I don’t usually write in books. But when I started reading Unleashed: How to Receive Everything the Holy Spirit Wants to Give You by Sonja Corbitt, I found myself grabbing a pen. In nearly every chapter, I was scribbling notes, underlining sentences, and bracketing whole paragraphs. If I’d had a highlighter handy, almost the whole book would have been colored in.

This is a powerful book. When it came up in a discussion on Facebook one day, I mentioned that it ought to come with a warning label. I stand by that assessment; looking back at the journal entries I wrote as I was reading this, I see the words, “this book is a challenge.” And I wasn’t talking about vocabulary words here.

Sonja Corbitt is as honest in the book as she asks her readers to be. Drawing on Scripture and the wisdom of the saints, she urges readers to come to know the Holy Spirit as Helper, Advocate, Counselor and Comforter. In the introduction, she states that this “conveys the idea of coming alongside, to surround, advise, guard, protect and aid. Because it is part of our feminine genius, women do this for others as a reflection of the Holy Spirit who humbly does it for us all.” (p. xv)

Each chapter of the book contains a meditation or reflection, followed by a short review, an initation to apply the Scriptures and the chapter to our own lives, and a “God prompt”–specific ways to get personally and directly in touch with God. Sonja addresses her readers as friends; “Dear One” is found frequently in the book. She does not talk down to readers but instead invites them into her own vulnerability as a way to move forward toward strength.

I read this book, a chapter a week, at Adoration, and it was a true gift to be able to spend those hours diving into the wisdom I found here.

You will find my reflection on Chapter One, which centers on hospitality, at CatholicMom.com.

Unleashed: How to Receive Everything the Holy Spirit Wants to Give You is published by Ave Maria Press.

If you’re interested in purchasing this book, consider stopping in at your local Catholic bookstore first. It’s also available online, and if you use my Amazon link, Franciscanmom.com gets a small percentage of the sales.