The Journey to Peace: Reflections on Faith, Embracing Suffering, and Finding New Life

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin (1928-1996) touched millions of people through his passionate witness, humble wisdom, and spiritual writings. In the final months of his life he shared his personal reflections in The Gift of Peace, a modern classic about finding inner peace in the face of life's greatest trials. As part of his rich legacy, The Gift of Peace has become an international bestseller and has brought courage, healing, faith, hope, and love to people of all backgrounds throughout the world. Cardinal Bernardin's legacy is continued here in The Journey to Peace, a special collection of his previously unpublished spiritual reflections.

Using the Stations of the Cross as a framework, The Journey to Peace reveals the extraordinary faith, wisdom, and compassion of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin. Through these excerpts from his homilies, Cardinal Bernardin helps readers understand the relevance of Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection to their own lives, inviting all to join the journey that leads to peace.

Written with eloquent simplicity, and elegantly designed and illustrated with specially commissioned contemporary artwork, The Journey to Peace reaches people of all faiths for reading throughout the year.

Joseph Louis Bernardin served as Archbishop of Cincinnati and President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. He became a cardinal in 1983 and was Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996. Widely recognized as both a church and civic leader, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom shortly before he died.

Alphonse P. Spilly, C.PP.S., served as special assistant to Cardinal Bernardin from 1984 to 1996. He assisted with The Gift of Peace and edited the two-volume Selected Works of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin. He is director of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Jeremy Langford edited The Gift of Peace and two biographical photobooks of the Cardinal by John H. White, This Man Bernardin and The Final Journey of Joseph Cardinal Bernardin. He is editor-in-chief of Sheed & Ward Book Publishing and is earning a master's degree as a Bernardin Scholar at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.