Experiencing God

36 Ways According to Saint Francis of Assisi

Jon M. Sweeney

Paperback
9781966608059
US $19.99
eBook available
January 2026

Replicable experiences of God according to Francis of Assisi, offered on the 800th anniversary of his death.

Never have we needed more to experience God—to feel God. Francis of Assisi was spiritual before anyone used that word, and he was religious in the best ways. We love him because he cut through the paraphernalia to get back to religion where it belongs: working in the human heart, making a difference in everyday life.

Anyone can do the things Francis did, summarized in these 36 ways of experiencing God. Examples offered through anecdote, text, and explanation include “Free captive creatures,” “Pray alone in the woods,” “Allow yourself to weep,” “Stand between those who fight,” “Make a cross with your arms,” and “Pray ‘Who are you, God? And who am I?’” Sweeney introduces each with faithful attention to the original sources, and comparisons to spiritual teachers from other traditions, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Roshi Bernie Glassman, Evelyn Underhill, Richard Rohr, and Mary Oliver.

Jon M. Sweeney is an award-winning author and independent scholar who has been interviewed by the Dallas Morning News and The Irish Catholic, on radio with NPR and the BBC, and on television for CBS Saturday Morning, as well as NBC’s “Morning Blend” and CBS Sunday Morning—both in Milwaukee.

Jon’s books on Franciscan spirituality have sold a quarter million copies. Sweeney is also the author of thirty other books on spirituality, mysticism, biography, and memoir including Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart, coauthored with Mark S. Burrows, Thomas Merton: An Introduction to His Life and Practices; and Sit in the Sun: And Other Lessons in the Wisdom of Cats. His medieval history, The Pope Who Quit, was optioned by HBO.

Today Jon works in book publishing as an editor of spiritual books; editor of Living City magazine; and book review editor at SpiritualityandPractice.com. He speaks at literary and religious conferences, and teaches frequently online. He’s a Roman Catholic married to a rabbi; their interfaith marriage has been profiled in national media. He lives with his wife and daughter on Milwaukee’s East Side.

For the author’s previous books:

“Beautifully written and expertly researched, this is a truly superb short introduction to the life of one of the great spiritual masters of our time—of any time.” —James Martin, SJ, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage

“Sweeney succeeds…! Without such honest scholarship as we have here, I am afraid we will continue to drive people away from the beauty, hope, and mysticism of the Judeo-Christian revelation.”—Richard Rohr, New York Times bestselling author of The Universal Christ

“There is revelation in this book. I sincerely feel it will help one know more of God’s knowledge and love.”—Daniel Ladinsky, author of A Year with Hafiz, etc.

“Jon Sweeney is good at many things, but he is a master at retrieving the treasure of the Christian past and restoring it to currency for the Christian present. Francis of Assisi, a saint for every age, springs to life under Sweeney’s attentive care.”—Barbara Brown Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World