Last September, I was asked if I would consider endorsing a new work from my friend Kevin Lowry. I was deeply honored. Sure, there was the element of being asked to give en endorsement when I'm really not that well known; at least 95% of the honor, however, was due to the author. In 2012, I reviewed Kevin Lowry's Faith at Work and considered it the finest book on the integration of daily work and faith out there. Like our Lord's earthly preaching, Kevin communicates the gospel through stories - suffused with humor, honesty, and grace.
I had the blessing of meeting Kevin a few months later, during my first visit to The Journey Home. Kevin was COO of the Coming Home Network at the time, and I was able to grab lunch with him after taping with Marcus. That lunchtime conversation has always stood out to me as (from a personal perspective) the best part of the trip. I couldn't help but feel that the time I spent with Kevin was time spent in the presence of Christ. (If he reads this he will no doubt be cringing at this point - but that's what saint do, right? Their closeness to the Lord only makes them all the more cognizant of their remaining flaws.)
Kevin's new book, How God Hauled Me Kicking and Screaming Into the Catholic Church, is the often-times hilarious story of how God persistently pursued a rebellious, Protestant preacher's kid (pursuing "a double-major in beer and billiards"), and brought him to a college degree, fulfilling work, committed marriage, and ultimately, the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church. The final third of the book provides Kevin's more intensive answers to the major stumbling blocks encountered by Protestant Christians: the Eucharist, Confession, the Mystical Body of Christ, Mary, faith vs. works, authority, and the Church's imperfections.
It is an absolutely fantastic book; and I was thrilled to see my thoughts about it included in the opening pages: "When you finish this book, I have no doubt that you will find yourself not just challenged but empowered to open your heart wide to God's transformative grace and the fullness of the Christian faith." At 155 pages it is a page-turner that I had finished the next day. And seriously, who doesn't want an awesome title like "How God Hauled Me..." sitting on the bookshelf? That's an evangelistic conversation starter if I ever saw one - grab your copy here!
Alright, alright, alright - here is the book trailer to Jared Zimmerer's book due out in April, Man Up! Becoming the New Catholic Renaissance Man. The book is an all-star cast of male, Catholic writers (with me obviously being the huge exception) - Jared, Kevin Vost, Jesse Romero, Fr. Steve Grunow, Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, Kevin Lowry, Dave DiNuzzo Sr., Douglas Bushman, Marlon De La Torre, Gerard-Marie Anthony, Jim Burnham, and Fr. Dwight Longenecker - not to mention endorsements from Fr. Robert Barron, Brandon Vogt, and Matt Fradd!
When I heard today's date, I realized that it was my one year anniversary of visiting with Marcus Grodi on The Journey Home. I remember watching the interview with my family and a few close friends - how completely mortified I was seeing myself, "You guys have to look at that goofy face all of the time?!" Sure I had looked in the mirror before, but watching my facial expressions as I told a story was a whole new ball game. Once again though God showed Himself more than capable of writing straight with crooked lines, because all of the feedback I received was overwhelmingly positive - people were not distracted by me, but instead heard how awesomely generous, powerful, and patient God is with His children.
The thing I am personally most grateful for regarding the visit was how it gave me a chance to visit with my friend Kevin Lowry (COO of the Coming Home Network that produces TJH). I had started reading Kevin's blog a year before, and we struck up a friendship via email; but my visit to the show was my first chance to speak to him face-to-face. He is such a personable, authentically holy, down-to-earth guy - a true brother in Christ. I felt such a tremendous comfort sharing more of my story with him - in particular my experience of the Cross in the years following those I shared about on TJH. I am very fortunate to have had Kevin interceding for me this past year.
So has anything changed as a result of my appearance on The Journey Home? Well, it certainly made more people aware of this blog; the traffic for this past year was 300% greater than the four previous years combined! (Thanks are also due of course to Gary Zimak and Devin Rose for their kind recommendations of Just a Catholic to their readers.) TJH is an incredible platform to speak from, and I am tremendously honored to have been able to share some of the high points in the story of what the Lord Jesus has done for me. My sincerest thanks to Marcus, Kevin, Scott Scholten, Bill Bateson, Mary Claire Piecynski, and JonMarc Grodi for welcoming me and making it such a memorable visit.
You know, when a book has endorsements from Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Scott Hahn, Kevin Vost, Marcus Grodi, and Mike Aquilina (to name a few!!), a thumbs-up from Shane Kapler is obviously superfluous. But in the spirit of "when has that ever stopped me before?" I have to share my deep appreciation of this book.
The Christians who impress me most, who really stand out as being especially intimate with God, never say what I expect them to say. Instead of telling me the "a" or "b" I expect, they say something completely original. Their love of God and years of intimacy enable them glimpse ways, paths, where I see only dead ends. That's what I like about Kevin Lowry and his Faith at Work: Finding Purpose Beyond the Paycheck
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Lowry has worn many different hats during his professional life: door-to-door salesman, accountant, senior vice-president at an international company, and now executive vice-president and chief operating officer of The Coming Home Network. Because of that, Kevin shares what he has actually lived. This book is filled with stories and through them, Kevin shares the hard won insights and principles that guide his work life as a Catholic Christian.
One of the most striking principles for me personally was drawn from his story of needing to find a new job, one that would allow him more time at home, when his seventh child, David, was born with a rare, congenital disease. That's a scary position for any parent, but add to it the stress of being the sole breadwinner, and you've got fertile ground for a coronary! But Kevin and his family came through it - with much prayer, a leap of faith, and then the right door opening; and Kevin learned a principle that I want to apply to my own incredibly busy life as a disciple, dad, and full-time employee:
Assuming that [God] didn't set us up for failure, it follows that we always have time to do God's will. If we don't have time to do everything, there are items on our to-do list that shouldn't be there, or shouldn't be there right now. The point is, our lives should follow a sense of calling, and this demands that we prayerfully discern, somewhat precisely, what God wants us to do. In this case, God's will became clear as we prayed and followed (pp.34-35).
Kevin shares not just his own story but those of numerous coworkers who inspired him through the years. I like the size of the chapters - at five or six pages they get right to the point and end with both "Action Steps" and "Questions For Reflection." Being able to pack so much insight into a brief space says a great deal about Kevin's skill as a writer. Chapters can of course be read in succession, but they also stand alone quite nicely, allowing you to jump to what is most pressing in your own work life and easily reference it down the line. Just before I, for example, had a meeting with someone who had treated me very rudely in the past, I jumped ahead to chapters 11 and 12, "Forgive Us Our Trespasses: How to Overcome Interpersonal Strife at Work Through Forgiveness," and "I Love a Challenge: How to Overcome Workplace Challenges Through Perseverance." They were just the dose of reality I needed going into that meeting which, I'm happy to say, ended very positively - an honest to goodness "win-win."
Faith at Work: Finding Purpose Beyond the Paycheck is an extremely good read. It is a rubber-meets-the-road approach for putting God at the center of our daily grind, whatever that grind may be! So for what it's worth, you can add this Christian's name to Faith at Work's illustrious list of fans.
My post is simply to pass along a great insight from Kevin Lowry over at his Grateful Convert blog. I highly encourage you to check out his "The Toughest Way to Be a Christian." It, in absolutely no way, belittles other Christian groups. Rather, it witnesses to Kevin's experience as a convert that Catholicism - with its insistence on an objective body of Truth, the Pope's final authority in teaching doctrine and morals, and the ongoing insistence that Jesus calls us to change, to become perfect reflections of Him (Mt.5:48) - demanded that he renounce more of himself than did any other Christian community. And from my own experience of progressively embracing more and more of the Catholic Faith, I respond with a fat "Amen."
When I was in my early teens it was tempting to find a church I felt comfortable in, that appealed to my personal tastes. What a mistake! This God we are seeking tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways (Is.55:8). It can be tempting to "create" our own worship routine (I put "create" in quotes because we're really just isolating elements that already exist in the Mass, to the exclusion of others.); but the truth is, Jesus asked us to worship in one specific way, "This is My Body . . . This is My Blood . . .Do THIS as a remembrance of Me." Before I start going on let me come back to my original point - click the link above and read a good post.
