Karl Rahner, a Jesuit Priest who died in 1984, is widely regarded as one of the most influential Catholic theologians of the 20th century. His writings played an enormous role in shaping the documents of Vatican II. But while he is best known for his academic theology, his deepest goal was to help ordinary Christians to recognize and respond to the presence of grace in their everyday lives. Rahner famously observed that the Christians of the future will be mystics or there will be no Christianity. With readings for Advent, Lent, and the other liturgical seasons, these sermons, prayers, and reflections offer spiritual nourishment for the whole year.

Howard Thurman (1900-1981), minister, philosopher, civil rights activist, has been called "one of the greatest spiritual resources of this nation." His encounters with Gandhi in India helped instill his commitment to nonviolence. His identification of Jesus as one of the disinherited helped shape the thinking of Martin Luther King, Jr. His embrace of wisdom from other religious traditions emboldened interfaith cooperation and understanding.

A psyhological and spiritual exploration of the positive potential hidden in our painful emotions. Its key conviction: our bad feelings can be good news, alerting us to endangered values, alarming us to hopes under siege, and arming us for the tough tasks of change.

Filled with lively examples, the Whiteheads demonstrate how negative emotions can lead to personal growth, spiritual development, and social transformation. Family wounds, cultural temptations, and religious malpractice make it difficult for us to plumb the meaning of our passions. Breaking through these obstacles is part of spirituality's healing task.

We all know what it feels like to have life disappoint us and not work out as we’d hoped. We all know what it’s like to long for something different, something better, something more.

The Comeback celebrates new beginnings. It offers encouragement and perspective, and it’s for you if you feel frustrated or confused, if you’re sorrowing or in pain, if you’ve made mistakes or are grieving, if you’re disappointed or feel as though life doesn’t make sense.

The good news is that God is in the business of giving fresh starts to people. He gives hope to the hopeless. Direction to the directionless. Help to those who need help. God is always good, all the time, and God’s plans will always prevail, even when our plans don’t.

God already knows what the solutions are. No matter what kind of disappointment or grief or pain or trouble or heartache you encounter, God always offers a new beginning, a change of heart, or a powerful spiritual turnaround. God offers the way forward, and his pathways are always good.

Your current circumstances will not get the final say in your life. God is the God of the comeback, no matter what kind of challenge you’re facing.

And your story can become a great comeback story too.