1. Union with God, Dom Marmion – A collection of many of his letters of spiritual direction.  A gem of a book.
2. Anything by Amy Carmichael: Edges of His Ways, Toward Jerusalem, Gold by Moonlight.
3. The Gift of Faith, Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer – a must read for everyone.  You will find me quoting Fr. Dajczer in future blog entries.
4. Discernment of Spirits, Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher – tha absolute best book for the average reader on St. Ignatius’ first set of rules for discernment of spirits.
5. Before I Go, Peter Kreeft – 162 bits of wisdom Peter wrote for his children from the serious (“If There was Time to Say Just One Thing”) to the mundane (e.g. “The Oprah-Piss Test”).
6. Amish Grace, Donald Kraybill & others – a reflection on the horrific shooting of 10 schoolgirls in Nickel Mines, PA in October 2006–how forgiveness is woven into the fabric of the Amish people.  A lesson we could all learn.
7. Love’s Sacred Order, The Four Loves Revisited, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis – I read anything by this man. (See the “Scripture” section for more by him.)
8. One with Jesus, Paul de Jaegher – “One of Mother Teresa’s favorite books.” And checked out innumerable times from our library.
9. God Alone Suffices, Slawomir Biela – a tough love book that challenges us to let go of the idols in our lives–including our spouses. . .
10. A Sacred Sorrow, Michael Card – By one of my favorite song writers, this book arrived in my possession in a God-timely fashion shortly after my brother, Tim, committed suicide.  Michael writes about the importance of lament in the Christian life, a supposedly unfamiliar concept in Protestant circles, but, thank God, a familiar one in our tradition.
11. I Believe in God, Paul Claudel – Claudel is one of those people who writes beautifully–the way he writes is as wonderful as what he has to say. This is a collection of quotes from his writings arranged around the Apostles’ Creed.  I will re-read this book.
12. Mother Teresa’s Secret Fire, Fr. Joseph Langford – This book contains the best summary of God’s love for us that I’ve ever found anywhere.  Just one teaser: “In all our life, no one will ever love us as God does–nor love us with a love so undeterred by our imperfections.”
13. The Temperament God Gave You, Art & Laraine Bennett – I’m not into these kinds of books normally, but this has helped many of us in the SGL understand ourselves better and one another as well.  Sections such as “Understanding Your Spouse’s Temperament” (and your child’s) and “Temperament and the Spiritual Life.”
14. Where is God When It Hurts, Philip Yancey – The title, I think, is self-explanatory.
15. Disappointment with God, Philip Yancey – ditto.
16. The Beauty of Holiness, the Holiness of Beauty, John Saward – John “beautifully” writes about how much beauty is needed in our world, and how it is intrinsically linked with holiness.  Very insightful book.
17. Jesus-Shock, Peter Kreeft – As Kreeft wrote about this book: “I had written 40 books for Him, now I would write one about Him.”  This is that book.
18. Come, Creator Spirit: Meditations on the Veni Creator, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa – the best book I know of on the Holy Spirit.
19. Abandonment to Divine Providence, Jean-Pierre de Caussade – the classic book on living in the present moment.
20. Thy Will Be Done, Letters to Persons in the World,  St. Francis de Sales – from the back cover: “These letters to persons in all walks of life show that the spiritual difficulties people had three hundred years ago are largely the same that you and I have today.”

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This list is continued under “Spirituality (2).”