Jesus’ Ministry of Liberation: A Companion after the Year of Mercy

Fr. Aaron Agorsor

(With a Foreword written by Rev. Fr. Dr. Michael Kodzo Mensah)

TESTIMONIALS

“Fr. Aaron Agorsor has a tremendous and practical way of unpacking the Gospel and growing the spiritual life. His lively writing [and speaking] style is particularly effective with new Christians. This book is a must read.” — Very Rev. Fr. Rob Clements, Director, All Saints Catholic NEWMAN Centre, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

“Please don’t simply read this book but breathe it in deeply, absorb it, and put it into action! Ours is a world that seems to be increasingly divided, contentious, leery of “the other,” and more often than not filled with fear and discouragement. Is there any reason for hope? Fr. Agorsor reminds us that the Gospel offers to this question a resounding, “Yes!” Hope is found in the faithful, extraordinary love and mercy of the God who not only made all that is, but who out of His unfathomable love became flesh to rescue His creation from the powers of sin, division and death. In these rich reflections, Fr. Agorsor pleads with those who have been rescued to go and rescue others with the same love and mercy that we have so graciously received from God.” — Fr. John Riccardo, Executive Director, ACTS XXIX, www.actsxxix.org

“What is mercy?  For many contemporary Christians, mercy is a very thin concept, connected perhaps to ideas of God lowering his standards or indulging our selfishness.  But as Fr. Agorsor shows in this book, Biblical mercy is an endlessly rich concept and reality: in a sense, it is the very Gospel itself.  Quoting generously from the Word of God, the successors of Peter, and contemporary Christian writers, Fr. Agorsor explores all the dimensions of divine mercy from the theoretical to the practical, showing how the practice of mercy can be life-transforming for the disciple of Christ. A rich treatment of an unfathomable topic!” — Dr. John Bergsma, Professor of Theology at Franciscan University, in Steubenville, Ohio

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rev. Fr. Aaron Agbeshie Agorsor is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, Ghana, West Africa. He is currently a Ph.D. student of English Literature at the Arizona State University.

As a Graduate Assistant, he teaches First Year Writing or composition and assists at ASU affiliated All Saints Catholic Newman Centre where he ministers to students from diverse backgrounds.

Aaron is passionate about his ministry as a priest. His experience  of God’s tremendous mercy overwhelms him and he wishes to let the whole world know that God’s mercy endures forever. He is also the author of Mary’s Magnificat: A Perfect Model of Faith Expression.

OTHER POPULAR SPIRITUALITY BOOKS

Screen Addiction: Why You Can’t Put That Phone Down

by Sister Marysia Weber, RSM

INTERVIEWS

Relevant Radio – The Drew Mariani Show: intro & discussion with Sister begins at 42:25, ends 53:31: https://relevantradio.com/2019/10/uncommitted-sex/

TESTIMONIALS

“Some of us used to be day-dreamers, which was quite harmless unless we lost contact with reality. Nowadays most of us have become day-YouTubers – also quite harmless until you lose contact with people around you. It can become a serious addiction, a screen-addiction. That’s what Sister Marysia Weber writes about in this terrific book. Being a certified psychiatrist, she knows what she is talking about. Not only is the book extremely informative, but also very practical by giving us powerful tools to help ourselves, our kids, our teenagers, and our young adults. It’s a goldmine.” – Dr. Gerard M. Verschuuren, Human Geneticist

“Sister Marysia Weber, R.S.M., has produced in her book Screen Addiction: Why You Can’t Put That Phone Down a useful explanation for why we’re increasingly engaging our social media devices and practical solutions for how to end our addictive behavior for our personal health and social well-being.” – Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, founder of the Catholic Distance Learning Network

Council of Major Superior of Women Religious presents…

The New Media and Religious Life: How an Awareness of the Benefits and Risks of Electronic Media Assists and Hinders the Consecrated Religious in Communicating the Love of Jesus Christ

featuring
Sister Marysia Weber, RSM, D.O., and Sister Mary Prudence Allen, RSM, Ph.D.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sister Marysia Weber, RSM, DO, MA is a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, MI who is a physician, board certified in psychiatry with a fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry, who trained at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.  She also holds a Master’s degree in Theology from Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.  She practiced psychiatry at her religious institute’s multidisciplinary medical clinic, Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center in Alma, MI from 1988-2014. She became the Director of the Office of Consecrated Life for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis in 2014. She is a facilitator for Rachel’s Vineyard, is chair of the board of directors of MyCatholicDoctor, an executive board member of the Saint Louis Guild Catholic Medical Association and the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology. She also serves as Adjunct Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Sister Marysia offers workshops on a variety of topics including human attachment, boundaries and character development, depression and anxiety, dialogue and conflict resolution, as well as on social media and its effects on the brain for clergy, seminarians, women’s and men’s religious communities, parents, teachers and students. She is a formator within her own religious community. She presents on Internet pornography addiction—a Catholic approach to treatment to bishops, clergy, seminarians, religious communities, and laity throughout the United States and Europe She presented to the U.S. Bishops in Dallas TX in 1992 on “Pedophilia and Other Addictions”.  She was a member of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse in 1994-1995.  Sister Marysia has presented to the Curia, Vatican City State on “Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy in North America” in 2002.  She has served as a psychological expert consultant for the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, USCCB.

Sister Marysia’s publications include “Medical Aspects of Addiction”;  “The Roman Catholic Church and the Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests and Religious in the United States and Canada: What Have We Learned? Where Are We Going?”; “Pornography, Electronic Media and Priestly Formation”;  Her publications in Seminary Journal include: “Significant Markers of Human Maturation Applied to the Selection and Formation of Seminarians”; “The Discernment of a Priestly Vocation and the Expertise of Psychiatry and Psychology”; and “Internet Pornography and Priestly Formation: Medium and Content Collide With the Human Brain”.  She has published two books: The Art of Accompaniment: Practical Steps for the Seminary Formator and Screen Addiction: Why You Can’t Put that Phone Down. She also has two chapters in Spiritual Husbands-Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century entitled “Chapter 9: Markers of Human Maturation in Seminary Formation: Becoming a Gift for Others” and “Ch. 15: Guideposts for the Seminary Formator in Understanding and Assessing Levels of Preoccupation with Use of Internet Pornography and a Formative Process for Moving from Vice to Virtue.”

OTHER PRACTICAL THEOLOGY BOOKS

Spiritual Direction: Principles and Praxis

by Fr. Dominic Anaeto

Paperback: $14.95 | Kindle: $9.99

TESTIMONIALS

“As a Lay Dominican, I thought I was intimately familiar with both sides of the spiritual direction process, but Fr. Dominic’s work in this area has provided me with tools I didn’t know I needed and a desire to engage others and be more engaging myself in a way I didn’t know was possible.” – Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, Lay Dominican of the Queen of the Holy Rosary Chapter in the Province of St. Albert the Great

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fr. Dominic Ugoo Anaeto is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi in Nigeria. He holds a License in Spirituality from Gregorian University in Rome, a Doctorate in Pastoral Theology from the Lateran University also in Rome, and a diploma from the Christian Institute for the Study of Human Sexuality at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. He is a certified counselor on topics related to Human Development and Human Sexuality. He has served as the Director of the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies program at Holy Apostles College & Seminary in Cromwell, CT, and as Director of Pastoral Formation at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, TX.

OTHER ACADEMIC BOOKS

The Art of Accompaniment: Practical Steps for the Seminary Formator (2nd Edition)

by Sister Marysia Weber, RSM

TEMPLATES

TESTIMONIALS

“Over the last four years, our seminary has been incorporating the content of Sister Marysia Weber’s book, The Art of Accompaniment, into our one-on-one formation meetings, seminary conferences, spiritual direction, peer reviews, and annual evaluations. Her second edition supports the deeper integration of the benchmarks found in the new Program of Priestly Formation, 6th edition, and gives practical insights and examples to guide discussions between our seminarians and their formators. Our formation program has particularly benefited from using her assessment benchmark template which provides a greater observational clarity of a seminarian’s formational growth and a tool of gradualism for the movement from self-awareness to self-knowledge, to self-possession, to self-gift. This new edition is accompanying our seminary as we review our formation program and implement the new PPF.” – Rev. Andrew Turner, Coordinator of Pastoral Formation for Saint Mary Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio

“As the new Ratio Fundamentalis from Rome invites us to deepen the integration of each seminarian through accompaniment in formation, Sr. Marysia Weber, RSM, brings to bear in this work her years of experience in helping priests and seminarians grow in affective maturity necessary for ministry. This little book offers very helpful insights and practical recommendations to assist seminary formators as they work one-on-one with seminarians in developing the necessary relationship of trust for their growth. Formators will learn from her how to create and take advantage of formative moments in seminary life so that the human and affective flourishing of the man can lead to a flourishing of his divine vocation.” – Bishop Andrew Cozzens, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

“Sister Marysia Weber, RSM, DO, articulates clear, relevant ways for the priest formator to accompany seminarians in their formation to the ministerial priesthood. Proposing contemporary assessment questions, this book helps the formation advisor both evaluate and assist the seminarian in his growth in affective maturity. I recommend this compact book particularly because of its practicality, reflection of the Church’s program of formation, and usefulness in identifying opportunities for interior growth for seminarians.” – Fr. Christopher Cooke, Director, Spiritual Year of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia.

“An invaluable resource that every seminary formator should have at his or her side.” – Fr. Dennis Billy, CSSr, author of Finding Our Way to God: Spiritual Direction and the Moral Life

“My colleague and friend, Sister Marysia Weber, RSM, has made an invaluable contribution to the work of priestly formation in her book, The Art of Accompaniment. Throughout the work, her skills as a psychiatrist are evident. Even more evident is her love and honor of the priestly vocation. The concept of accompaniment is key to every insight in the text. There simply is no longer a ‘one size fits all’ approach to priestly formation. Sister Marysia demonstrates both from science and theology varied and concrete ways in which more experienced priests can be both challenging and loving companions on a young man’s journey to ordination and a life of service to the Church. Her chapter on ‘Markers of Human Maturation’ is especially helpful because it presents clear and evidence based ways of helping a candidate recognize individual strengths while not fearing to tackle frailties that could compromise his future life and ministry in the priesthood. The chapter on communication skills is most compelling because it helps formators know how to phrase insights in ways that are acceptable to candidates. Sister Marysia clearly grasps the truth of the old adage, ‘I don’t say what I say; I say what you hear.’ The clearest and most objective evaluation I can give to The Art of Accompaniment is to say that I wish I had this book at hand when I began my own work in priestly formation decades ago. It is a significant and contemporary help in forming candidates for the priesthood after the mind of Christ, possessed of self-knowledge, and ready to serve the Church in our challenging times.” – Rev. Msgr. Thomas G. Caserta (Former Director of Spiritual Formation, Cathedral Seminary Residence, in the Diocese of Brooklyn and Pastor, St. Bernadette Church, Brooklyn, NY)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sister Marysia is a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, MI who is a physician, board certified in psychiatry with a fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry, who trained at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.  She also holds a Master’s degree in Theology from Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.  She practiced psychiatry at her religious institute’s multidisciplinary medical clinic, Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center in Alma, MI from 1988-2014. She became the Director of the Office of Consecrated Life for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis in 2014. She is a facilitator for Rachel’s Vineyard, is chair of the board of directors of MyCatholicDoctor, an executive board member of the Saint Louis Guild Catholic Medical Association and the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology. She also serves as Adjunct Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Sister Marysia offers workshops on a variety of topics including human attachment, boundaries and character development, depression and anxiety, dialogue and conflict resolution, as well as on social media and its effects on the brain for clergy, seminarians, women’s and men’s religious communities, parents, teachers and students. She is a formator within her own religious community. She presents on Internet pornography addiction—a Catholic approach to treatment to bishops, clergy, seminarians, religious communities, and laity throughout the United States and Europe She presented to the U.S. Bishops in Dallas TX in 1992 on “Pedophilia and Other Addictions”.  She was a member of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse in 1994-1995.  Sister Marysia has presented to the Curia, Vatican City State on “Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy in North America” in 2002.  She has served as a psychological expert consultant for the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, USCCB.

Sister Marysia’s publications include “Medical Aspects of Addiction”;  “The Roman Catholic Church and the Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests and Religious in the United States and Canada: What Have We Learned? Where Are We Going?”; “Pornography, Electronic Media and Priestly Formation”;  Her publications in Seminary Journal include: “Significant Markers of Human Maturation Applied to the Selection and Formation of Seminarians”; “The Discernment of a Priestly Vocation and the Expertise of Psychiatry and Psychology”; and “Internet Pornography and Priestly Formation: Medium and Content Collide With the Human Brain”.  She has published two books: The Art of Accompaniment: Practical Steps for the Seminary Formator  (http://sst.hgs.mybluehost.me/artofaccompaniment/) and Screen Addiction: Why You Can’t Put that Phone Down  (http://sst.hgs.mybluehost.me/screenaddiction/). She also has two chapters in Spiritual Husband-Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century entitled “Chapter 9: Markers of Human Maturation in Seminary Formation: Becoming a Gift for Others” and “Ch. 15: Guideposts for the Seminary Formator in Understanding and Assessing Levels of Preoccupation with Use of Internet Pornography and a Formative Process for Moving from Vice to Virtue.”  

OTHER ACADEMIC BOOKS

Memorize the Latin Mass!

by Kevin Vost, Psy.D.

TESTIMONIALS

“I wish I had had a copy of Kevin Vost’s book when I learned the Traditional Latin Mass a year ago. I used many of the excellent books he cited, but his method of memorizing the Mass would have been most helpful. For anyone wishing to experience the deep beauty and solemnity of the ancient rite, I would wholeheartedly encourage them to turn first to Dr. Vost’s book.” – Msgr. Michael John Witt, rector emeritus of the Oratory of SS. Gregory & Augustine in University City, MO, and Professor of Church History at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Vost holds a Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) degree from the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago.

He has taught at Aquinas College in Nashville, the University of Illinois at Springfield, Mac-Murray College, and Lincoln Land Community College.

He has served as a research review committee member for American Mensa, a society promoting the scientific study of human intelligence, and as an advisory board member for the International Association of Resistance Trainers, an organization that certifies personal fitness trainers.

Dr. Vost drinks great drafts of coffee while studying timeless, Thomistic tomes in the company of his wife, two sons, and their two dogs, in Springfield, Illinois.

For more about Dr. Vost, see http://www.drvost.com/

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