The Catholic Book Blogger
PETE: Your book Saint John Paul The Great : His Five Loves is a slight departure from your usual area of writing. What inspired you to tackle this project?
JASON EVERT: I have always had a great love for the Holy Father and for his teachings, especially on young people and human love. Over the past twenty years, I have had the opportunity to travel to speak to more than a million Catholics on six continents. While on these trips, I have had many conversations with those who knew Saint John Paul II well. During these discussions, I have heard countless remarkable stories about him that have never been published. I often thought, “For the sake of the Church, these need to be printed some day,” but the years drew on and the project remained only a hope. With the announcement of the Holy Father’s canonization in April 2014, I knew it was time.
PETE: There are numerous biographies on Saint John Paul. Yours however focuses on the inside of the man. How did you develop your idea for the book?
JASON EVERT: As you note, the Church already has plenty of books about this great saint, especially the excellent and thorough biography, Witness to Hope. However, at more than a thousand pages, it’s intimidating for the average Catholic. This new book doesn’t intend to supplant or compete with the scope of that work, but rather to focus on the five loves of John Paul in order to lead the reader into a deeper love of those things, too. They are:
Human Love
Young People
The Eucharist
The Virgin Mary
The Cross
The first part of the book is a brief condensation of the more than forty biographies I’ve read of him, to give the reader an adequate understanding of what forces forged him into such an exceptional pontiff. Then, the heart of the book will explore his “Five Loves” with extraordinary previously published stories from bishops, priests who organized his papal pilgrimages, his students in Poland, Swiss Guards, and others.
The work is intended to be catechetical, inspiring, and evangelical. By looking at what he loved and why, the goal is to introduce the reader to things such as the Theology of the Body, Divine Mercy, Total Consecration, Eucharistic adoration, and redemptive suffering, or to deepen their appreciation for these things, if they’re already familiar with them.
I wanted to help as many people as possible understand what a gift he was to the Church, and so we have made the book available for only $2 in bulk at www.jp2book.com, with a free downloadable chapter on his love for the Eucharist.
PETE: Was there anything you discovered while conducting research for the book that was new to you about our beloved Pope John Paul II?
JASON EVERT: During his pontificate, I was blessed to see John Paul II more than twenty times, and read thousands of pages of his works. Therefore, when I began the book, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of his life and thought. However, I was astonished at how much I had never known. For example:
How the communists selected him as archbishop, thinking he wouldn’t be a threat to them
How a priest stabbed him in Fatima, yet he continued with the liturgy
How one of Osama Bin Laden’s “best men” nearly murdered him in the Philippines
How he had conversations with the Virgin Mary
PETE: You have recently began your own publishing company Totus Tuus Press. What vision do you have for this venture and what are some of the upcoming releases?
JASON EVERT: The idea behind Totus Tuus Press (totustuuspress.com) is to create resources that inspire others to discover the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Catholic Faith. To help people share this message, we make all of our books and CDs available for $2 or less in bulk.
PETE: Would you like to take some time to share a little about your ChastityProject.com work?
JASON EVERT: For more than a decade, I worked for Catholic Answers in San Diego. Then, two years ago, I moved to Denver and began a new ministry focused solely on promoting purity: Chastity Project. Although I speak to about 100,000 students per year, one of my dreams was to make chastity resources available to as many souls around the world as possible. Leaders (both young and old) from more than fifty countries have contacted me, asking for chastity resources to be donated to their communities.
I had authored dozens of chastity books, CDs, and DVDs, but didn’t have the funds to purchase the rights to the products and didn’t have the resources for global distribution. Upon moving to Colorado, I took a photo of a few boxes of chastity books in a closet in my home, hoping that one day I would have an entire garage of them to send around the world. Scripture promises that God “is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,” and we know that He always keeps His promises.
Not long after taking the photo, I received an invitation to present my ministry vision to the leaders of Stewardship: A Mission of Faith. I shared with them how I had created numerous resources, and hoped to purchase the rights to them, so that they could be given away or sold for as little as possible. However, I didn’t have the money, and didn’t own a warehouse. David Abel, the founder of Stewardship, simply said, “Come downstairs with me.” I followed, and watched as David opened the doors to one of his warehouses that ships more than 200,000 products daily, and said, “I’m all in.” Thanks to the providence of God and the generosity of a pair of benefactors, I was able to purchase the rights to more than a dozen of my resources, and now am distributing it for $2 or less.
Chastity Project believes that young people play a pivotal role in the new evangelization, and therefore invites them to launch chastity projects within their schools and churches to promote the good news of purity to their peers. As Pope Francis said, “Do you know what the best tool is for evangelizing the young? Another young person. This is the path to follow!” Those who minister to teens today have unlimited needs, but very limited budgets. Therefore, through low-cost resource distribution, media appearances, seminars, and social media, Chastity Project exists to promote the virtue of chastity so that individuals can see God, and be free to love (Matt. 5:8).
We launched chastityproject.com one year ago, and—thanks be to God—have been able to reach more than 1.4 million people through the site since its inception.
PETE: Time for my signature ending question. This is a blog about books. What is currently on your bookshelf to read?
JASON EVERT: Right now, I’m reading a book on St. Joseph by Devin Schadt (http://josephswaybook.com) and Interior Castle from St. Teresa of Avila.
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