Graceful Living: Meditations to Help You Grow Closer to God Day by Day

by Johnnette S. Benkovic

The wisdom of the Church is timeless, and the grace She bestows on the faithful is everlasting. In Graceful Living , you will experience the truth and grace of the Catholic faith through daily pearls of wisdom from two thousand years of spiritual masters from the first years of Christianity through the present day. Each day brings you a delicate sample of the truth of the Catholic faith, as well as practical and incisive questions to stimulate prayer and reflection that have been written by Johnnette Benkovic, host of EWTN's Women of Grace . Johnnette has collected these spiritual gems over the course of many years and has brought them together for the first time in this book for daily meditation. These reflections will challenge you to go deeper in your prayer and self-examination, bringing to light aspects of each quotation that might be missed at first glance. Moreover, they will help you start your day by lifting your heart, soul, and mind to God. Throughout the year you'll read and be introduced to scores of saints. You'll read Venerable Fulton Sheen on the nature of love, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross on women's spirituality, St. Thérèse of Lisieux on prayer and her Little Way, St. John Paul II on evangelization, Sts. Kateri Tekakwitha and Josephine Bakhita on finding grace in the hardest of times, as well as rare Christian poetry that hasn't been published in decades. You will also find grace-filled stories from Johnnette's own experiences throughout these pages, along with all new short biographies of key saints whose lives exude the grace we are all called to share in. Begin each day by reading Graceful Living and you'll be exposed to a rich treasury of Catholic wisdom that will remain fresh year after year.

520 pages, Hardcover

Published October 20, 2016

Reviews

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not a bad book but there are many other devotional I’ve enjoyed more
I’d wished there had been scripture connected to the daily devotions and it wasn’t there
It’s limited

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

The year is winding down and people are on the lookout for good books to read this coming year. One book that I would recommend is Graceful Living by Johnnette Benkovic. Graceful Living is a hardcover daily devotional in the truest sense of the definition. It begins with an introduction on how to use the book, such as using it in your time of prayer, saying each prayer slowly, and taking the time to reflect on the questions. Each day is then a page long and contains a quote from Scripture, a prayer, or a saint. There are then some short reflection questions for you to ponder. Here is one day as a sample:

January 5th
"A man must always be ready, for death comes when and where God wills it."

If today should be the day the Lord would call me home, would I be ready? What are my outstanding sins? Whose forgiveness do I need to ask? Whom do I need to forgive? What would be the last words my loved ones would remember me saying to them?

This is a very simple, but thoughtful devotional. It only takes you a few minutes for each day to read the page, but you should definitely take your time each day, as the wisdom and moments for reflection are vital for soaking up the teaching. I also like that this book follows the Liturgical Calendar. It doesn't just say, January 1, it says "Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God," and then the reflections correspond with the particular Feast Day. There are also profiles on specific saints sprinkled throughout this book. Don't let the cover of this book fool you. The flowers put me off at first, because I thought this was a devotion for women, but it is good for women and men alike.