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Jon M. Sweeney
Writer, Editor, Speaker, Retreat Leader
Woodstock, Vermont

Jon is the author of many books that present key people, events, and legends of the Middle Ages to a wide audience. Just published is Light in the Dark Ages: The Friendship of Francis and Clare of Assisi, a selection of the History Book Club, Book-of-the-Month Club, as well as the One Spirit, Crossings, Reader’s Subscription, and Quality Paperback book clubs.

Others include Strange Heaven: The Virgin Mary as Woman, Mother, Disciple, and Advocate, The Lure of Saints, The St. Francis Prayer Book, The St. Clare Prayer Book, and his memoir, Born Again and Again, which was named one of the “Best Books of 2005” by Spirituality & Health magazine and awarded an “Award of Merit” by Christianity Today.

Jon’s look at embodied prayer across the religious traditions, Praying with Our Hands, was featured on PBS’s “Religion & Ethics Newsweekly”; and his edited version of Paul Sabatier’s classic biography of St. Francis, The Road to Assisi, was also a selection of History Book Club and Book-of-the-Month Club.

For many years, Jon was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of SkyLight Paths Publishing, a multifaith trade book publisher in Vermont. Since 2004, he has been the associate publisher at Paraclete Press.

In addition to his book and film reviews and interviews for Explorefaith, Jon writes for magazines including Catholic Digest and The Lutheran.

He is a frequent guest speaker to groups of all denominational backgrounds on the subjects of understanding the Virgin Mary, Christian fundamentalism, Francis and Clare of Assisi and Franciscan spirituality, and appreciating the Catholic imagination. He was the featured speaker at The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on St. Francis’s feast day in 2004.

Jon lives in Vermont with his wife and their two teenage children. You can reach him via email at jsweeney@paracletepress.com.
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Amazing Grace
The Simpsons Movie
Blade Runner, The Final Cut (2007)

Praying with Your Heart
Prayers of St. Francis

"Rooted in Faith"
It is difficult today to imagine how I could not be a Christian after all the preaching I've heard. Thunderous, rhythmic word-pounding the spirit of God.

The Stories of Our Selves
Somewhere in the Zohar, the classic text of Jewish mysticism, it says, "The stories in the Torah couldn't be about what they say they're about because we could write better stories."