If I were picking a book for the group to read this year, I would suggest On-The-Job Spirituality: Finding God in Work. It offers something for everyone. The book presents ideas regarding personal concerns like conflict, discouragement and failure as well as broader issues that affect the workplace like injustice, ethics and the meaning of success. The author, Marianne Roche, is an attorney who also holds an MA in religion and a degree in business. Her book is divided in four parts. The first part, “Work as Prayer,” defines work as any job or chore we do, paid or unpaid, and asks the reader to consider a new understanding of work. “Rather than being something we do to support our life, our work is our life itself. Work is a gift from God and is God acting in the world through us.”

Part two, “Overcoming Personal Barriers,” tackles our “inner demons and foibles” while part three deals with “Confronting Cultural Opposition” (those broader issues like power and capitalism). Finally, part four, “Creating a Personal Spirituality of Work,” helps readers formulate their own personal spirituality based on Christian values using information from previous sections.

Each part is made up of several chapters with quotes from Scripture, reflection questions and suggested practices. The chapters also offer tasks, rituals or assignments to help apply the chapter to your own work situation. It is not just a book to read but a book to work with. (Click here for a sample of the book from the chapter on “Stress and Time.”)

This is a good book for your own personal growth and a book to recommend to others. You might even consider beginning a study group this fall to work on this book together. Have a great month. Savor the long days and sunshine. Enjoy each day. God is good.

In the chapter entitled “What is the Bible?” there is a picture of two bookcases—one for the Old Testament and one for the New Testament. (Click here to see this page.) It is a great illustration to help people see the Bible as a library of books rather than one book. A shelf is designated for each type of book: law and teachings, history, prophets, etc.

During the remaining summer months take some time to build your own Bible library. If your parish has a library, designate two bookcases that can be moved to a prominent place in the room. If you don’t have a library, find a place for the bookcases that is accessible to parishioners. Mark the shelves with the various titles and fill them with the appropriate books of the Bible. You can also include children’s versions of Scripture stories if they are available. For the adult versions find older Bibles, separate them into the various books and staple or stitch the pages together with front and back covers.

This fall, ask families to choose a book to read and study together. (For some of the more involved books you might indicate specific chapters to concentrate on.) Make study sheets available for each book. Check out Scripture From Scratch as a reference or just copy the introductory page to each book. Provide a form to be filled out with some standard questions on author, date written, main theme, etc. The last question should ask family members what they found most interesting about the book.

Finally, plan a family night for everyone to report about their book. Suggest families be creative in how they report on their book of the Bible. Along with answering the standard questions they can choose to act out one of the sections, draw a story board or make a mobile using events or symbols.

Have someone give a brief talk about the various literary styles of the Bible. Give each family three minutes to read what it found most interesting about the book it chose. Allow time for everyone to walk around and see one another’s work. If possible, display each family’s work near the Bible library. If you keep the Bible bookcases up for several months, all parishioners will have a visible aid to help them learn more about Scripture.

Servant Books has just published in paperback two delightful little volumes of readings and reflections from a couple of popular spiritual masters: Mornings With Henri J.M. Nouwen and Quiet Moments With Benedict Groeschel. These, too, are the kinds of books that you can savor, one page at a time, dipping into them whenever you want a little “spiritual lift.” Perfect for those quiet mornings on the porch, or just before you turn in for the night.

Finally, you might want to take advantage of a very special offer from St. Anthony Messenger magazine. There are still available a number of copies of Fr. Jack Wintz’s marvelous remembrance of Pope John Paul II, “John Paul II: Model of Heroic Faith,” which appeared in the May 2005 issue of St. Anthony Messenger. It’s an inspiring story, and the cover is an exclusive pencil-and-chalk drawing by famed artist Dina Bellotti. Get copies of this issue, while they last, from St. Anthony Messenger.