American author, friar, priest, contemplative and speaker, Brennan Manning, born Richard Francis Xavier Manning, has passed away aged 78. He had battled failing health in recent years.
Born and raised in Depression-era New York City, Manning finished high school, enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and fought in the Korean War. When Manning returned to the United States, he enrolled at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Upon his graduation from the seminary in 1963, Manning was ordained a Franciscan priest.
In the late 1960s, Manning joined the Little Brothers of Jesus of Charles de Foucauld, a religious institute committed to an uncloistered, contemplative life among the poor. Manning transported water via donkey, worked as a mason’s assistant and a dishwasher in France, was imprisoned (by choice) in Switzerland, and spent six months in a remote cave somewhere in the Zaragoza desert.
In the 1970s, Manning returned to the United States and began writing after confronting his alcoholism. – Wiki
His books touched many lives and had a profound impact on the way many people lived out their faith. The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out became a classic.
The Ragamuffin Gospel is a popular book about Jesus’ gospel by former Franciscan priest Brennan Manning. First published in 1990, the title was the inspiration for Christian musical artist Rich Mullins’ group a Ragamuffin Band. Songwriter musician Michael W. Smith’s glowing review in the foreword supports Manning’s simple concept that perhaps the most important tenet of Christianity was grace. Manning argues that Jesus’ gospel was one of grace, and that efforts to earn salvation are impossibly misguided.- Wiki
I recently read The Furious Longing of God, a book described as, “a love story for the brokenhearted. For those who are burdened by heavy religion. For those who feel they can never measure up. It is a provocative and poignant look at the radical, no-holds-barred love of our Heavenly Father.”
He is quoted as saying, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
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