 |
PARABLES OF CONVERSION
Homilies and Stories Based on the Lectionary Lou Ruoff Paper, $10.95 128 pages, 5½" × 8½" ISBN 0-89390-403-1 View Table of Contents |
Whether you are part of a catechumenate group or a born-and-raised Catholic, these Parables of Conversion will help you find new ways to convert — change your heart, your mind, your soul. Based on the lectionary, each story relates a set of real-life experiences that will lead you and your group, through grace, to moments of conversion. Each poses a spiritual question while remaining open-ended — the better to encourage discussion and reflection.
Review
“Everyone, it seems, has a favorite Father Lou homily. The one about
the Lone Ranger, complete with theme song. The time he brought a sheep
to the altar. The one about his buddy in Philly who tattooed his girlfriend
Sue’s name all over his body and ended up marrying a girl named
Sharon.”
— The Virginian-Pilot and the Ledger-Star
About the Author
Lou Ruoff spent the first 12 years of his life in a Catholic orphanage. He attended high school in Philadelphia, then worked as a factory laborer for seven years before entering college. He graduated with a B.A. from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and then entered St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, where he earned his master of divinity degree. He has worked as a prison minister, a counselor at Covenant House in New York City, and a chaplain at the Virginia State Penitentiary. Currently he is pastor at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Norfolk, Va. He is the author of several homily/story collections: No Kidding God, Where Are You?, For Give and Parables of Belonging.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
“He took bread — and gave it to them”
3rd Sunday of Easter (A)
Luke 24:13–35
“Offer no resistance to injury” (a children’s liturgical play)
7th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 5:38–48
Total Trust in God
Feast of the Assumption
Luke 1:39–56
Jesus Walks the Water of the Sea
19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)
Matthew 14:22–33
“Poor Widow Contributes”
32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)
Mark 12:38–44
Prodigal Son Parable
4th Sunday of Lent (C)
Luke 15:11–32
Sheepgate — a reflection
4th Sunday of Easter (A)
John 10:1–10
Jesus feeds the hungry
17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)
John 6:1–15
“I am the bread of life”
18th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)
John 6:24–35
“I am the bread that came down from heaven”
19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)
John 6:41–51
“My flesh is for the life of the world”
20th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)
John 6:51–58
“A savior has been born”
Children’s Christmas Mass
Luke 2:1–14
“People ... in darkness have seen ... light”
Christmas Eve
Isaiah 9:1–3; Luke 2:1–14
The Resurrection
Easter Sunday (C)
Acts 10:34; Colossians 3:1; John 20:1
The Meaning of Ashes in Lent
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:12–18; Matthew 6:1–6,16–18
In the Breaking of the Bread
3rd Sunday of Easter (B)
Luke 24:35–48
The Good Shepherd
4th Sunday of Easter (B)
John 10:11–18
“I know not how to speak”
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)
Jeremiah 1:4–10,17–19; Luke 4:1–30
“Your sins are forgiven”
7th Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)
Mark 2:1–12
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
Christ the King (B)
John 18:33–37
Too much pride to sin?
11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)
2 Samuel 12:7–10; Luke 7:36–50
“The Empty Tomb”
Easter (C)
Luke 24:1–12
John the Baptist
2nd Sunday of Advent (C)
Luke 3:1–6
“And who is my neighbor?” (The Good Samaritan
Parable)
15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)
Luke 10:25–37
Scripture Index