Johnnette Benkovic - Experience Grace in Abundance

Johnette S. Benkovic

Experience

Grace

in Abundance

Ten Strategies for Your Spiritual Life

SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS
Manchester, New Hampshire

Copyright 2003, 2015 by Johnette S. Benkovic

Experience Grace in Abundance was originally published in 2003 by Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Indiana. This 2015 edition by Sophia Institute Press includes minor editorial revisions.

Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Cover design : Coronation Media in collaboration with Perceptions Design Studio. On the cover : Sea wave (232928557) mycteria / Shutterstock.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright 1965 and 1966 with some citations from the Catholic Edition of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NRSV), copyright 1989, 1993 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church , second edition, for use in the United States of America, copyright CD 1994 and 1997, United States Catholic Conference Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

English translations of Vatican Council II documents and papal documents from the Vatican website, www.vatican.va.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Nihil obstat : Reverend Craig A. Doty, J.C.L., Censor Deputatus
Imprimatur : Most Reverend Fabian W. Bruskewitz, D.D., S.T.D.,
Bishop of Lincoln, November 6, 2002

The Nihil obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free from doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Benkovic, Johnnette S.

Experience grace in abundance : ten strategies for your spiritual life / Johnnette S. Benkovic.

pages cm

Originally published: Huntington, Ind. : Our Sunday Visitor, c2003.

ISBN 978-1-62282-309-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ePub ISBN 978-1-622823-109 1. Grace (Theology) 2. Grace (Theology) Biblical teaching. I. Title.

BT761.3.B46 2015

248.4'82 dc23

2015029716

To my parents, Willis and Johnnette Simon,
in grateful appreciation for the life you gave me,
the love that nurtured me,
and the Catholic Faith that sustains me.
I love you. Dad, may God bless you
abundantly today and forever,
and may Mom rest in peace.

Saint Andr Bessette, pray for us.

Contents

PART 1

PART 2

Biographical Note:

Acknowledgments

For the First Edition

I am most grateful for the help and assistance of many individuals and organizations whose generosity and kindness assisted in the writing and publishing of Experience Grace in Abundance: Ten Strategies for Your Spiritual Life . It is with sincere gratitude that I thank the following:

Thank you to Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, which believed in this project from the beginning. And thank you for giving me permission to use Peggy Eastmans story, Please Dont Touch, from her book Godly Glimpses: Discoveries of the Love That Heals . Thank you especially to Michael Dubruiel, my editor, whose patience, understanding, encouragement, and keen insight guided me throughout. Thank you also to George Foster for a careful read.

Thank you to Father Craig A. Doty, J.C.L., for his helpful suggestions and thorough read, and to Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz, D.D., S.T.D., for his imprimatur and the use of his keys to a happy marriage, from his book A Shepherd Speaks .

Thank you to Father Edmund Sylvia, C.S.C., theological consultant for this book. As always, your friendship, advice, and counsel have been invaluable to me.

Thank you to Marietta Jaeger-Lane for sharing with the world her powerful testimony of forgiveness. From your pain, Marietta, so many have come to wholeness and hope. You are a guiding light through whom Gods love shines. May God bless you.

Thank you to the University of Wisconsin Press for giving me permission to use the excerpts of Mariettas story from the book Exploring Forgiveness , edited by Robert D. Enright and Joanna North (copyright 1998). Thank you also to Robert D. Enright and Richard P. Fitzgibbons, M.D., for their outstanding work in the area of forgiveness therapy and for use of their work Helping Clients Forgive: An Empirical Guide for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope .

Thank you also to Lee Sayne for permitting me to share his story of forgiveness. I am privileged to offer it to my readers. Lee, you show us all how to forgive even when racked by the pain of loss. I know that you will inspire many to walk the road of forgiveness.

Thank you to the staff members of Living His Life Abundantly International, Inc. for their help and support as I worked on this project. And thank you also for your many prayers. They sustained me more than you could know.

Thank you always to my friend Anne, whose witness of faith brought me back to the Catholic Faith.

But most especially, thank you to my husband, Anthony. You have given me the love, understanding, flexibility, and generosity to write this book, and many of these strategies we have experienced together. Spending my life with you has been my greatest gift.

If there are any omissions or errors in this book, they are all my own.

For the Second Edition

I am delighted that Sophia Institute Press requested to republish Experience Grace in Abundance: Ten Strategies for Your Spiritual Life in this revised and updated edition. Thank you to Charlie McKinney, who forwarded the invitation, and thank you, Charlie, for your gracious encouragement. Thank you, too, to Michael Lichens and Nora Malone, who edited this revised edition. Every book needs good editors, which you have been for me. Thank you to our graphic designer Carolyn McKinney, whose creativity and expertise have made this book both attractive and functional for the reader, and to the publicity team, Aja McCarthy, Michael DeMonico, and Molly Rublee, for their faithful efforts in distributing and marketing this work. May all glory go to God for any good that is done as a result of our work together, and may His name be praised forever!

Preface

Experience Grace in Abundance: Ten Strategies for Your Spiritual Life offers strategies to help us fulfill our fundamental vocation in life: to grow in holiness and to be conformed to the image of God. Each strategy leads us along the continuum of transformation by giving us a deeper understanding of the spiritual principles that mark the interior life and practical ways of implementing them in our daily lives. An opportunity for Working the Strategy is offered at the close of each chapter to encourage spiritual growth. In addition, placed throughout the book are seven more spiritual essentials, which are neatly formulated according to the acronym SUCCESS:

S Surrender U Uniformity with Gods will C Constancy C Continuous conversion E Empathy S Service S Sacrifice

These tips offer still other means of living the abundant life of Jesus Christ and sharing it with others.

Today, the world needs new saints and new evangelizers. It is my prayer that all of us who read this book will not only develop a deeper appreciation of our life in Jesus Christ and the rich treasure of our Catholic Faith but will also be challenged to live our Faith with holy zeal through word and deed.

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