We receive many letters and much feedback from prisoners and their chaplains about how Bible Alive is a great source of encouragement and hope both to prisoners in serving their sentence and also to the prison chaplains who minister to them.

Among them we received the following remarkable and wonderful testimony from a prisoner who is currently serving his sentence in an English prison. 

International Faith Outreach is delighted to launch a new and exciting initiative.

Taking our inspiration from the Red Cross, who sent out parcels to prisoners of war during the Second World War, we want to send out our own Holy Cross Faith Parcels full of faith resources to our brothers and sisters who live in the third world.

Alive Publishing is committed to publishing and distributing a wide range of books on every aspect of Christian/Catholic life. Our books explore topics as diverse as:

• PrayerScripture
• Liturgy
• Biograpy
• Living the Christian Life
• Faith and Culture
  
• The Dignity of the Human Person
  
• The role of the Holy Spirit
  
• The work of the Holy Spirit
  
• The Eucharist
  
• Liturgical Diary

You can view these publications by visiting our online bookshop, simply click here »

The title Bible Alive captures eloquently our goal, purpose and mission. The Bible is living, active and therefore dynamic and alive (Hebrews 4:12). From the Bible we draw life, strength and power to live the Christian life. The directors of Alive Publishing and its editorial staff have known in their own lives, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the word of God coming alive in a real and dynamic way. Their experience rooted in many years of study and reflection is that immersing ourselves in the treasure which is Sacred Scripture is life changing and fundamental in living the Christian life.

Bible Alive is a Catholic scripture magazine which draws its strength, inspiration and direction from the liturgical cycle.

“The Bible is living, active and therefore dynamic and alive (Hebrews 4:12). From the Bible we draw life, strength and power to live the Christian life.”

The essence of Bible Alive are the daily reflections. They are written in an accessible and warm style inviting the reader to penetrate and plumb the depths of the scripture reading of the day.

The lead features cover a wide array of subjects, topics, profiles and interviews on matters relating to living the Christian faith today.

The essays and teaching are drawn from the rich teaching of Vatican II, the Cathechism of the Catholic Church, the writings of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

Our saint profile affords us the opportunity to explore in depth and detail the life witness of either a beati, a canonized saint or a hero of faith.

Alive Publishing is committed to publishing books and resources which inform, educate, enlighten and challenge. Our range of published titles so far is an eclectic mix of witness, autobiography, catechetical books on subjects as wide and diverse as: the Eucharist, the dignity of the human person, the role of the Holy Spirit and on the evangelization of culture.

We have published books for Vincent Nichols Archbishop of Westminster, Monsignor Peter Hocken, a seasoned writer and commentator on ecumenism and Charismatic Renewal and Dudley Plunkett a Catholic academic and sociologist.

One of our best selling books, Tears at Night, Joy at Dawn, journal of a dying seminarian by Andrew Robinson was a diary of a young seminarian dying of cancer. His courageous and beautiful writing continues to touch many people around the world.

We publish a liturgical diary based on the daily and Sunday Mass readings and a calendar for Advent, Lent and Easter which is well received by schools and parishes alike.

We also publish Catholic Today which is the Catholic faith newspaper for the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

International Prison Outreach is an initiative supported through the kindness and generosity of our readers through which we provide subscriptions to Bible Alive, books and other Christian resources to prisoners throughout the world.

Through the generosity of our readers we are able to send Bible Alive into prisons in the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Europe and overseas. 

We have always been so encouraged and moved by the feedback we get from prisoners who receive Bible Alive. We encounter in their letters humility, honesty, gratitude and thankfulness both to God but also to our readers who witness to the truth that prisoners are our brothers and sisters and we must not forget them.

Here is an example of the some of the comments we have received from prisoners:

“Bible Alive helps me to journey with Jesus throughout the year. Sometimes it is hard to grasp the meaning/message of a scripture text and I feel if gives us the real message behind a verse from the Bible. Bible Alive keeps us alive in the life of the Spirit. It helps us to understand and know God in a deeper way. You give words of hope to the afflicted and in difficult situations. Bible Alive has helped me not to fear what may come but gives us courage to face the future. Thank you and God Bless.”

“Thank you for enabling Christians in prison to maintain and deepen our faith which will help us when we get out to walk with the Lord along the right path. Every day there is something that resonates and through which God speaks to me to confirm my commitment or to encourage me to walk along the way of Christ.  Thank you for the excellent quality of production, so often prisoners have to put up with third rate things because its only for prisoners and it doesn’t matter rather like much (but not all) of the treatment we get in prison especially from those who are supposed to be helping and caring for us. The quality paper, the clarity with which end page is presented and the high standard of writing show that you do care for us.  Those of us who recognized this are encouraged and it helps me to be utterly determined to follow a new path when I’m out and to keep up this constant contact with God in whatever I’m doing.  Over a period of time of course the daily readings means that most of the Bible gets read!”

“Bible Alive makes me think how lucky I am and that there is always someone else worse off than me.”

“Bible Alive is very put together and easy to read.”

“When I read it first thing in the morning it lifts my spirit and me going through the day.”

“It is a real treat to immerse one’s self in a daily reading and prayer and something I really look forward to. Bible Alive is a great asset to any prisoner.”

“Thank you wholeheartedly from a prisoner.”

“Bible Alive embraces me into God’s family irrespective of the bars and guards that surround me.”

“I had never seen Bible Alive before. Some ladies visited the prison regularly arranged for me to receive it. It was a simple and practical gesture but it meant a lot to me and welcomed me into the Bible Alive family and I felt one with all your other daily readers.  Isolation and loneliness are real problems that effect people in prison making us feel lost and alone and hopeless.  It is so important that prisoners can receive the hope and love of Jesus Christ.”

“Supplying Bible Alive to prisoners is God’s grace, love and mercy. Thank you and may the blessings of God’s love be with you. Bible Alive inspires me and helps me to think of others first and to love my neighbour. Bible Alive has brought me closer to God through the daily reflections.”

To donate to International Prison Outreach, please click here

or call: +44 (0)1782 745600

Alive Publishing is a Catholic Christian publishing house. The company, which has charitable status, was incorporated in 1996 with the launch of Bible Alive, a Catholic scripture magazine, rooted in the daily and Sunday liturgy of the Catholic Church.

We recognize and celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit in our time and rejoice in the way in which for many, lay people and clergy alike the Bible is a living book: alive, active, dynamic and life giving.

As a Christian publishing company we look to scriptures, the living tradition of the church, the saints both ancient and new, the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI for inspiration, guidance and light. Our magazines, books and newspapers are rooted in a vision which is informed by the Holy Spirit, guided by the teaching authority of the Catholic Church and strengthened by daily conversion, repentance and prayer.

We draw special strength and guidance from Dei Verbum and the Gift of Scripture, a document published by the Bishop’s Conference of England Wales. We do so because of the light and wisdom both documents offer the church on reading, praying and living the scriptures in our daily walk with Christ. The bishops at Vatican II urged each believer to: ‘to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ’ (Philippians 3:8) by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. . . . Let them go gladly to the sacred text itself, whether in the sacred liturgy, which is full of the divine words, or in devout reading. . . . Let them remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading of sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For ‘we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles’ ” (Dei Verbum, 25).

Through all our publications but in a unique way through Bible Alive our hope is to encourage our readers to respond to this invitation.

The first letter which opened the first edition of Bible Alive expressed our goal, mission and vision: ‘In November 1994, Pope John Paul II wrote a document called Tertio millennio adveniente, concerning the coming of the third millennium. The Pope reminds us that all of time has been made holy because of the coming of the Son of God into our world. Since the Incarnation, the death and the resurrection of Jesus, and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, every moment in time has become charged with the presence of God and the salvation he offers the human race.

This understanding of time underlies the daily meditations we shall be producing each month. For each day is an opportunity to meet God, through his Son. As the Holy Father says: ‘Christians… should turn with renewed interest to the Bible… In the revealed text it is the Heavenly Father himself who comes to us in love and who dwells with us, disclosing to us the nature of his only-begotten Son and his plan of salvation for humanity’ (TMA 40). As you pray and read scriptures each day allow God’s word to speak to you.’

As Catholic publishers our vocation and call is to be faithful to this vision and encourage our readers, Christians of all denominations and men and women of good will to know the fruit, blessing and grace of scripture and in so doing draw close to the Father who loves us and gave his Son for us.

The name Bible Alive is grounded in scripture. The writer to the Hebrews described the word of God as being like a two edged sword, living and active (Hebrews 4:12). Our contributing writers would testify that the Bible coming alive was a major part of a renewed experience of God, the grace of a second conversion. It is precisely from this experience of God, the rich treasure we have in the daily liturgy and an active prayer life that grace and insight is found to write the daily reflections which give life to thousands of readers around the world every day.