Fr. Henri Nouwen

Coming from a biased perspective (!) I highly recommend all of Fr. Henri Nouwen’s titles. The above pictured is one of his most famous titles, The Return of the Prodigal Son in which Nouwen describes the life as the younger son, older son, and the father. This is a deeply moving and inspirational title because the author speaks from his heart.

Some of his other titles that I’d personally read and recommend are:

• Reaching Out

• Intimacy

• Here and Now

• Life of the Beloved

• The Wounded Healer

• In the Name of Jesus

• The Inner Voice of Love

Robert Cardinal Sarah

One of the voices that at first is a quiet voice in his The Power of Silence and then a voice that calls out in the world in The Day is Now Far Spent is Cardinal Robert Sarah. Cardinal Sarah is a powerful voice, not of his own but for God. In each page of his books is Truth. These books are formatted in a Q & A format. If you want to hear the unadulterated truth, read Cardinal Sarah.

Fr. Walter Ciszek

Fr. Ciszek, a Jesuit priest, suffered imprisonment in Soviet prisons and Siberian labor camps. In this deeply moving account, He Leadeth Me, Fr. Ciszek writes of his time during those moments of suffering and isolation but more importantly he writes of how God remained faithful and journeyed with him.

Pope Benedict XVI

Like Cardinal Sarah, Pope Benedict XVI or Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is also a voice of reason and Truth. His Holiness does not compromise the Truth but speaks it boldly. In Introduction to Christianity, Pope Benedict gives a profound overview of Christianity. He introduces us to the person of Jesus Christ and then later goes even more in depth in his Jesus of Nazareth series. His Holiness Pope Emeritus XVI is the 265th Successor of St. Peter.

Pope St. John Paul II

This was the first religious book (other than the Bible and school texts) and the first work of then Pope John Paul II that I have ever read. In Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, He writes about his own life - personal, spiritual, and vocational and speaks to the problems of the world and how God has been with Him. I have used the title of this book in several of my papers in school and if you noticed, I also used to close the welcome blurb on the homepage. It is a great line. After learning, reading, and speaking about God and experiencing His great love and mercy how can we not but be moved to our feet to bring to others this Good News? Another title of his that I greatly enjoyed is Gift and Mystery in which he recounts his priestly life and shares with his brother priests and all of us the tremendous gift the ministerial priesthood is.