Forty Spiritual Exercises: lifegiving penances in the great gift of mercy

Forty Penances for Spiritual Exercise: Living the Great Gift of Mercy, is a collection of popular penances arranged by a parish priest for faith-sharing groups meeting over six weeks, or for an individual reader seeking more creative ways to pray. They include 10 psalms, 22 other scripture passages, a walk to search for beauty, un-telling a lie, remembering one's baptism, a freely done tithe, the immensity and absurdity of sin, 72 tools of the spiritual craft, naming my cross, what's missing, anger the Jesus way, Saint Benedict's 12 steps to humility, the song that makes me say "yes!", the at-hand stretch, the greatest command, to bed one hour early, four or five toward intimacy, the breath of the Risen Lord, and claiming apostleship. Stephen Joseph Wolf is a parish priest in Nashville who spends most Mondays in silence and solitude writing for faith-sharing groups and spiritual direction. Visit idjc.org.