Writings

Words are amazing, aren’t they? Sometimes I say them, sometimes I write them, and I pray it is all for the glory of God! Here are some of the things I’ve written that I hope you are blessed by.

Discipleship Quad Guidebook

The Discipleship Quad Process is four people of the same gender who meet weekly for about a year to reflect on Scripture and Church teaching so as to encourage each other to be a more faithful disciple of Jesus Christ in the Catholic Church through tangible actions and, when finished, continue the discipleship chain by starting the process again with three new people. It is more than a book, more than a Bible study, and more than a catechesis on Catholic doctrine. At its heart, it is about brothers helping brothers and sisters helping sisters become more joyful disciples of Jesus Christ. Through this, your faith will grow stronger. Your prayer will grow deeper. Your witness to others will be more fruitful. The friendships you make will be life changing and long lasting.

Broken into four parts, the Discipleship Quad Guidebook is a 44-week reflection on the Bible and the teachings of the Catholic Church. It is driven primarily by Scripture. Each week provides a substantial reading from the Bible with smaller readings spread throughout the week. Written reflections compliment the Scriptures and include quotes from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Church documents, saints, and other inspirational writers.

This is brought to you from Franciscan University of Steubenville as part of its mission, “to educate, to evangelize, and to send forth joyful disciples.” Numerous years of research and testing by a collaborative team went into the development of the Discipleship Quad Process. It is a means through which the Holy Spirit will help fulfill the mission Jesus gave to St. Francis to “Rebuild my church”… one disciple at a time.This Guidebook is part one of four. More information about the Discipleship Quad Process can be found at https://steubenvilleconferences.com/discipleship-quads.

Between the Savior and the Sea

When Christ was on the cross… where was Simon Peter?

Between the Savior and the Sea tells the Gospel story through Simon Peter’s eyes. It not only brings to life the famous moments of the Gospels, it also goes where they are silent: What miracles occurred when Simon Peter and the other disciples were sent off two by two? How did he know that Jesus was the Christ? And what was he thinking when he denied him? Led to experience things beyond his wildest imagination, Simon Peter felt torn between being a fisherman and a “fisher of men,” caught between the Savior and the sea.

Here are some kind things folks have said about it:

Carmelite Review: “Besides telling the Jesus story from the perspective of the Apostles, Bob Rice uses the Ignatian spiritual technique of filling out the Gospel scenes with lots of sensory content—the smell of the sea, the sound of a room full of sleeping disciples, etc., etc. Yes, besides being a good psychological writer, Bob Rice is a good descriptive writer… (the book) provides some food for thought, it uplifts the heart and mind, and it can lead us to prayer. And that’s a good thing.”

Catholic Nerd: “This book is an easy read and a page turner… it turns the Bible into a compelling story without being ‘preachy’ or feeling like you are being forced to learn.”

Creative Minority Report: “Rice’s book is a fictionalized history of Peter. It’s a weird genre that makes me nervous because it’s tough to get it right. But I gotta’ tell you I think ‘Between the Savior and the Sea’ is darn good. I found myself moved quite often. It’s faithful and insightful. It gave me much to consider.”

Curt Jester: “As a novel I found much of it to be a rich meditation and I really liked the interactions among the Apostles and the portrayal of the political environment of the time and the different groups. Some aspects of the Gospels such as the disciples going out to preach I haven’t thought too much about, but I enjoyed how this was shown.”

Dominic Bettinelli: “’Between the Savior and the Sea’ accomplishes what every work of Christian fiction should aspire to, namely that as I read it and when I was done I was brought closer to Christ, to His Church, and to His sacraments. At times, I was brought to the point of tears as I contemplated Christ’s love and His sacrifices.”

Thinking in Christ: “You could almost forget you are reading a 2000 year old story as you work your way through these pages… The stories come alive with emotion that you might have never imagined being there.”

Books and Pals: “Biblical scholars and different Christian denominations can’t agree on all the specifics. However, the big picture, I think Rice got. For believers or the curious who find reading the bible hard going, Between the Savior and the Sea is an excellent compromise. For those who have read The Bible, the new viewpoint and easier reading might be something you’d be interested in reading. For non-believers, decide for yourself.”

This book is available at Amazon.com.

40-Day Spiritual Workout

I first wrote “The 35 Day Spiritual Workout” in the late 90s as a follow up to the Steubenville Summer Youth Conferences. When I was a teen and attended a Young Life camp, my youth minister recommended a book called, “My First Thirty Quiet Times.” It was a thirty day devotional that got me into the habit of prayer. I thought that kind of devotional would be great for teens that had a powerful experience at a youth conference but didn’t know what to do when they got home.

Since writing it, over ten thousand people have gone through it and have shared how much they were blessed by it. In the summer of 2013, I updated it to the “40-Day Spiritual Workout.” I didn’t just add five days, I went over the whole thing based on feedback I’ve gotten over the past few years. I trimmed back some of the verses, removed days that weren’t as strong as the others, and added stories.  I also was able to make a clearer connection to the five forms of prayer that the Catechism talks about.

I appreciate what Book Reviews and More wrote about it: “The book is written in such a way that you have a short reading or readings each day from the bible; then quotes from Catholic authors, the Catechism or church writings. Then comes the teaching. And trust me, Bob’s teaching is marvelous. This book will help you develop spiritual disciplines and improve upon those you already have.”

The book is available at Amazon.com.

Articles

For many years I’ve been privileged to write articles on youth and young adult ministry for The Catechetical Review. You can see a list of my many articles by CLICKING HERE. You’ll get to see samples of what I’ve written, and subscribe to get the rest. The Catechetical Review is one of the only catechetical journals in the United States and it is filled with amazing articles on how to pass the faith on to a variety of ages and contexts. Many of the articles are also translated into Spanish.

I have also been blessed to have published a few articles with The Deacon Magazine.