Robert Ellsberg – författare

Deep in the heart of every person there is a longing for happiness. But what is happiness, and how might we find it? Countless books send us searching for the answer in a wide variety of different places: through personal relationships, career success, physical fitness, beauty, weight, diet and the like. Robert Ellsberg suggests that we begin somewhere else: with our selves, exactly as we are and where we are, in the midst of our everyday life. He shows how happiness is found not through the struggle to escape from this life into another one but in the way we deal with the basic things - work, love, suffering, and death. Ellsberg draws inspiration from the great figures in the Christian tradition, from famous saints such as Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Avila, to remarkable men and women that he has known and worked with, such as Henri Nouwen and Dorothy Day.

Since the early centuries, Christians have held up the saints as models of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  While the church officially recognizes a relatively small number of saints, the actual roster is infinitely wider. Blessed Among Us explores this eclectic “cloud of witnesses”—lay and religious, single and married, canonized and not, and even non-Christians whose faith and wisdom may illuminate our path. Brought to life in the evocative storytelling of Robert Ellsberg, they inspire the moral imagination and give witness to the myriad ways of holiness.  In two stories per day for a full calendar year, Ellsberg sketches figures from biblical times to the present age and from all corners of this world—ordinary figures whose extraordinary lives point to the new age in the world to come.   Blessed Among Us is drawn from Ellsberg’s acclaimed column of the same name in Give Us This Day, a monthly resource for daily prayer published by Liturgical Press.

Since the early centuries, Christians have held up the saints as models of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  While the church officially recognizes a relatively small number of saints, the actual roster is infinitely wider. Blessed Among Us explores this eclectic “cloud of witnesses”—lay and religious, single and married, canonized and not, and even non-Christians whose faith and wisdom may illuminate our path. Brought to life in the evocative storytelling of Robert Ellsberg, they inspire the moral imagination and give witness to the myriad ways of holiness.   In two stories per day for a full calendar year, Ellsberg sketches figures from biblical times to the present age and from all corners of this world—ordinary figures whose extraordinary lives point to the new age in the world to come.   Blessed Among Us is drawn from Ellsberg’s acclaimed column of the same name in Give Us This Day, a monthly resource for daily prayer published by Liturgical Press.   

Winner of three Catholic Press Awards. The best-selling author of All Saints presents this new collection of devotional sketches on history's greatest women. From Joan of Arc to Anne Frank to Mary Magdalene, Ellsberg offers insights into the lives of women that inspire us.

"If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for."—Thomas Merton Some of today's most popular spiritual writers—including Rev. James Martin, S.J.; Bishop Robert Barron; Robert Ellsberg; Rev. Daniel P. Horan; and Kaya Oakes—explore the meaning of life and what we live for using Thomas Merton's life and writings as a guide. In his address before the US Congress, Pope Francis praised Merton as one of four exemplary Americans. This was no surprise to the thousands who already know and appreciate the twentieth-century monk, but there were many listening that day who still have no idea who Merton is.What I Am Living For offers readers new to Merton, as well as longtime enthusiasts, an opportunity to see how the influential twentieth-century monk and writer continues to encourage the awakening of faith in the twenty-first century. The book is in two parts. Each contributor to part one focuses on an aspect of the spiritual life that is of vital importance today and on which Merton made a profound impact. These include: Martin—Finding who God intends you to be Ellsberg—The spiritual need for solitude and stability Oakes—The importance of coming to terms with our sexuality, whether married, single, or celibate Horan—The importance of dialogue with God, culture, society, and people of other faiths Part two features shorter, often more personal reflections on the future of faith, the life and teachings of Merton, and what he still says to anyone who seeks a relationship with God. Contributors include such well-known writers as Barron; Sue Monk Kidd; Pico Iyer; Paula Huston; Ilia Delio, O.F.M.;  Paul Quenon, O.C.S.O.; and Sylvia Boorstein.

This companion volume to Robert Ellsberg’s bestselling resource Blessed Among Us offers even more reflections on the inspiring, if also eclectic, “cloud of witnesses.” Since the early centuries, Christians have held up saintly people as models of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While the Church o­fficially recognizes a relatively small number of saints, the actual roster is infinitely wider. Blessed Among Us explores this eclectic “Cloud of Witnesses”—lay and religious, single and married, canonized and not, and even non-Christians whose faith and wisdom may illuminate our path. Brought to life in the evocative storytelling of Robert Ellsberg, they inspire the moral imagination and give witness to the myriad ways of holiness.    In two stories per day for over a full calendar year, Ellsberg sketches figures from biblical times to the present age and from all corners of the world—ordinary figures whose extraordinary lives point to the new age in the world to come. Blessed Among Us is drawn from Ellsberg’s acclaimed column of the same name in Give Us ­This Day, a monthly resource for daily prayer published by Liturgical Press.