Breaking Free
Spiritual Recovery in Hostile Times
by Jeffrey A. Mirus
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Book Description
A collection of essays written from March of 2019 to January of 2022 which focus on Catholic spiritual perception leading to personal spiritual growth, against the temptations to slackness which are rampant in a hostile culture and a weakened Church.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Redeeming the time: Christianity for knaves and fools like me
- Even at Easter? On spiritual fasting, according to St. Francis de Sales
- Pope Saint Paul VI: Hope in the desert of Catholic renewal
- The makings of a good harvest: Argument is never enough
- Sing of Mary, 5: The Assumption is the Crown
- Discipleship: The worldly don’t get it. But are we all worldly?
- Spiritual Growth vs. Spiritual Consolation
- Do we all worship the same God?
- Ecclesiastical judgment: Saints who left spouse or children for consecrated life?
- Lead us not into temptation: What can this possibly mean?
- Does consecrated life trump marriage? Can the married change their minds?
- The ITC: An enriched grasp of sacraments and their nullity
- Our lack of horror for sin and heresy
- Why we believe: Knowledge through love
- St. Ignatius: When are pious thoughts not from God?
- Learning from the saints: Jane de Chantal revisited
- Archbishop Paglia buries the abortion issue…again
- The frequency problem in liturgical translations
- Christian results flow only from Christian faith
- Understanding Providence in peace and joy
- Catholic mission: Properly shaped through our humanity
- Celebrating the conception of Jesus?
- Discernment: The First Rule
- Second Rule of Discernment (or) How we rescue the Church
- Discernment: The third rule is prayer
- Discernment’s Fourth Rule: Learn from your preferences
- The strangeness and wonder of Scriptural inspiration
- Free will: Being human is not easy
- Christ’s miracles tell more than those of the Old Testament
- Taking offense at Christ: Must we explain Him away?
- God exiles His people when He must. What about us?
- The inexpressible sadness of Christian failure
- David’s choice: Falling into the hand of God
- One soul at a time: The scandal of order is resolved in love
- The likelihood of a “Eucharistically coherent” Church
- The challenge of personal memories
- Liturgical sensibilities, liturgical understanding
- Smugness and spiritual progress (or the lack thereof)
- Does the world want salvation? The victory of faith
- Helping the poor, intelligently
- Coherent Eucharistic discipline: An unfathomable mercy
- Ransoming our children: Church-subsidized education
- Coming to a metaverse near you
- …but it matters whether you are right or wrong!
- Ariel beware: The Church, its suffering, and its victory