Pope Francis - Embracing the Way of Jesus: Reflections from Pope Francis on Living Our Faith

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2017 Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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2017 Compilation by Loyola Press

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Cover art credit: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images

eBook ISBN: 978-0-8294-4467-4

Based on the print edition: 978-0-8294-4466-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957586

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This collection offers fascinating insight into the mind and heart of someone who has rapidly become one of the worlds most beloved public figures.

Publishers Weekly

Refreshingly humane, focusing on people rather than institutions. Admirers of Francis and students of Church history alike will find this a useful introduction to the pontiffs thought.

Kirkus Reviews

A refreshing book, a true treasure chest of wisdom, which will both comfort and unsettle any attentive reader.

Englewood Review of Books

I cant even tell you the sense of wonder and gratitude I am feeling reading The Church of Mercy. Every Christian in at least the western world should read this man... at least read enough to know what Christianity has come upon or been given or will be watching develop over the next few years. This man sees, and is of, the Kingdom of God.

Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence

Magnificent. A beautiful invitation by a truly holy man to meet the one at the center of his life: Jesus Christ.

James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage

Pope Francis knows that the encounter with Jesus Christ puts our lives on a new path. Our life of faith is a journey that we are making with Jesuswalking with him, sharing his life, traveling in the company of brothers and sisters who have accepted his invitation: Follow me. In this inspiring book, our Holy Father offers us bread for the journeyto deepen our friendship with Jesus and our fellowship in continuing his mission of mercy in our world.

Most Reverend Jos H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles

A wonderfully inspiring and stirring resource capturing the depth of Pope Franciss magnificent vision and mission. His powerful message speaks of the richness of Catholic story and tradition. Walking with Jesus: A Way Forward for the Church is an exceptional source of wisdom and guidance for all involved in the ministry of religious education.

Edith Prendergast, RSC, Director of Religious Education, Archdiocese of Los Angeles

What a wonderful addition to our knowledge of the fresh and inspiring message of a revolutionary pope from the ends of the earth!

Allan Figueroa Deck, SJ, Casassa Chair and Professor of Theology, Loyola Marymount University

The capacity for joy takes its root in hope. Pope Francis is our generations prophet of hope and thus our prophet of joy. This is him at his best, befuddling our unhappy categories, offering a vision of hope and mercy, and showing us in his own person the joy found in an earthy, cheerful discipleship.

Ronald Rolheiser OMI, President, Oblate School of Theology

According to Pope Francis, Gods compassionate love for us and our responsibility to love one another, especially the poor and marginalized, are central to evangelization. Gods love fills us with joy, which we want to share with others. Francis preaches the Gospel, not the catechism. He is more concerned about how we live our faith than how we explain it.

Thomas J. Reese, SJ, Senior Analyst, National Catholic Reporter and author of Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church

If one is seeking inspiration from Pope Francis, The Joy of Discipleship is the best compilation out there.

Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ, author of Gods Voice Within and Reimagining the Ignatian Examen

Wouldnt you love to take a walk with Pope Francis? In our modern culture, walking has become a great pastime, providing a wonderful opportunity to talk and share. Whether fast-paced or slow and deliberate, walks with another can be great sources of learning, friendship, intimacy, and a renewed spirit.

This collection, which includes excerpts from the homilies and writings of Pope Francis, contributes the content for this walk with him. Picture yourself walking and chatting with Pope Francis along the road. The walk can take many forms. It can be a quick, daily walk, making use of one paragraph from his wise and captivating preaching, or it can be a long walk that takes a chapter at a time.

In many ways, a walk embodies the pilgrimage or journey through life. Some walk aimlessly and may even describe their movement as walking in circles. This walk with Pope Francis is not aimless but proceeds in a precise direction. In fact, it is a walk along the Way.

In the first two verses of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 9, the followers of Jesusthose first walkers with Jesuswere said to be followers of the Way. Here is what the verses say: Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, asked... that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. This passage describes those whom a man named Saul was gathering up for arrestthose known as followers of the Way. It is very ironic because Saul would soon become the great pilgrim missionary St. Paul, proclaiming the Way in virtually every corner of the known world. This book, Embracing the Way of Jesus, is about the followers of Jesus, what they saw and believed, and how it changed their lives.

Walks have a way of changing people. In the Christian faith (as in other faiths), the time-honored pilgrimage or procession shapes the mind and heart of the walker. Just as over the centuries walkers have been transformed, so today Jesus continues to transform those who walk with him along the Way.

The Gospel according to St. Luke, chapter 24, records one such famous walk. The risen Christ comes upon two disciples walking back from Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus. After listening to the woes of these followers, Jesus interprets the Scriptures for them as they walk together. As he explains along the way and then breaks bread with them, their eyes are opened to an encounter with the Lord Jesus, and after he vanishes, they can only say, Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us! So this book can be that companion on the journey, leading the reader more deeply into the Way of a follower of Jesus.

This walk with Pope Francis takes one through the Old Testament, the way of the cross, prayer, and other stops along the way, so that those who seek to follow can be encouraged in a new way of seeing, believing, and serving Christ.

Expect to be moved from self-preoccupation into a time of prayer, a prayer that not only refreshes the soul but also opens up new horizons in which you will see both your family and othersthe refugee, the disinherited, our created worldwith new eyes and in a new light. Neither nomads wandering aimlessly nor islands cut off from the world, those on the Way uncover a dignity in all. The Way has that effect of moving the reader along a path to heaven, a path of salvation, given by Jesus himself, who claimed rightly to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life.