Karey Circosta has been named associate publisher at Ave Maria Press by Thomas Grady, publisher and CEO.
Circosta, who has worked at Ave for 15 years, also will remain director of sales and marketing. Under her leadership, Ave’s sales and marketing efforts have significantly increased sales, particularly in high school religion textbooks and trade books. She also strengthened Ave’s relationship with key distributors, including Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. The company also launched its new Parish Book Program and Ave Explores during Circosta’s tenure as vice president and director of sales and marketing.
Two members of Ave’s editorial department also have been promoted.
Eileen Ponder has been named executive editor, ministry resources. She has worked at Ave for 15 years. Ponder is responsible for the Rebuilt Parish series, including the award-winning and bestselling Rebuilt by Michael White and Tom Corcoran.
Ponder developed Ave’s marriage preparation program, Joined by Grace, in conjunction with authors John and Teri Bosio. She also updated The Order of Celebrating Matrimony ritual cards, as well as Together for Life, to reflect the Church’s new translation of the Roman missal.
Ponder has edited books by authors including Lisa M. Hendey, Ann M. Garrido, Katie Prejean McGrady, and Deacon Greg Kandra .
Heidi Hess Saxton has been named senior acquisitions editor. She worked as an editor at Ave from 2013 to 2015 and then rejoined the company as an acquisitions editor in 2017. She has been responsible for acquiring books by notable authors such as Kelly Wahlquist, Sarah Christmyer, Sonja Corbitt, Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga, Michele Faehnle and Emily Jaminet, and Maria Morera Johnson.
Ave Maria Press was founded by Fr. Edward Sorin, CSC, in 1865 and is recognized as a leader in publishing Catholic high school religion textbooks, parish resources, and books on prayer and spirituality. Ave Maria Press is a ministry of the Congregation of Holy Cross, United States Province of Priests and Brothers.
Christopher West is the expert on St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body. In his new book, Word Made Flesh, West helps us to reflect on the Sunday readings through the lens of those teachings. He shared the importance of TOB with us.
Ave Maria Press: Why is Theology of the Body so important in today's society?
Christopher West: "I don’t think I need to convince anyone that we are living in a time of profound crisis in the Church. That crisis is of a sexual nature. We don’t understand in the modern world anymore what it means that God made us male and female. We live in a world that is compelling us by law to say that the body and the difference between man and woman are essentially meaningless.
"But what I’ve learned from St. John Paul II’s theology is that if we don’t understand why God made us male and female and called the two to become one flesh, we don’t understand what Christianity itself is. Why? Because the call of the two become one flesh is a great mystery that reveals Christ’s love for the Church. This is what St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, and John Paul II, reflecting on that passage, says, if we don’t understand why God made us male and female and called the two to that fruitful embrace, we don’t understand what the Church is, we don’t know what the sacraments are, and we don’t know who God is and who we are as human beings made in his image.
"For such a time as this in the Church have we been given St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. We have the antidote already given to us by the Holy Spirit through John Paul II to the crisis in the Church and in the world. But if antidotes are not injected into our bloodstream, they do us no good. Word Made Flesh is meant to help us precisely do that, inject the antidote into our blood stream so we can see all of scripture as this great love story. God wants to marry us. That’s the essential message of scripture and the essential message of our bodies: Our bodies reveal the eternal plan of God—to be one with us forever. This book is meant to give us glasses to read Scripture precisely in that way.
"The whole world is sacramental. That means the physical world is meant to be a sign that reveals the spiritual world. The physical world is a sign that is meant to point us to that which is spiritual and divine. Theology of the Body, therefore, is for every body. If we want to see the world rightly, if we want to see that the whole world is shot through with the glory of God, we need to have the right lenses to see that. The TOB gives us those lenses.
"If you look at the Church at large, very few people even know that St. John Paul II gave us this magnificent reflection on what it means that God created us male and female. Theology of the Body exists and it is the antidote to the crisis of our times."
Ave: What do you hope readers get out of this book?
West: "At the risk of sounding trite, the primary message I want to them hear is You are loved. God loves you! And the Scripture is a personal letter to you.
"I think one of the deepest desires of my own heart is that the deep mysteries of my life, the history of my life, the deep stuff that goes on inside me that I can’t put a word to, that I’m known there. And in my reading of scripture, wearing these glasses that John Paul II gave me, I’ve come to experience as a very personal message to me. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t still passages in scripture that I find obscure or can’t understand very well. There certainly are. But I would say especially in the Gospel readings and in the letters of the New Testament, I have found a message that speaks to my heart, to my needs, to my yearning, to my desire. We all have this ache for love, for union, for affirmation, to see and be seen, to know and be known. I have come to discover in scripture, wearing these glasses, that indeed I am known. 'You have probed me, you know me: you know when I sit and stand' (Ps 139:1-2). That used to be kind of a scary thing, the thought that I was being watched, but it’s my peace and my life because the one who knows me is Love. I want my readers to know that they are known, and the one who knows them is perfect Love.
"When we go into Scripture reading it as this love story, readings pop. The Sunday Mass readings take on a whole new life and they connect with our hearts. I went to Mass my whole life but never really connected with what was going on. The Eucharist didn’t really come alive to me until I was wearing these glasses. With these glasses on you start to see things that you never saw. My hope in writing this book is that many other people would have the same experience going to Mass. These glasses help us to see in a deeper and deeper way. The scripture contains infinite mysteries, which means there is always more to see, always more to gain. I hope through this book, readers will have the same experience: scripture will open up and a whole new world comes alive."
Ave: How has TOB impacted your life?
West: "We’re all looking for something. God put that hunger in us. St. Augustine said it the best: 'You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our hearts are restless till we rest in you.' I grew up thinking that Christianity is a starvation diet; that Christianity says, 'Your hunger is bad. You need to repress that and just follow these rules.' This is not our faith. But if we think it’s our faith and that our faith is against our satisfaction, then we’re going to turn to the secular culture, which knows that we are hungry creatures; which knows we are creatures of passion and desire. And the secular culture will say, 'Here! Bring your hunger over here and have immediate gratification!' I call that the 'Fast Food Gospel.' So if a parent is looking at his child and saying, 'I see that my child is going off to the fast food,' it’s probably because your child thinks Christianity has nothing better to offer. I learned from John Paul II that our faith is an invitation to an infinite, exquisite banquet of love. And if we do not know that about our faith, we do not know what our faith is. I’ve been blessed to spend the last twenty-five years inviting everyone I meet to the feast."
The Synod on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment begins Oct. 3, 2018, in Rome. Bishops and experts from around the world will gather to discuss how the Catholic Church can best meet the needs of the young faithful.
Ave Maria Press posed several questions on the synod to Katie Prejean McGrady, who was appointed a US delegate to the pre-synod meeting in March by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Leonard J. DeLorenzo, who works in the McGrath Institute for Church Life and teaches theology at the University of Notre Dame.
Ave Maria Press: Why should the average Catholic care what happens in the synod?
Katie Prejean McGrady: “This is the most important questions that can be asked. At first glance, a synod on youth seems relevant to only to youth and those who work with them. For far too long, we’ve relegated youth to the “cheap seats” in the Church. We’ve thought of youth as the future of the Church rather than part of the Church from the moment they are baptized. This synod is a gathering to address how to accompany young people on their journey to meet and fall in love with Jesus. All of us—young or old, church employee or parishioner, family member, acquaintance, friend, teacher, youth minister, or volunteer—are meant to engage with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of those are young people and this conversation about how to keep the youth in the Church, help them be active in the Church, and help them fall in love with Jesus is one we all need to have. What will come out of this synod is going to shape a lot of things for future generations of Catholics. I think it will have an effect on not only youth and young adult ministry, but the entire life of the Church. We would all be served by paying attention, engaging in the discussions, offering our insights, and praying for the movement of the Spirit in this work.”
Ave: You were one of three young adults appointed by the USCCB to attend the pre-synod meeting in Rome. What is your biggest take away from that meeting and how do you think it will impact the work of the bishops in the synod?
Prejean McGrady: “I arrived at the pre-synod meeting in March thinking I knew quite a lot about youth and young adult ministry, and while I do think that’s true, I was immediately struck by how unique young people are all around the world. There’s a lot that unites us even in our differences and discovering how people from Europe, the United States, Asia, Africa, and everywhere else are evangelizing and living their faith was inspiring. I walked away with a truly global perspective on the Church. The way we do things here in the United States is not the only way. In fact, we’d probably greatly benefit from looking at how other countries work to share Jesus. With that global perspective, the participants were able to write a pre-synod document (a letter to the bishops) that was comprehensive, wide-ranging, and offered insights that are both valuable and challenging. My hope, then, is that the bishops gathering in October will gain a global perspective on how to minister to youth and young adults as well, and that in their discussions they will think ‘big picture’ when they propose new ideas, encourage certain initiatives, and advocate for specific programs.”
Ave: What message do the bishops need to send to young people in the Church?
Leonard DeLorenzo: “The bishops must present a clear, compelling, and compassionate image of Christianity maturity, holiness, and a life of grace. The bishops must listen to young people, but at the same time the Church must proclaim the fullness of the Gospel to young people. We must show the beauty of the Gospel and challenge young people to bear the cost of love in their lives. If we do not invest in our young people then we, as the Church, are failing in our divine mission to be a sign and instrument of God’s communion with us in Christ and the hope of our unity with one another. The messages that young people do not need to hear are messages born of or reinforcing factionalism in the Church, where some bishops or others try to advance their own preferred agendas over and against other factions’ agendas. Young people need a Eucharistic vision of unity, one that spills over into charitable works by which we make the sacramental grace of the Eucharist present in the world, in our communities, and in our lives. And in terms of presenting a vision of Christian maturity—in answer to the really critical question of ‘What are we accompanying young people towards?’—I am of the firm conviction that the bishops of the synod must both present the Blessed Mother as the image of discipleship into which we are all called and entrust young people and the whole Church to her care. The Holy Father has dedicated this synod to Mary, and now it is time to make good on that pledge.”
Prejean McGrady: “I think a lot of youth and young adults are looking at bishops and thinking one of two things, either ‘you’re really out of touch’ or ‘you don’t really care.’ I’ve spent time with a number of bishops, worked for them at events and retreats, and shared meals and good conversations with them. That’s not the reality for a lot of young people, though, and so from the outside looking in, it can seem as if bishops live in ivory towers, manage things instead of do real ministry, and are out of touch with their people. I hope that this synod is a chance for bishops to proclaim boldly and without hesitation that they want to hear from, talk with, pray with, and walk alongside youth and young adults. The message is really simple: ‘We’re all the Church and together we can meet Jesus and fall in love with him.’ That’s what I want to hear. That’s what I want to see in the document, along with practical ways that we can all make that happen.”
Ave: Do you think that the sex abuse crisis in the Church, the Pennsylvania grand jury report, and the split caused by the letter of Archbishop Viganò implicating Pope Francis will overshadow the meetings?
DeLorenzo: “Absolutely. But has there ever been a more important time for the Church to dedicate itself to the health and wellbeing of young people? In that regard, the synod is an opportunity in an unspeakably painful time to begin to do something constructive, to exercise new forms of creativity, and to renew our mission to the Gospel. We need new models of lay leadership in the Church, so let this synod be a beginning of the renewal. We need to drive out abuse, exploitation, irresponsibility, failed authority, and corrosive cultures within the Church, so let’s make this synod the beginning of something true and beautiful. Evil is only ever driven out by the good; darkness by light. Let’s face the evil and the darkness; let’s get the whole truth out there; and then let’s recommit ourselves to our dependence on the Lord, under the patronage of the Blessed Mother, to become worthy of the call we have received to evangelize and especially to pass on the Gospel to our younger generations. The scandals in the Church are the work of the devil and rooted in sin, but perhaps part of the providence of God has to do with the timing of this synod, the V Encuentro in the US, and World Youth Day in Panama. These show us the way forward, to commit every last resource and every drop of energy in the Church to nourishing our young people. Let’s build up ‘cultures of formation’ where young people can thrive.”
Prejean McGrady: “Complicated question and complex answer: I sure hope not. I don’t mean to imply that discussing what has been said or how this crisis has been handled is unimportant. On the contrary, it certainly is something that needs to come up at the synod. But—and I mean this with all my heart—I hope we also discuss why young people are leaving the Church in droves, why young people find the Church irrelevant and how we can better answer their questions about big issues, why some young people are on fire for their faith and what got them there, and how we can accompany young people in their search for truth.”
Ave: What else should people know about the work ahead of the bishops in the Synod?
Prejean McGrady: “Synods need to be seen in context. What’s come before this synod? What could come next? Why is this particular topic relevant now? A few years ago, we had a Synod on the Family and Marriage that resulted in the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which addressed the nature of family life, marriage, the reality of love within our lives, and the domestic Church. Since then, Francis also has given us two encyclicals—Laudato Si on care for the environment, and Lumen Fidei on the light of faith—and the recent apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate on the call to holiness.
“What will come out of this Synod on Youth, Faith, and Vocational Discernment is another document that fits into the scheme of what Francis has written and said during his pontificate. The bishops will answer the big questions concerning young people and to see it all synthesize from both Francis’ pontificate and the centuries of tradition of the Church. The bishops are not walking into this blind—they have read extensively, written a ton, talked with youth and young adults and sought the counsel of experts in the fields of youth and young adult ministry. Their work to prepare and while at the Synod is critically important to ensure the conversation is not only fruitful, but works with the Holy Spirit to usher in a new age of engagement with young people.”
DeLorenzo: “There is a temptation to think that the work of committing to young people is work done ‘way over there’ by ‘those people’ who are gathered in some room the rest of us don’t enter at the synod. That’s false. They have a responsibility, under the charge of the Holy Father, to represent their national conferences, to consult with each other, and to faithfully imagine how to serve young people across the world today and for years to come. But the most important work will be done much closer to home. The work of parishes, Catholic schools, and especially within families is where the real renewal will take place. I can guarantee that during and right after the synod meeting, Twitter will be aflutter with critiques, accusations, analyses, and ‘so what this really means is’ kinds of summaries. All of that is a distraction. That’s the stuff that paralyzes us. That’s where factionalism divides the unity of the Church. We must commit ourselves personally, as disciples within our parishes, schools, and homes, to heed the mission of the Gospel and present its beauty to our young people in word and deed. We must become the witnesses who show them God’s love and testify to that love with our lives.
“In my book What Matters Most, I tried to anticipate this for the sake of the synodal process. If by this time next year we do not find ourselves involved in concrete activity, rededicated to the leadership each of us is called to by virtue of our Baptism, and actually sacrificing in significant ways for the sake of the Gospel and out of love for young people, then we should recognize that we—not they who gathered in Rome—are failing in our mission. What we really need to know is that this is our mission.”
Scandals weaken the connection and the confidence Catholics have in the Church. I know; I worked for a parish in Boston in 2002 when the news exploded revealing grievous scandals. Years later I wrote All In: Why Belonging to the Church Matters in part to respond to the questions people would ask, such as “Why stay? How can you have confidence in the Church, given who and what defames and discredits it?”
As waves of scandal continue, the anchor I cling to, both then and now, is that the Church is the Bride of Christ, and Jesus is the Bridegroom, and there will never be a divorce.
Recall what Jesus taught about the bride and bridegroom in marriage: “The two shall become one . . . they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10: 8–9).
“What God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Think about those words. They apply to our relationship with Christ. What God has joined together—our lives in Christ through Baptism—we must not separate. Indeed, God loved us first: “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. . . .We love, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:7, 19).”
Christ loves his Bride continually. He has no intention of ever being severed from it—even in the worst of times. He died to save us from the worst. He has joined himself to us in his very flesh. We experience this most profoundly in the Eucharist.
Viewed only by all her sinners and hypocrites, the Church is easily written off. Her depraved members weaken her. I get that. Many people may wince thinking that if this Church is the Bride of Christ, she needs one heckuva of a makeover! Many see the Church as a mud-splashed bride, her radiance obscured because the soil of hard times has taken its toll.
But there’s a flip side, a divine side that we often fail to see.
The Incarnation of Christ changes everything for the Bride. Just as Jesus is human and divine, so is the Church. As the Church is wedded to Jesus, we can also say that the Church is both human and divine. It is both—just as Jesus is both.
The unity of Jesus and the Church is a merciful truth that far outweighs the sins of the Bride who is forgiven when she repents. (That’s not to say the members of churches are not liable for crimes and misdemeanors within a civil system, or canon law; her guilty members most certainly are liable.)
But in Christ there is always the hope of glory for the Bride. Hers is an ever-present forgiveness and mercy both to dispense and to receive. The Second Vatican Council described this as the Church being both “holy and always in need of being purified, always follow[ing] the way of penance and renewal” (Lumen Gentium, 8)
Until we get to the bliss of heaven, much of what we experience in the Church may look a lot like the ups-and-downs, the back-and-forth seasons of marriage: “in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, in good times and in bad . . .”
This much is certain: Our hope is always in Jesus, the founder, the keeper, and the bridegroom of the Church.
Pat Gohn is the author of All In: Why Belonging to the Catholic Church Matters.
Five men will make their Final Profession of Vows and be ordained transitional deacons with the Congregation of Holy Cross.
Brian Kennedy, C.S.C., Karl Romkema Jr., C.S.C., Brogan Ryan, C.S.C., Michael Thomas, C.S.C., and Bryan Williams, C.S.C., will profess Final Vows at 10 a.m. Saturday, August 25, 2018, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame. Rev. William M. Lies, C.S.C., provincial superior of the Congregation of Holy Cross, U.S. Province of Priests and Brothers, will preside at Mass and receive their vows.
Four of the men will be ordained deacons at 10 a.m. Sunday, August 26, 2018, in the Moreau Seminary Chapel by the Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. Thomas will be ordained at St. Francis de Sales Parish near St. George’s College in Santiago, Chile, on September 15, 2018 – the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the patroness of the Congregation. Most Rev. Arthur J. Colgan, C.S.C., auxiliary bishop of Chosica, Perú, will preside.
The August 25 Final Vows Mass will be broadcast live on the Notre Dame Campus Ministry website.
Ave Maria Press is excited to announce a new partnership with the Augustine Institute to provide digital content for its FORMED platform.
FORMED was launched in 2015 to gather the best Catholic content for faith formation and evangelization from organizations including the Augustine Institute, St. Paul Center, Marian Fathers, and Lighthouse Catholic Media. FORMED offers a large media library with both free and paid content.
Ave eBook titles on FORMED include:
Follow by Katie Prejean McGrady
God Is Not Nice by Ulrich L. Lehner
Bible Basics for Catholics by John Bergsma
Joined by Grace prayer book by John and Teri Bosio
Three Secrets to Holiness in Marriage by Dan and Amber DeMatte
Lift Up Your Heart by Rev. John Burns
A Heart Like Mary’s by Rev. Edward Looney
Mary’s Way by Judy Landrieu Klein
Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
ABCs of the Christian Life by G. K. Chesterton
The Mystery of Suffering by Herbert von Zeller, OSB
A Catholic Gardener’s Spiritual Almanac by Margaret Rose Realy
The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments by Scott Weeman
25 Life-Changing Questions from the Gospels by Allan F. Wright
These eBook titles are available for purchase in the FORMED Market.
Four Ave Maria Press authors were given 2018 Excellence in Publishing Awards by the Association of Catholic Publishers during at event Tuesday night at the Sheen Center in New York City.
Joyce Rupp received first place in the prayer and spirituality category for Prayer Seeds. The book also was given a first-place award from the Catholic Press Association earlier this month.
Gerard F. Baumbach’s The Way of Catechesis tied for first place in the resources for ministry category. His book earned a second-place award from CPA.
Two other books earned second-place honors.
Lift Up Your Heart by Rev. John Burns took second in the inspirational category. The book won first at CPA.
Hosffman Ospino and his book, El Credo, were awarded second place in the Spanish category.
Each category was judged by a three-person panel.
Ave Maria Press authors were recognized for nine books—including four first-place honors—during the annual Catholic Press Association book awards.
The awards were announced on June 15, 2018, at the annual Catholic Media Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Brandon Vogt’s Why I Am Catholic (and You Should Be Too) earned a first-place award for a popular presentation of the faith. The judges said, “Clear and concise, this book does exactly what its title promised: explain why one would choose to become a Catholic. Without triumphalism, and with charity toward other faith traditions, the author gives intelligent and cogent reasons why the Catholic Church is the true Church while telling the story of his own journey to Catholicism. Perfect for the category—a winner.”
First-time author Rev. John Burns won first place for Lift Up Your Heart. “This small, easy-to-handle but still weighty book—in the sense of its importance for readers seeking spiritual calm and wisdom in today’s world. Based on a retreat with St. Francis de Sales the author engaged in, and his reaction and advice coming out of that experience, it is a clear ... gift in our search for guidance and an excellent performance as a writer’s first book,” the judges said.
Bob Schuchts’ Be Transformed, a follow-up to his bestselling book Be Healed, won first place in the sacraments category. The judges commented, “The sacraments are the lifeline to grace in Jesus Christ and the Church. This book invites the reader to enter each sacrament as a personal encounter with Jesus to be transformed, healed, and strengthened so that the life of faith can be realized.”
Prayer Seeds by Joyce Rupp won first place in the prayer collections category. The judges said, “In Prayer Seeds, Joyce Rupp offers almost a hundred new selections of original blessings, reflections, poems, prayers, and readings on a variety of themes suitable for feasts and seasons of the liturgical year. Many of the prayer seeds begin with the greeting Namasté, which acknowledges the goodness within along with the acceptance of the unfished self. Each resource is intended as a spiritual seed to kindle the fire within. This is a spiritual treasure suitable for both communal and personal prayer.”
Other winners and their categories are:
A History of the Church in 100 Objects by Mike and Grace Aquilina—second place for design and production and honorable mention in the history category.
Getting Past Perfect by Kate Wicker—second place, family life.
The Way of Catechesis by Gerard F. Baumbach—second place, pastoral ministry.
Super Girls and Halos by Maria Morera Johnson—second place, gender issues.
The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments by Scott Weeman—second place, sacraments.
You can find the complete list of winners on the Catholic Press Association website.
