If you are looking for a detailed theological treatise on the Rosary, this book is not for you. But if you, like the author, have felt a hole in your spiritual life because you no longer feel at home in church, you are invited to consider the Rosary. The invitation comes from the author's personal experience of its power. His invitation is extended to you if you are willing to accept the spiritual and actionable demands the Rosary places upon you when you engage it seriously. Those demands and the joy of trying to meet them are described herein. The Rosary is a way to meet Jesus and engage his invitation to "follow me."
James A. Rurak has led more than three lives, but they have all been held together by his search for God. He has been a mechanic, soldier, college professor, author, carpenter, mayor of a major city in Massachusetts, caregiver, tutor of high school dropouts, husband, father of three children, and lifelong fisherman. Now in retirement, he writes about how his faith, even when he doubted it, guided his life.
“I’m sure it is no accident that—decades after I last prayed the Rosary—I’ve been given the opportunity to read Jim Rurak’s ‘tract for Catholic misfits,’ wherein he looks back on the ancient contemplative practice, attempting to find a way forward in faith at a time when that faith is threatened both from without and from within. Clearly, Mary has made a gift of her abundant grace to the author and his readers.”
—Alfred Nicol, author of Animal Psalms
“The Rosary is an example of structured, disciplined, repetitive prayer that is a dimension of Christian spirituality. Jim Rurak’s book illustrates the special power formula prayer can have. Although he regards himself as a ‘Catholic misfit,’ Rurak describes how his rediscovery of the Rosary has opened important space in his life for mending personal relationships, making difficult professional decisions, and—most of all—following the Jesus of the Gospels. The book is beautifully written and religiously insightful.”
—Larry Goodwin, President Emeritus, The College of St. Scholastica