How can we transmit a living, personal Catholic faith to future generations? By coming to know Jesus Christ, and following him as his disciples.<\/p>\n
These are times of immense challenge and immense opportunity for the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
Consider these statistics for the United States.
\n\u2022\tOnly 30 percent of Americans who were raised Catholic are still practicing.
\n\u2022\tFully 10 percent of all adults in America are ex-Catholics.
\n\u2022\tThe number of marriages celebrated in the Church decreased dramatically, by nearly 60 percent, between 1972 and 2010.
\n\u2022\tOnly 60 percent of Catholics believe in a personal God.<\/p>\n
If the Church is to reverse these trends, the evangelizers must first be evangelized-in other words, Catholics-in-the-pew must make a conscious choice to know and follow Jesus before they can draw others to him. This work of discipleship lies at the heart of Forming Intentional Disciples, a book designed to help Church leaders, parish staff and all Catholics transform parish life from within. Drawing upon her fifteen years of experience with the Catherine of Siena Institute, Sherry Weddell leads readers through steps that will help Catholics enter more deeply into a relationship with God and the river of apostolic creativity, charisms, and vocation that flow from that relationship for the sake of the Church and the world.
\nLearn about the five thresholds of postmodern conversion, how to open a conversation about faith and belief, how to ask thought-provoking questions and establish an atmosphere of trust, when to tell the Great Story of Jesus, how to help someone respond to God\u2019s call to intentional discipleship, and much more.
\nAnd be prepared for conversion because when life at the parish level changes, the life of the whole Church will change.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019ve read it. You should get it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus by Sherry Weddell is being published by Our Sunday Visitor July 1. If you place and pay for your order at the Catherine of Siena website before July 1, you\u2019ll automatically receive a discount of two dollars off the retail price of $15.95. The book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-35803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-book-recommendations"],"yoast_head":"\n
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