Living GRACE-fully

I love to read and have read hundreds of books, especially faith-based books.    This is a list of my favorite faith-based books, not necessarily in order of favorites.  Some of these books may only interest my Catholic friends, which I denote with an asterisk (*), but the list includes a great deal of variety for everyone.

1. The Bible. Obviously.  The living word of God.  The most important book for every christian to know deeply.  I love praying with scripture every day.  If you are really ambitious, try reading the Bible from beginning to end and see the story of salvation history unfold.
2. Anything by Anne, A Lay Apostle. Anne, in her writings, shares beautiful words from Jesus, Mary and other saints.  These are some of my favorite books I have ever read, so much so that I have read almost all of them multiple times.  There are 10 short volumes.  I recommend all of them.  She also has several other books, including Climbing the Mountain, Whispers from the Cross and Mist of Mercy, my 3 favorites by her.  You can find her books here:   https://direction-for-our-times-usa.myshopify.com/collections/books .  You can find The Volumes here:  https://direction-for-our-times-usa.myshopify.com/collections/volumes
3. *Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn is Scott Hahn’s conversion story from protestant minister to the Catholic Church.  It is beautifully written and easy to read.
4. God’s Voice Within: The Ignatian Way to Discover God’s Will by Mark Thibodeaux, S.J. explains how to understand the different spirits (false spirits versus true spirits) that influence our decisions and how to discern and follow God’s will in our lives.
5. Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler is a funny and witty story of Jennifer’s journey from staunch Atheism to Christianity and Catholicism.  This is easy and fun to read.
6. Meetings with Mary: Visions of the Blessed Mother by Janice Connell is a very interesting book compiling documented stories of Mary appearing in visions to people of every race and culture over the centuries and the messages she brings.
7. Where Angels Walk and other angel books by Joan Wester Anderson are a compilation of true short stories where angels have impacted people’s lives in a real and concrete way.  There are several books in the series and they are all fun and inspiring.
8. The Ignatian Adventure by Kevin O’Brian S.J. is a great prayer companion offering a unique way of following the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.   It takes you through a beautiful process resulting in a deeper, richer prayer life.
9. Jesus Calling by Sarah Young is a beautiful and inspiring daily devotional.
10. The Secrets, Chastisement, and Triumph of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary by Kelly Bowring is an informative and eye opening book explaining the bigger picture of the prophetic times we are living in and the times to come.
11. The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn is another interesting book tying together the times we are living in and ancient prophecies of the Bible.
12. When God Winks (The Godwink series) by Squire Rushnell.  These books are full of true short stories of ways that God has revealed Himself in people’s lives that may have at first seemed like a coincidence.
13. Discernment of Spirits by Timothy Gallagher teaches us to better understand and follow the Rules of Discernment of St Ignatius of Loyola so that we may better understand where God is leading us.
14. *The Lambs Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth by Scott Hahn, offers a deeply theological description of the Mass and the Eucharist. This is an awesome book deeply rooted in scripture and tradition of the Catholic Church. It is not an easy read, but well worth the time.  It will make you fall in love with the Mass even more.
15. Armchair Mystic by Mark Thibodeaux, S.J. is an easy book to read on learning how to pray contemplatively.
16. *Surprised by Truth series by Patrick Madrid is a compilation of short conversion stories to the Catholic faith.
17. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is a Christian fictional romance novel that beautifully illustrates how God loves us unconditionally through the unconditional love of the characters.
18. Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers is just as good as Redeeming love (above).  They are also Christian romance fiction novels but were set in first century Rome under severe christian persecution and are easy and enjoyable to read.
19. *The Catechism of the Catholic Church. I reluctantly put the asterisk here denoting something that may only interest Catholics because it so beautifully states what we believe, most of which other Christians would probably agree with.  It is all in one place and easy to understand.  Even easier to understand is the ‘Youcat’ (the youth catechism) or the Compendium of the Catechism, which is in a simple question and answer format.
20. Manual for Spiritual Warfare by Paul Thigpen is a great resource of prayers and inspiration to assist you in the spiritual battles that we all face.