The Better Part

This book should be declared a national treasure! We lead tremendously busy lives, with 1,001 things to do. Even so, every saint and renowned spiritual director through the ages has said the same thing: If we desire to become saints, we must spend time daily in meditation.

With this book (which is in its fourth printing!), Father Bartunek has created an extensive, Christ-centered resource to serve as a daily meditation companion.

Part I is an incredibly practical explanation of Christian meditation (along with a cheat-sheet!). Part II contains material to use during your meditations. The resource is a Bible study on the four Gospels, a survey of saints' writings, a guide to prayer, and a fresh introduction to Jesus rolled into one. The Better Part enables us to read, meditate, absorb, and apply the Gospels to our lives. It serves as a catalyst to personalize times of prayer, enabling us to follow the Holy Spirit's lead along the path of holiness. The portable resource has a ribbon to mark your place and contains detailed indices to help you meditate either on the liturgical seasons or the virtues you feel most in need of developing.

All four Gospels are included inside the resource, divided into 303 sections, with each section divided into six parts: 1. the Gospel text, 2. Christ the Lord, 3. Christ the Teacher, 4. Christ the Friend, 5. Christ in My Life, and 6. questions for small group discussion. There are quotes from saints and popes at the beginning of each section and references to the Catechism following the discussion questions. Each section is about 4 pages long, totaling 1024 pages.