BOOK REVIEW:
From Christendom to Apostolic Mission: Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age
Author: Msgr. James P. Shea
University of Mary Press
I finally got around to reading this gem of a book: it is short and to the point.
Do you know people who are discouraged about the faith and the state of the Church? Do you know people who are questioning why the transmission of faith that worked for them (CCD classes, going to Church on Sunday, praying the rosary) no longer works today, why it is so hard to raise our kids to be Catholics, and the fact that people are disaffiliating from the faith? Do you know people who are lamenting the polarization in the Church or who live on one of the extreme ends of the spectrum?
This book offers a good start to explain why our old strategies of evangelization and passing on the faith don’t seem to work the same way they used to: our culture and the corresponding worldview has changed. The Christendom culture whose values in many ways aligned with Christian values and worldview provided a scaffolding for faith and allowed faith to float on the culture with an occasional correction (like floating downstream in a canoe, occasionally paddling to keep going in the correct current). Today’s culture no longer supports Church values, and we are, as it were, paddling upstream while not being immune to our culture’s values of power and efficiency and comfort. Faith has become a quest and a challenge.
But we are not without hope! We need to change our strategy to meet the challenges of today. We need a conversion of mind and a new way of seeing. Our culture has altered our way of looking at the world, and the role of evangelization is to “present the Gospel in such a way that hearers can be transformed and see in a new way.” To do so, we need to understand the age in which we live and cooperate with the Holy Spirit, who is still at work calling us to a new Pentecost.
I would highly recommend this little book (it’s less than a 100 pages) to anyone who is interested in the mission and vision of the Church and participating in the adventure to which the Holy Spirit is calling us.
Bonus: If you are anxious, discouraged, Msgr. James P. Shea gave a marvelous keynote address at Seek2024 speaking to a crowd of college students and young adults: