FIRE OF MERCY:
A RETREAT GUIDE FOR ALL SAINTS’ DAY AND ALL SOULS’ DAY
The newest Retreat Guide from RC Spirituality, Fire of Mercy, is now available at www.RCSpirituality.org.
When was the last time you thought about what happens after we die? Certainly, you already know what happens—we all learned it in Catechism class: first comes death, unavoidable for all of us, then comes judgment, and depending on how that goes, either hell, purgatory, or heaven. We know that. God has revealed it to us, and the Church teaches it clearly and authoritatively.
But when was the last time you really thought about it? After all, if God has revealed it, he must have a good reason. Thinking about these eternal truths must be able to have a positive influence on how we live our daily lives here on earth. Otherwise, God wouldn’t have made such a big deal about them. But he did. Why?
That’s what Fire of Mercy: A Retreat Guide for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, will explore.
• The First Meditation will spend time reflecting on death and judgment, and what God wants us to know about those things.
• The Second Meditation will give us a chance to reflect prayerfully on heaven and hell.
• And in the Conference, we will tackle the often misunderstood and misrepresented topics of purgatory and indulgences.
What unites all of these themes is the infinite mercy of our God, who loves us and wants what is best for us. So let’s begin by quieting our hearts and invoking that mercy. Let’s ask the Lord to open his merciful heart to us and send us all the graces we need, so that we can keep learning how to live to the full the precious and amazing gift of life.
About Fr. John Bartunek, LC
Fr. John Bartunek, LC, S.Th.D, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He then spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the religious Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010. He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller, “Inside the Passion”–the only authorized, behind-the-scene explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican’s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. His most widely known book is called: “The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer”. His most recent books are “Spring Meditations”, “Seeking First the Kingdom: 30 Meditations on How to Love God with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength”, and “Answers: Catholic Advice for Your Spiritual Questions”. Fr. John currently splits his time between Michigan (where he continues his writing apostolate and serves as a confessor and spiritual director at the Queen of the Family Retreat Center) and Rome, where he teaches theology at Regina Apostolorum. His online, do-it-yourself retreats are available at RCSpirituality.org, and he answers questions about the spiritual life at SpiritualDirection.com.
