A Request for My Evangelistically Savvy Readers

Off this morning to Omaha to present at their clergy conference with Fr. Mike. I had a whole blog post about Pope Benedict's "hermeneutic of reform" worked out in my head but never managed to write it.

I had a bleg for our readers. I need to find a solid, winsome, relatively short (less than 50 pages) inexpensive summation of the basic kergyma in written form in the next couple of weeks and I am having a hard time doing so.

I need to make it clear - I don't mean apologetics. I have already asked a number of friends and they have sent me books of apologetics. By apologetics I mean closely reasoned arguments for the resurrection or accepting the authority of Church teaching. No more "liar-lunatic- messiah" knock-offs of C. S. Lewis or evangelical stuff or Chesterton or Ronald Knox. That is not what I need. The culture around us has changed profoundly and we are still acting as though classic Catholic apologetics of the 20's and 30's, written for people who lived within a modern mindset which was still familiar with some of the language and concepts of classic Christianity works for average 21st century post-moderns.

I need a solid, winsome, non-evangelical Protestant, proclamation of the basic gospel of Jesus Christ that would be suitable for people of average intelligence and intellectual background who are not yet intentional disciples and who have been steeped in post-modernism since birth (which includes 98% of Catholics under the age of 65 in this country who weren't homeschooled in a traditional Catholic enclave or are already part of one of the movements.) Something for the 98% of Catholics who at least drop into a parish occasionally or at least still self-identify as Catholic,

In some ways, I realize that we need a couple different versions for our work: one version for those with a Catholic background and another for those with no religious background or a non-Christian background, Something written with post-modern rather than modern sensibilities in mind.

But right now, my need is for the Catholic version.

I've asked some very sharp Catholic leaders who are passionate about evangelization and the fact that none of us can come up with something says volumes about our situation.

I'm reading some of Fr. Cantalamessa's books (Life in Christ at present -very, very good - but presumes a good deal of religious background. Would work for pastoral leaders but not the poorly catechized.)

Any suggestions?

I'll try to blog from the road but don't know if I will have internet access.

Back Wednesday.