The Resurrection in the Great Story of Jesus is a parish-tested resource by a former Catholic priest. If you are a baptized disciple of Jesus, you are already an apostle in the world, a witness to the resurrection (see Acts 1:27). The great story of Jesus is part of your story, part of who you are, for the preaching of the good news began with the Easter story. This little book sets the four gospel accounts side-by-side as the story unfolds, with notes and some questions for pondering. Invite the original witnesses of the story to sit with some of your curious friends, or with a spouse or best friend, or in your personal time with God, who creating you in God's own image and knowing you better than you know yourself is loving you right now completely.

# 5 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-1-937081-78-2

2023, paperback, 5" X 8", 6 chapters, 75 pages, $8.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

God's Ones is an exploration of what Baptism is about,

(1) One Baptized Into Christ, centered on the Baptism of Jesus where he knows he is the Beloved Son and the archetypes of the soul, leading to our identity as

(2) Lifegiver Priest,

(3) Soldier Prophet,

(4) Footwasher Royal, and

(5) Beloved Lover. The book concludes with

(6) Vocation Gifted, around Charisms, God's gratuitous gifts, and our personal vocations.

# 6 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-1-937081-56-0

2017, paperback, 5" X 8", 6 chapters, 111 pages, $8.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE              go to barnesandnoble.com

The Passion In The Great Story of Jesus is a six-week journey through the Arrest of Jesus, the trial of the Sanhedrin, his judgment by Pilate, the Way of the Cross, the Death of Jesus, and his Burial. For each of these six, the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are presented in the present tense side-by-side. Each week begins with a song and continues with time to ponder the Comparative Texts, some observations of similarities and differences, questions to prompt discussion and faith-sharing, and a closing prayer to bring a meeting to a close.

# 4 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-1-937081-48-5

2016, paperback, 5" X 8", 6 chapters, 103 pages, $7.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com

BEING SPOUSES:

domestic church, permanence, fidelity, children, intimacy

Being Spouses is for personal pondering or for couples or groups of 5 to 15 people, with reflections of a parish priest after being haunted for seventeen years of marriage preparation and pastoral counseling by a well-married brother's warning, "You can't know." The six concise chapters are Marriage Sacramentality, The Domestic Church, Permanence, Fidelity, Children, and Intimacy. There are 6 songs using traditional melodies and 18 scripture suggestions. Charts include Stages of a Relationship, a 44-month chapter-a-day Bible reading plan, Human Needs, and a Feelings Vocabulary.

# 7 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-1-937081-32-4

2014, paperback, 5" X 8", 6 chapters, 83 pages, $9.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE               go to barnesandnoble.com

FORTY  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES:

Lifegiving Penances

in the Great Gift of Mercy

This collection of popular penances of a parish priest is for faith-sharing groups meeting over six weeks, or for an individual reader seeking more creative ways to pray. They include 10 psalms, 22 other scripture passages, a walk to search for beauty, un-telling a lie, remembering one's baptism, a freely done tithe, the immensity and absurdity of sin, 72 tools of the spiritual craft, naming my cross, what's missing, anger the Jesus way, Saint Benedict's 12 steps to humility, the song that makes me say "yes!", the at-hand stretch, the greatest command, to bed one hour early, four or five toward intimacy, the breath of the Risen Lord, and claiming apostleship. The 40 penances are outlined to loosely follow the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, with opening songs and simple suggestions for faith sharing:

a seed planted, a memory provoked,

a question raised, or an action prompted.

# 3 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-1-937081-06-5

2014, paperback, 5" X 8", 6 chapters, 111 pages, $8.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE             go to barnesandnoble.com

                                                          Available as an E-Book for $2.99

TREE  OF  LIFE

Incarnation, Passion & Glory:

Saint Bonaventure on the Christ Story

This is Saint Bonaventure's 13th Century collection of 50 short meditations on the Incarnation, Passion, and Glory of Jesus Christ. Following the 1978 Paulist Press translation by Dr. Ewert Cousins, former parish priest and spiritual director Stephen Joseph Wolf offers a paraphrase with brush-ink drawings. Tree of Life is arranged for faith sharing groups, with opening songs and simple suggestions for faith sharing:

a seed planted, a memory provoked,

a question raised, or an action prompted.

# 2 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-1-937081-05-8

2012, paperback, 5" X 8", 6 chapters, 99 pages, $7.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com 

PONDERING  OUR  FAITH

revised with the New Creed

offers a six-week review of Catholic faith basics for followers of Jesus the Christ to learn, teach and pray: The New Evangelization, The Church, Sacraments, Vocation, Moral Formation In Christ, and The Sacred. Compiled by former parish priest and spiritual director Stephen Joseph Wolf, here too are a handful of traditional songs, pastoral notes, and questions for reflection and story telling for each week. Pondering Our Faith is for adults, parents and catechists, and helpful for individual study or for groups of 5 to 15 people. Any attempt to articulate the faith will be imperfect, because we are trying to speak about our God.

The narrative of Pondering Our Faith is excerpted with permission from the 2005 document of the U.S. Bishops, National Directory of Catechesis, which drew on input from countless faithful, clergy and lay, in a brave attempt of this generation to articulate the Christian faith.

# 1 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-1-937081-07-2

2010, 2012, paperback, 5"X8", 6 chapters, 105 pages, $9.95

PONDERING   PAGES

supplement to Pondering Our Faith

is a collection of summaries and charts describing Catholic scripture, history, faith and practice: the Nicene Creed, the person of Jesus, a four-page course on the Bible, Bible leaders, an ancient ritual, the People of God, the nature of sacred liturgy, our year of liturgy, the seasons of the temporal cycle, sacraments, the paschal mystery, Eucharist, the order of Mass, reconciliation, confession, penance, an examination of conscience, precepts of the church, forgiveness, conversion, transformation, metanoia, suffering and death, and seeking to understand death. The editor found it very helpful with basic and complex questions about being Catholic.

ISBN  978-1-937081-45-4

2023, paperback, 4"X6", 46 pages, $8.95

TWELVE  STEP  SPIRITUALITY  for  CHRISTIANS

is a parish-tested introduction to a vibrant spirituality of honesty, designed for personal exploration or in groups of 5 to 15 people. The main goal of this little book is to expose 12 step spirituality to Christians who may not be familiar with it. Behind this is a conviction that our culture, leaning to addiction, is called to be a culture of life, vocation, and freedom. Some familiarity with these 12 steps will most certainly enrich the life and prayer of every woman and man on any faith journey. Stephen Joseph Wolf, the compiler, retired after 22 years as a parish priest and spiritual director in Nashville, Tennessee. The six chapters are When I Am Weak, Let Go And Let God, Sick As Our Secrets, Progress Not Perfection, Let It Begin With Me, and One Day At A Time.

# 9 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-0-9795549-8-8

2010, paperback, 5"X8", 6 chapters, 75 pages, $7.95

ANGER  the  JESUS  WAY

on that other day Jesus was angry

is a compilation of conversations and prayer of a former parish priest aware of an anger affliction, centered around a story in the Gospel of Mark, the only place where the gospel writers applied the word anger to Jesus of Nazareth. Inheriting his mother's temper, the author has found solace in the awareness that in his humanity Jesus experienced anger, and understanding in the way Jesus models what to do with it. Anger can lead to toxic violence, or it can be where God's compassion touches the need for healing of our core wound. The story is the healing of the man with a withered hand in Mark 3:1-6, a story for all who are made in God's image and called to grow into the likeness of the Risen Christ. The six chapters (The Story, Watched in the Sabbath Assembly, Invited by Jesus, Riddle Silence, Anger-Grief, Turning to Freedom) are used by the author in ministering to groups of parishioners caught in an anger cycle, and includes helpful discussion questions and prayers for experimenting. It is updated from Anger-Grief the Jesus Way published in 2009.

# 10 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-1-937081-52-2

2016, paperback, 5"X8", 6 chapters, 75 pages, $7.95

GOD's  MONEY

where faith meets life in the world

is written for everyone who has from time to time been consumed with either a lack or an excess of money, for all who seek to better understand why we do what we do with money, and how life can be simpler and more real. Drawing on 14 years experience as an accountant and 12 years as a parish priest, the author is a "retired" CPA and Personal Financial Specialist with an MBA and a former pastor with a Masters of Divinity. God's Money is the fruit of praying over, wrestling with, and preaching on countless passages on good use and misuse of money in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. He translates Deuteronomy 10:14 ("Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the Lord, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it") as simply "It is all God's Money." The second of eight sons of Nashville's best TV repairman and church secretary, the author also draws on the blessed experience of growing up in a household with limited finances. God's Money is designed for faith sharing groups and for individual readers.

# 8 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-0-9795549-0-2

2008, paperback, 5.5"X8.5", 6 chapters, 89 pages, $7.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE           go to barnesandnoble.com 

     St. Mary's Bookstore in Nashville                   go to amazon.com

                                                        Available as an E-Book for $2.99

PLANNING  MY  OWN  FUNERAL?

offers a four-week process for planning one's own funeral, ideally in a group of 5 to 15 people. Designed by a former parish priest who still considers funerals one of the best ways to evangelize families, this little book helps an adult Christian of any age to pray with courage about his or her eventual human death, and how to be more fully alive now. The book can, of course, be used by an individual. But experience suggests that it is much more fun in a group. The concensus of those in one suburban parish after the four weeks was "We never laughed so much while sharing our faith!" Planning My Own Funeral? can also help the faithful Christian to follow the spiritual advice of St. Benedict: "Keep daily your death before you." It may not be appropriate for those under the age of 25, and those who struggle with conditions such as depression are especially advised to use the book in a group. Enjoy this little immersion in the paschal mystery of Jesus our Christ.

# 11 of the 11 book Faith Sharing ETC series

ISBN  978-0-9795549-6-4

2009, paperback, 5"x8", 4 chapters, 67 pages, $7.95

     See in the IDJC BOOKSTORE            go to barnesandnoble.com 

     St. Mary's Bookstore in Nashville                    go to amazon.com