarnate is about that man who lived in the first third of what we now call the first century in Nazareth near the Sea of Galilee, who we also know as the Son of God, Christ the Anointed One, Savior, Redeemer, Risen Lord, and a host of other names. The great stories of Jesus are rendered for meditation in the present tense.

     In 31 Days of Jesus Miracles, the Son of God shows forth the divine dynamic power in signs opening minds and hearts and souls and strength.

     31 Days of Jesus Parables gives the major teaching stories of Jesus that invite us into meditation.

     31 Days of Jesus Sayings are short collections of the sayings of Jesus from the Sunday gospel readings in the three year cycle. 31 Days of Jesus' Paschal Mystery tells of the full gift of the self of Jesus in his scandalous cross, showing through his death and resurrection full Easter joy.

     31 Days of the Holy Spirit has passages on the Holy Breath from Isaiah and the New Testament.

     31 Days on the Christian Life are timeless readings from letters attributed to Saints Peter, Paul, John, and James.

     The volume includes an introductory prayer for each of the eight sections and a rendering of the Principle and Foundation of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The arrangement is suitable for a retreat following the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius or for daily prayer similar to the hours of monastic prayer.

2015, paperback, 4.4" X 7", eight 31-day sections, 339 pages, $14.95

31  DAYS  of  GOD'S  LOVE-CALL

What do you hear when you read God's word in the Bible? I hear a very long love letter. The Bible as a whole can be read in this simple message from God: I made you, I know you, and I love you. This can be a message of great consolation. If I am aware of not living as if God loves me, it can nudge as a challenge, not to be better to earn God's love, but a reminder of my desire to live a fidelity response to God's complete love for me. It has been an honor to journey with many good folks in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola in At-Home Retreats and in spiritual direction. The first part of the exercises is to sit with intention in the reality of God's provision and love. This means letting God say and repeat, I love you. These 31 "Old Testament" passages rendered here without commentary can help let this message sink into one's being. Though most of them are psalms and canticles to sing to God, as scripture they are also meant to be read as part of God's revelation; so whether the words are addressed to God, to someone else, or to the reader, we can hear them as God's love letter to us. The ancient way of listening to God in lectio divina can be as simple as choosing a word or phrase or image from the passage, sitting with it perhaps without thinking about it, and breathing to listen.

All God's Blessings,

Steve Wolf

5" x 7" Paperback Edition, 2013, 45 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

4" x 6" Pocket Edition, 2016, 45 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

31  DAYS  of  JESUS  INCARNATE

Jesus is that man who lived in the first third of what we now call the first century, near the Sea of Galilee, who we also know as Son of God, Christ the Anointed One, Savior, Redeemer, Risen Lord, and a host of other names. Incarnate means enfleshed or embodied, or for Christians, the Word become Flesh. This means that God has chosen to enter human history as one of us. Tell a child that there was a day when Jesus was exactly as tall as he or she is today. Tell a teen that Jesus too lived in his own in-betweenness. Tell a student that Jesus too had to learn. Tell the adult being tempted that so was Jesus, one like us in all things but sin.

     Anytime we proclaim his divinity, his God-ness, to the diminishment  of his humanity, we may fall into what we call heresy. And anytime we proclaim his humanity to the exclusion of his divinity, we may fall into heresy. For a Christian, Jesus is Son of God and Son of a human being, Mary. He is fully God and fully human, not half God and half man, as a teacher would say, not only God on his Poppa's side and human on his Momma's side, but completely God and completely human. The two natures of the one person of Jesus can be seen in these 31 gospel classics, all rendered for meditation in the present tense:

     Annunciation, Nativity, Maji, Simeon & Anna, Return from Exile, Twelve Years Old, the Word, Baptism, Temptation, Nazareth Rejection, Call of the Brothers, A Day in the Ministry, Nicodemus at Night, Woman at the Well, Levi, Field of Grain, the Twelve & the Women, Love Your Enemies, the Family, the Bread of Life, Disciples of John the Baptizer, Anointing by a Woman, Profession of Faith, Transfiguration, Woman Caught in Adultery, Rich Young Man, James & John, Zacchaeus, Entry on a Donkey, Cleansing the Temple, and Authority Questioned.

2014, paperback, 5" X 8", 45 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

31  DAYS  of  JESUS  MIRACLES

The gospel stories in 31 Days of Jesus Miracles, encounters of Jesus with nature, illness, fear, demons, hunger and death, are rendered for meditation in the present tense, including Water and Wine, the Catch of Fish, the Son of a Royal Official, a Demoniac, a Leper, a Paralytic, a Sick Man at Bethesda, a Man with a Withered Hand, a Servant of a Centurion, a Son of a Widow, Calming of a Storm, the Gerasene-Gadarene Demoniac, Daughter of Jairus, a Woman in the Crowd, Two Blind Men, a Possessed Mute, Feeding of Five Thousand, Walking on Water, a Woman of Canaan, a Deaf Mute, Feeding of Four Thousand, a Blind Man of Bethsaida, a Possessed Boy, Provision for the Temple Tax, a Man Born Blind, a Woman Crippled, a Man with Dropsy, Ten Lepers, Blind Bartimaeus, the Raising of Lazarus, Cursing of a Fig Tree, and the Healing of an Ear. 

2014, paperback, 5" X 7", 45 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

31  DAYS  of  JESUS  PARABLES

The parables of Jesus are rendered in the present tense for meditation, including New Wine, Children of the Marketplace, The Sower and Good Earth, Good Samaritan, Rich Fool, Ravens and Lilies, Grain Growing, Mustard Seed and Leaven, Weeds and Wheat, Treasure and Pearl and Net and Head of Household, Latrine, Vigilant Servant, Faithful Servant, Barren Fig Tree, Mega Banquet, Family and Tower and Troops and Salt, One Lost Sheep, One Lost Coin, Lost Son, Steward of Injustice, Rich Man and Lazarus, Unforgiving Debtor, Unprofitable Servants, Persistent Widow, Workers in the Vineyard, Pharisee and Tax Collector, Two Sons, Tenant Farmers, Ten Virgins, Talents, Sheep and Goats and Works of Mercy, and Vine and Branches. 

2014, paperback, 5" X 7", 45 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

31  DAYS  of  JESUS  SAYINGS

This is a collection of 180 fragments attributed to Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that one parish priest has found helpful in praying while walking in the woods or on a treadmill or other torture device or driving here and there or rocking in a chair like a hungry old bear. They can be meditated on as if a vitamin, choosing one from five or so to breathe with through the day, as a way to meet Jesus, on the search for a healing word of consolation or a challenge from the Savior, as a doorway into the gospel context of a saying that intrigues, in the ongoing search for the gospel account or parable that is "the gospel within the gospel" for a particular Christian, with extra time on one's hands a way to sit with those "hard" sayings of Jesus, as a way to begin a dialogue with the Risen Christ, a way to admit the desire to be a student-disciple of the Master Teacher, or looking to listen in patient anticipation of being surprised by God.

5" x 7" Paperback Edition, 2013, 35 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

4" x 6" Pocket Edition, 2013, 35 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

31  DAYS  of the  HOLY  SPIRIT

These are gospel stories, teachings of Jesus, stories in the Book of Acts, and fragments of letters of Saint Peter and Saint Paul rendered for meditation in the present tense, including passages from the Prophet Isaiah, the Spirit of the Son of God, the Begotten of the Spirit, John the Baptist, Beheld the Spirit, Led by the Spirit into the Desert, Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, King David, the Holy Spirit Speaking, Full of Joy in the Holy Spirit, How Much More, He Will Teach You Everything, Ascension, from Eleven to Twelve, Pentecost, Witnesses with the Holy Spirit, Stephen the First Martyr, Philip in Samaria, Conversion of Saul, Anointed with the Holy Spirit, First Called Christians, Letter to the Nations, Paul Laying Hands, Paul to the Elders of Ephesus, Paul in Rome, Spirit of Adoption, Joy in the Holy Spirit, Peter on Prophecy, Unity of the Seven Ones, By the Power, and two songs.

2015, paperback, 5" X 7", 46 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com 

31  DAYS  of  the   PASCHAL  MYSTERY  of  JESUS

The gospel stories in 31 Days of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus are rendered for meditation in the present tense, including the Anointing at Bethany, the Last Supper, the Foot Washing, a Last Supper Discourse, the Agony in the Garden, the Betrayal and Arrest, the Sanhedrin, Peter's Denial, the Death of Judas, Pilate's Questions, Mockery, the Sentence of Death, the Way of the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Death of Jesus, the Burial and the Guard, the Empty Tomb, the Appearance to Mary of Magdala, On the Road to Emmaus, His Hands and His Feet, the Upper Room, Thomas on the Eighth Day, the Report of the Guards, the Appearance to Seven in Galilee, the Breakfast Love Question, the Commission, and the Ascension.  

2014, paperback, 5" X 7", 39 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

31  DAYS  on the  CHRISTIAN  LIFE

The New Testament letter fragments of 31 Days on the Christian Life drawn from readings by Saints Peter, Paul, John and James used in the Liturgy of the Hours include O the Depth, Crowd Too Many to Number, Comfort-Encouragement, Doing Good, Put On the Lord Jesus Christ, Children of God, Word Planted in You, Rebirth to a Living Hope, These Things Abounding, Grace of God, Children of the Day, All Have Sinned, I Am Persuaded, Living and Abiding Word of God, If Your Enemy is Hungry, God Is Love, Mercy Exults over Judgment, One Is the Lawgiver and Judge, Charisms, Good Stewards of Grace, Sufficient to You Is My Grace, To This You Were Called, Let Endurance Work, God Is the One Working in You, This Is My Gospel, For Good and for Building Up, Walk As He Himself Walked, Put On the New Human, Be Reconciled, Christ Lives In Me, New Heavens and a New Earth.

2014, paperback, 5" X 7", 39 pages, $5.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com