Seventeen Steps to Heaven

By Leo J. Trese

Book Overview

No matter how dedicated to Christ you are, familiarity can blunt your fervor and even make you less vigilant against sin. That's why you need this warm guide It reveals what you must do in order to begin living your life with God truly at the center of everything you do. With these seventeen steps, you'll be able to prevent your love for God from being diminished by day-to-day pressures.

The author, Fr. Leo J. Trese, helps you to integrate into your actions the truths you profess. He gives you solid ways to look squarely at the reality and love of God and to root out contrary attachments in your life, showing you how to improve your confessions, pray more fervently, and let the fact of God's love and the joys of Heaven inspire you to be holy.

Refreshingly unlike many modern writers, Fr. Trese speaks bluntly of Hell and of the devastating magnitude of sin. But don't despair He also discloses the remedies you can use to root out even the most entrenched sinful habits and attachments. Simple, profound, and insightful, this book is an effective and long-lasting antidote to the spiritual dry rot that infects the soul of even the most careful Catholics.

Make your salvation a vivifying reality as Fr. Trese shows you:

Why Heaven is worth living for, working for, and suffering for in this life
God's anger: what the inspired writers of Scripture mean when they use this phrase - and how you can avoid this anger
Do you truly belong to Christ? Four qualities you'll have if you do
What you must do if your confessions have become casual and thoughtless
"It's only a venial sin" why this is one of the saddest phrases you could ever speak
God's judgment: how you can (and should) start getting ready now for this moment of divine truth
Suffering from strong temptations? Three things you can do today to overcome them
Plus: more to help you attain a truly soul-nourishing relationship with God

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1928832261
• ISBN13: 9781928832263
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Breezy, tour de force of catholic living

A reprint of Fr. Trese's 1961 bestseller, "Everyman's Road to Heaven," this work successfully applies the catholic doctrines elucidated in Trese's "The Faith Explained" to daily catholic life. The short chapters (no more than seven pages each!) spell out effective ways to avoid sin, cultivate desire for heaven, be courageous and compassionate, pray well, etc. The advice and inspiration is better and more persuasive than most books of this nature, and many of his points will linger with you. For example, I've never forgotten Trese's words on the temptation to judge others: ". . .There should be a corresponding growth in our understanding of our neighbor and his problems. This means that we shall be quicker to make allowances for the weaknesses and the mistakes of our fellowman. Words of harsh criticism seldom will be heard on our lips. We shall remember that, with our advantages, we are probably not doing as much as the person who, with his handicaps, seems to do much less. The man or woman I am tempted to condemn may stand far higher in God's eyes than I do. We do not know all the hidden influences that affect our neighbor's actions. We do not know the kind of home and parents he may have had, the inadequancies of childhood training or the inner wounds he may have suffered. God knows all these things and takes them into account in His judgement. I do not know them; therefore I do not make myself the judge of my neighbor's virtue. Certainly I cannot condone. . .the sinful actions my neighbors may commit. But, with compassion strong within me, my attitude toward the errant one will be that of pity rather than contempt. It will be a prayer for him, rather than abuse of him, that my mouth shall speak" (132). Diverse in subject and filled with wisdom, this title warrants a spot in every Catholic's library...