Water into Wine by Lisa Mladinich
I’m not kidding. Anyone with ears and a sense of humor will be amused and enriched by Christian LeBlanc’s tour-de-force video series of 12 hour-long classes about the Catholicism of the Bible. It would be a great resource for anything from pre-Confirmation to Youth Ministry to RCIA/Adult Ed programs.
Using speed-drawing (stick figures), linguistics, solid scholarship, and a rapid-fire delivery that makes this catechetical series (which LeBlanc admits is by no means comprehensive) as enjoyable as it is educational, the southern-born LeBlanc knocks his catechesis out of the park and earns the label, “Amazing Catechist.” And he offers his first video production to the world free of charge.
LeBlanc’s parish-made videos are technically primitive, but they still manage to set the bar higher than the usual slickly-produced and scripted academic ones or their sibling rivals: those that rely heavily on hipster spin and the projection of a carefully-crafted, false intimacy meant to disarm teens. LeBlanc simply cannot take himself so seriously, because his wit and wisdom are completely at the service of the best book on earth about the truest religion on earth. It’s all just so much fun!
It’s also tons of fun watching such a charming speaker experience his own learning curve as he progresses from the very first video to the last with increasing ease and aplomb. In the first episode, he is so nervous about the camera
running in his classroom that he looks like he just parachuted onto the parish grounds: he is flushed, his hair a little wild, his delivery breathless. But soon this master catechist hits his stride and shows us what all the fuss is really about: the Bible is a startlingly compelling roadmap to the Catholic faith.
Let the man himself show-and-tell you all about it.
Summapalooza!
About Christian LeBlanc
Christian LeBlanc is a revert whose pre-Vatican II childhood was spent in South Louisiana, where he marinated in a Catholic universe and acquired a Catholic imagination. During his middle school years in South Carolina, Christian was catechized under the benevolent dictatorship of Sister Mary Alphonsus, who frequently admonished him using the nickname “Little Pagan.” After four years of teaching Adult Ed and RCIA, he returned to Sr. Alphonsus’ old classroom to teach Catechism himself. This is his tenth year of teaching sixth grade. Married to Janet, the LeBlancs have five children and two grandsons. Christian and Janet belong to St. Mary’s Parish in Greenville, South Carolina.
Check out Christian’s book on Bible-based catechesis at:
https://www.createspace.com/3835986
And my REVIEW of his terrific book.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In