Book Notes

One of the parts of being in a small, faith-sharing group that I've liked quite a lot has been the Great Sharing of Books—the exchange of books, CDs and other media that contain the sermons, reflections and stories that are helping those in our group become better men and better Christians.

Two books I was given recently are the sort that I wouldn't have picked up on my own. But, being in a prayer group has given the Holy Spirit an opportunity to use my brothers to color outside the lines I've drawn for myself. I'm grateful for having received both books.

A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn and The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic by Matthew Kelly, are similar only in that they both are Catholic. Otherwise they address different aspects of living the faith.  The first will give even well-read Catholics a much deeper understanding of God's plan not only for mankind, but for the lives of all people. The second assumes a basic understanding of the faith but seeks to increase its impact in our lives and the lives of our parishes.

Both books are written by established authors in Catholic evangelization. Scott Hahn, a Presbyterian minister who converted to Catholicism in the Eighties, spent several years telling and re-telling the story of his conversion to Catholicism in books and tapes. Because his conversion was brought about by his study of scripture, in which he quite unintentionally proved the truth of the Church using the same Bible he had previously used to disprove it, he became the most celebrated Catholic apologist of the Nineties. Lay Catholics who were really into the Bible weren't all that common at the time, and his work set a fire among Catholics grasping to better explain their faith in scriptural terms to Evangelicals.

Although my conversion to Catholicism was philosophical rather than scriptural, I was quite impressed by Hahn and couldn't get enough of his books on the biblical basis for the Catholic faith. Well, couldn't get enough of them until I figured I'd read everything he had to say (nothing wrong with that, it happens with every author I get into). I then went Scott Hahn-dormant for a decade or so.

I now know I missed some good stuff. Written in 1997, A Father Who Keeps His Promises, brings to life the often very dry and confusing books of the Old Testament—the books that are supposed to get us excited and ready for the coming of Christ in the Gospels and New Testament but often, because of our own shortcomings, don't. Hahn, while staying well within the Catholic framework of scriptural interpretation, brings them to life in a way that few can, giving us the never-ending covenant of the Lord as our guide.

"...[I]f you want to get to the heart of Scripture, think covenant not contract, father not judge, family room not courtroom; God's laws and judgments are meant to be interpreted as signs of his fatherly love, wisdom and authority," Hahn writes. "The basic message God wants to convey by a covenant, then, can be stated simply: "I love you. I am committed to you. I swear that I will never forsake you. You are mine and I am yours. I am your father, and you are my family."

This view of God may be generally held by quite a few people, but it is also one that many other people have missed or not received in its fullness as a cohesive explanation salvation history. The Old Testament can often seem to be A Testament of the God Who Punishes and irreconcilable with the New Testament which, from that perspective, seems to be A Testament of the God Who Suddenly Wants to be Your Brother and Friend After Having Cast You Out and Dragged You Around the Desert for Millenia.

I have to admit that such incongruity was part of what kept me from really getting into scripture. And, I never really thought of God as a loving Father. Although I used more theological language, I thought of Him, until I read this book, as the Holder of All the Cards Who Occasionally Cuts You a Break.

Of course, I assumed my understanding was defective. The great Catholic theologians had made sense of the Bible, so I figured it must make sense and that I just hadn't been given the gift of knowledge and understanding required. Scott Hahn finally delivered that gift: a step-by-step, book-by-book understanding of how God, when it seemed like he was the angry God who was perenially on the verge of abandoning us, kept coming back to re-establish his covenant with us. I highly recommend this book.

***

Matthew Kelly is a man on a mission and, through The Dynamic Catholic Institute, has been on it for over a decade in books and on speaking tours trying to get Catholics to realize their full potential. He believes, as a Church and as individuals, we have a lot of potential for growth, and that if this growth were made actual it would change the Church in America for the better.

Through his own studies, he found that only seven percent of Catholics are really engaged in their parishes. He writes that seven percent contribute about 80 percent of the volunteer hours in a parish. And, again, seven percent make up 80 percent of the financial contributions. Were that to make 14 percent of parishioners the figure would be low, but it is actually the same people giving both time and money, Kelly found. Seven percent is seven percent.

Kelly draws out the conclusions of his study in detail but is never boring. The book is actually a fairly quick read. And, the picture he paints is one that most Catholics would be familiar with in just about any American Catholic parish today—a few do for most.

Were Kelly to take his conclusions and chastise us for being 93 percent off while exhorting a Great Awakening, it would be book of little use. However, Kelly takes a more realistic and gradual approach:

"...[I]magine what we could do if we could transform another seven percent into highly engaged parishioners over the next seven years," Kelly writes. "One percent each year. It would not mean every person in the parish would be passionately interested and engaged—just 14 percent. And imagine the incredible outreach, service, and spiritual development your parish could deliver. This is the one percent that could change the world."

Kelly comes from the world of motivational speaking, so I was initially inclined to be skeptical. But, through his "four signs"—prayer, study, generosity and evangelization—he shows in practical steps how parishes can engage and re-engage those in the pews. None of the suggestions are out of the ordinary—like making each sign the focus of sermons and parish life over a year-long period—but they are intentional, and focused on bringing more people into an active faith life.

For those who aren't involved in parish ministry and who may already be engaged, the book is a welcome resource for how to gradually increase in these areas in our own lives. I think it's safe to say that all of us could in some way increase our prayer, study, generosity and evangelization. This book has some gradual, effective suggestions for doing so. I recommend this book for anyone who has thought that their parish ought to be doing more, or even that they ought to be doing more.

Both A Father Who Keeps His Promises and The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic are available for the cost of shipping from The Dynamic Catholic Institute.