Gifts from Friends We Never Wanted

Virginia Herbers is a retreat director, lecturer, and spiritual director who uses story and theology to shed contemporary light on traditional scriptural texts. Virginia has been an educator in the United States and Taiwan, a blogger for the USCCB, a regular columnist for Global Sisters Report, and a frequent presenter at retreat centers and parishes across the country. Her undergraduate degrees are in theology and mathematics, and she has an MA in pastoral studies from Aquinas Institute. She is the author of Gifts from Friends We’ve Yet to Meet, published by Liturgical Press. She currently serves as the director of mission formation at Saint Louis University.

Contents
Introduction   1
   1   Elizabeth   Befriending Grief: The Gift of the Second-to-Last Page   5
   2   Joseph   Befriending Incompletion: The Gift of Wonder   15
   3   Andrew   Befriending Second Place: The Gift of Perspective   27
   4   Martha   Befriending Worry: The Gift of Reverence   39
   5   John the Baptist   Befriending Doubt: The Gift of Choice   49
   6   Judas   Befriending Betrayal: The Gift of the Whole Truth   59
   7   Mary   Befriending Anguish: The Gift of Pondering   73
   8   Longinus   Befriending Error: The Gift of Conversion   85
   9   Cleopas   Befriending Disappointment: The Gift of Presence   99
 10   Peter   Befriending Failure: The Gift of Authority   109
Afterword   121
Acknowledgments   123
Bibliography 125