Here. Now. A Catholic Guide to the Good Life

by Amy Welborn

OSV, 2005.

128 pages, $9.95

To order: (800) 348-2440

catalog.osv.com

How to talk to teens and young adults about the big issues of God, life, death, love, suffering and happiness? It’s a challenging task, of course, and there are good — and not so good — ways to tackle the task.

One way is to speak directly and honestly, using the language of the potential audience without letting it undermine your message. That’s the approach taken by author, blogger and former high-school teacher Amy Welborn in Here. Now. And, to her credit, it works quite well, resulting in a fast-moving but challenging book aimed at young Catholics.

One of the book’s strengths is that Welborn has a good sense of what many young people have learned or think about the Catholic faith, Jesus and the Church. She knows that most need to rid themselves of assumptions that are often shallow or skewed.

“Forget everything you thought you knew about Jesus,” she writes to open the discussion. “Now, listen.” She then recounts the story of Jesus casting out demons from the man who lived among the tombs, noting that people who witnessed this life-giving miracle want Jesus to leave. “Why? Good question,” she writes. “Great question.”

This leads to a couple of central points that are unpacked throughout the book: “If you say you’re a Christian, you’re saying that God is the center of your life” and “If God is God, then who else is worth listening to?” While these themes are developed, a number of popular myths and misperceptions are also addressed. One is the belief that “just being myself” is the answer to life’s problems. Another is the relativistic notion that everybody chooses a different (but equal) “story” that “express truths about life and eternity.” All you have to do is find the “story” that works best for you.

As Welborn notes, if the story isn’t true, why bother with it? But if the story of the Gospels is true, it demands our attention. The Gospels, she points out, are all true — and “they all tell the same story. They all reveal the same Jesus.” The importance of this, she insists, cannot be overstated since “you’ve got to get into Jesus through the Gospels.”

One excellent section addresses the superficial but prevalent sentiment that Jesus came to teach us to “Be Nice.” No, he came to show us “what life with God is. He’s talking and living the Kingdom of God.” He also promised his disciples that they would suffer and sacrifice, because love always requires suffering and hardship. The book unflinchingly addresses the reality of suffering and death and insists that self-fulfillment is not the purpose of life. Likewise, we don’t go to Mass because we expect it be fun or entertaining, but because Church is where Jesus is and we encounter him most directly in the Eucharist.

Welborn challenges young readers to get beyond the notion that being a Christian is ultimately about being obligated to live by rules. She emphasizes repeatedly, in different ways, that the Christian life is an encounter and a living relationship with Jesus, who acts through his Church and through the sacraments. “Jesus shared his very self — God’s self — with his disciples, nourishing them, strengthening them and pulling them into the heavenly banquet.”

The approach is both catechetical and apologetic, while the style is informal and accessible. Although the use of clipped phrases such as “Deal with it” and “Go ahead. See ya” might annoy a few readers, the conversational and knowing tone is on the mark. Talking to teens about the faith can be tough. This book can help.

Carl E. Olson is editor of

IgnatiusInsight.com.