SPRING 2019 A Living Gospel by Robert Ellsberg ORBIS BOOKS A World of Books That Matter MARYKNOLL, NY OrbisBooks.com 800-258-5838 A LIVING GOSPEL Reading God’s Story in Holy Lives Robert Ellsberg “The Holy Spirit writes no more Gospels except in our hearts.… We, if we are holy, are the paper; our sufferings and our actions are the ink. The workings of the Holy Spirit are his pen, and with it he writes a living gospel.” —Jean Pierre de Caussade, SJ, 18th century n a number of award-winning books, Robert Ellsberg has reflected on the lives of saints, I prophets, and spiritual masters, drawing particular attention to models of holiness that speak to the needs of our time. The message of such figures, as he shows in this new book, is found not only in their writings but in the “text” they wrote with their lives. Among the figures he examines are Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, and Flannery O’Connor. In particular, he offers examples of holy women who charted their own path, and who exemplify a “holiness of the everyday.” In JUNE learning how to read the “living gospel” in their 192pp., index, 53/8 x 8¼ stories, he shows how we may learn to read our $22 softcover own lives in the same light. ISBN 978-1-62698-325-0 Robert Ellsberg, publisher of Orbis Books, is BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY/Religious the author of many award-winning books, in- RELIGION/Christianity/Saints & Sainthood cluding All Saints, The Saints’ Guide to Happiness, RELIGION/Spirituality and Blessed Among Us (based on his daily reflec- tions for "Give Us This Day"). He has edited the diaries and letters of Dorothy Day, as well as anthologies by Flannery O’Connor, Gandhi, and Pope Francis. ALSO OF INTEREST MODERN SPIRITUAL REJOICE AND BE GLAD MASTERS On the Call to Holiness in Writings on Contemplation Today’s World and Compassion Pope Francis Robert Ellsberg, ed. ISBN 978-1-62698-305-2 ISBN 978-1-57075-788-4 $16 softcover $19 softcover 800-258-5838 OrbisBooks.com 1 Dear Friends, t is the rare work of theology that remains challenging and relevant fifty years after its first publication. James I Cone’s Black Theology & Black Power, first published in 1969, is one of those books. Cone envisioned this 50th anniversary edition with an introduction by Cornel West, but sadly did not live to see it in print—nor the 25th anniversary edition of The Black Christ by his student, Kelly Brown Douglas, who now carries on his prophetic mission. Other notable titles this spring include a Vatican journalist’s inside look at The Election of Pope Francis, a paperback edition of Elizabeth Johnson’s bestselling Creation and the Cross, and a new anthology of writings by Ruth Burrows, a Carmelite mystic and one of the great spiritual teachers of our time. Kathleen Duffy takes a fresh look at the role of struggle in the life and work of Teilhard de Chardin, and Leonardo Boff offers a new twist on a spiritual classic with The Following of Jesus. I call special attention to Love Prevails, a heartrending account of the Rwandan genocide, which occurred 25 years ago. While recounting the experience of a couple who survived in the “Hotel Rwanda,” it addresses deeper questions about how to keep faith, hope, and love alive when your whole world is destroyed. It finds a counterpart in The Way of Forgiveness, the latest in our popular series. Least among these important titles, I must acknowledge my own contribution: A Living Gospel, an extension of my previous books on saints for our time. In reflections on Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Henri Nouwen, and Flannery O’Connor, I consider how to read “God’s story” as written in holy lives. Peace and Blessings, Robert Ellsberg Publisher CONTENTS The Black Christ Douglas ________________ 10 Black Theology and Black Power Cone ___________________ 11 Christian Ministry in the Divine Milieu Maldari _________________ 12 Church as Dynamic Life-System Bracken _________________ 13 Creation and the Cross Johnson __________________ 9 The Election of Pope Francis O'Connell ________________ 5 Experiments in Buddhist-Christian Encounter Feldmeier ______________ 21 The Following of Jesus Boff _____________________ 8 Go Forth Pope Francis _____________ 4 Hinduism and Christianity Panikkar ________________ 22 Introduction to Catholic Theological Ethics Salzman/Lawler __________ 17 Justice and Peace Thompson ______________ 19 The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets Ward-Lev _______________ 14 A Living Gospel Ellsberg __ Inside Front Cover Love Prevails Rutagengwa ______________ 7 Loving Water across Religions McAnally ________________ 16 Ruth Burrows Jones ____________________ 2 Teilhard's Struggle Duffy ____________________ 6 A Theology of Southeast Asia Brazal __________________ 18 Unsettling the Word Heinrichs _______________ 15 The Way of Forgiveness Leach/Keane/Goodnough __ 3 "You Say You Want a Revolution?" Babka/Procario-Foley/Yocum — 20 Recent Bestsellers _____________________ 23–24 Order Form/Information ________________________ 25 2 OrbisBooks.com 800-258-5838 RUTH BURROWS Essential Writings Selected with an Introduction by Michelle Jones MODERN SPIRITUAL MASTERS SERIES “Ruth Burrows is one of the most challenging and deep exponents in our time of the Carmelite tradition—and indeed of the fundamental gospel perspective.” —Rowan Williams “Ruth Burrows is one of the great spiritual writers of our time.” —James Martin, SJ uth Burrows is the pen name of Sister Rachel, OCD, a nun in the Carmelite Rmonastery in Quidenham, England, and the author of more than a dozen books on prayer and the mystical life. Describing the central theme that runs throughout her work, she writes: “God offers himself in total love to each one of us. Our part is to open our hearts to receive the gift.” That theme is reflected in the writings assembled here, beginning with her personal discovery of the gift of God; the gift of God to each person; the realization that we are created to receive God’s gift; and the call to open ourselves to this gift and to be MARCH transformed into the gift of God for others. 3/ 192pp., 5 8 x 8¼ Michelle Jones is a lecturer in theology at the $24 softcover Australian Institute of Theological Education. ISBN 978-1-62698-312-0 She is the author of The Gospel Mysticism of BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY/Religious Ruth Burrows: Going to God with Empty Hands RELIGION/Spirituality (ICS Publications). RELIGION/Christianity/Catholic MORE MODERN SPIRITUAL MASTERS ST. THÉRÈSE JOHN MAIN OF LISIEUX Essential Writings Essential Writings Laurence Freeman, ed. Mary Frohlich, ed. ISBN 978-1-57075-415-9 ISBN 978-1-57075-469-2 $22 softcover $21 softcover 800-258-5838 OrbisBooks.com 3 THE WAY OF FORGIVENESS Readings for a Peaceful Life Michael Leach, James T. Keane, and Doris Goodnough, editors he latest in the popular Orbis series, this poignant collection of inspiring true sto- Tries will foster healing and harmony for those seeking peace in their lives. Contributors include C.S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, Dorothy Day, Harold Kushner, Richard Rohr, James Martin, SJ, Jack Kornfield, Anne Lamott, Mary Oliver, Frederick Buechner, and many others. Michael Leach is Publisher Emeritus of Orbis Books and the author and editor of many books, including Soul Seeing. James T. Keane is Senior Editor at America magazine. Doris Goodnough is permissions coordinator for Orbis Books. Together they have edited several books, including The Way of Kindness and The Way of Gratitude. MAY 224pp., 5 x 7¼ $18 softcover ISBN 978-1-62698-322-9 RELIGION/Christian Life/Inspirational RELIGION/Spirituality RELIGION/Christianity/Literature & the Arts ALSO OF INTEREST THE WAY THE WAY OF GRATITUDE OF KINDNESS Readings for a Joyful Life Readings for a Graceful Life ISBN 978-1-62698-232-1 ISBN 978-1-62698-275-8 $20 softcover $18 softcover 4 OrbisBooks.com 800-258-5838 GO FORTH Toward a Community of Missionary Disciples Pope Francis Selected with Commentary by William P. Gregory AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MISSIOLOGY SERIES “I dream of a ‘missionary option,’ that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation.” —Pope Francis n Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis laid out a vision for the missionary reform of the Ichurch. Mission, in his view, is not just something extra that the church does on the frontiers. It is the church’s very life and rea- son for being. For that reason, all renewal and reform must be vitally related to the cause of mission—a challenge not just for Rome, but for all Christians. Drawn from Francis’s speeches, homilies, and other writings, Go Forth makes it clear that the missionary reform of the church is the inte- grating theme of his papacy. Simply put, Pope JUNE Francis is a missionary pope who is calling the church to follow its true missionary calling. 240pp., 6 x 9¼ William P. Gregory is an associate professor of $22 softcover religious studies at Clarke University, Dubuque, ISBN 978-1-62698-326-7 IA. A past president of the Association of RELGION/Christianity/Catholic Professors of Mission (APM), he serves on the RELIGION/Christian Ministry/Missions board of Missiology. RELIGION/Christian Ministry/Evangelism ALSO OF INTEREST POPE FRANCIS THE COURAGE AND THE THEOLOGY TO BE HAPPY OF THE PEOPLE The Pope Speaks to the Rafael Luciani Youth of the World ISBN 978-1-62698-252-9 Pope Francis $28 softcover ISBN 978-1-62698-272-7 $20 softcover 800-258-5838 OrbisBooks.com 5 THE ELECTION OF POPE FRANCIS An Inside Account of the Conclave that Changed History Gerard O’Connell “Reads like a thriller.… The closest you’ll get to a conclave unless you’re named a cardinal.” —James Martin, SJ he selection of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires in the papal election of T2013 made history in several ways: he was the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope, and the first pope to choose the name Francis.