Dear Readers,
Summer is almost here and it’s time for some R&R. Take a break, spend some extra time in prayer, reconnect with your family and friends – and, if you possibly can, spend some time outside. Do some gardening, take a walk, row a boat, lay on a beach. Enjoy the sounds of birdsong, the rustle of soft breezes in treetops, children playing, the rush of water on sand. The natural world is a gift from God with great power to heal our tired minds and sagging spirits.
I’d like to recommend a great book for you to tuck into your beach bag this year: “Good News, Bad News: Evangelization, Conversion and the Crisis of Faith,” by Fr. John McCloskey and Richard Shaw, from Our Sunday Visitor. In the interests of full disclosure, OSV is publishing my first book, newly re-titled, “Be An Amazing Catechist: Inspire the Faith of Children,” due out August 1st. But I’m not recommending Fr. McCloskey’s book because it’s from OSV – I bought the book before I had any personal relationship with this particular publishing house. I’m recommending it because it’s one of the most encouraging books I’ve read in a long time. Running only 127 pages, this deceptively brief guide is both practical and inspiring for anyone interested in powerful, personal evangelization techniques. And I don’t mean standing on street corners shouting, “Repent, sinners!” to strangers. As worthy a message as that would be, this small book presents a more effective approach; one that arms the reader both to win souls for Christ and to encourage the new convert in the practice of an engaged, growing, and vibrant faith life.
A priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, Fr. McCloskey is a well-known figure in Catholic circles, having Directed the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. for more than five years. He has been a phenomenal instrument of God, drawing many out of atheism, the New Age, and various religious faiths, and leading them into the Catholic Church. His long list of converted brethren includes Laura Ingraham, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, Lawrence Kudlow, Senator Sam Brownback, Alfred Regnery, and Robert Novak. But he doesn’t holler at passers-by, nor convert strangers. He is, first and always, a friend to those whom he meets, patiently teaching and leading, trusting in grace and God’s good timing. What he does will impress you. But even better, it will inspire you, because you will see that you yourself are capable of doing the same. It will show you how to win souls – and explain why you should do so, through all the ordinary activities and relationships of your day-to-day existence, every day of your life.
Our columnists do the same, day in and day out. Like most catechists, they are passionately committed to transmitting the Faith to their students. That’s good news. The bad news is that I’ve been so busy the last couple of months, organizing and emceeing my first big conference here on Long Island [see last month’s column, “The Big Event,” for details], and launching my book, preparing for several speaking engagements, podcasting, homeschooling my daughter for the first time and running this website – that I’m quite late posting this article [and a few others, which are on the way]. But sometimes a really good book is a source of refreshment in the midst of all the deadlines and to-do lists, and “Good News, Bad News”is most assuredly one of those. So, after you finish catching up with our columns, head to the beach if you can, listen to the birds, and – by golly – bring a good book!
P.S. For those of you who heard the podcast segment on Deaf Catechesis, recently, my sincere apologies for not having the related article up for you to read. Since our content-management system changed, I have been struggling to post new features. I should have it up and running in the next few days [by about June 16th], I hope. Thanks for your patience.
God bless you!
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Lisa Mladinich
Founder, Amazing CatechistsTM
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