Customer Reviews

The Gospel Truth: A Lectionary-Based Catechism for Adults - Cross-Referenced to the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults

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Ken Ogorek has written an innovative catechism. Actually, it's a retrieval. Ken has reached back to the early Church Fathers' method of teaching by following the lectionary -- the cycle of Old and New Testament readings that are used in the liturgy. This book is a great resource for clergy and catechists. There are more than 400 pages of ready material for homilies and lesson plans that are biblical, doctrinal, and relevant. The Gospel Truth comes with a foreword by Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington and hearty recommendations from Ronda Chervin and Bishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine.

Pastors, listen up: One priest bought two thousand copies so that he could give The Gospel Truth to each and every household in his parish. It's a great way to do adult education. You get all the families going in the same direction, steered by the liturgy.

The Gospel Truth: A Lectionary-Based Catechism for Adults, by Kenneth Ogorek, has been a wonderful personal resource to use while preparing for Sunday Mass. It's not always easy to pay close attention to the readings when you have children to tend to. They ask questions, need to use the bathroom, climb all over you, and often require a great deal of guidance so they can learn proper Mass behavior.

Here is the break down of one Sunday in this book.

First you have to figure out what Sunday in which year of the Liturgical cycle you are on. Once you have that you open to the page and start with the Gospel reading. I love this because I can just keep moving through the Sundays one week at a time. If I don't manage to do anything else but read the Gospel before Mass I feel much more prepared even if I miss most of the actually reading.

The second piece to each Sunday is the "Truths of Our Catholic Faith" section. This piece gives some explanation of the Gospel and how it relates to Church teachings. It's sort of a like a super short homily. Well, that sort of what it's like but I can't explain it much better.

The third piece is my favorite thing about this book. There is a question for the adults, a question for the children in our lives, and then a question about your role in your community. These questions open up discussion, provide reflection, help to teach our children, and offer the chance to find new ways to be involved in helping your community. I don't always get this far, but when I do I enjoy the reflections these questions offer.

The fourth part is further readings. These readings are the other readings for that Sunday. The New Testament, Old Testament, and Psalm for that Sunday are all right there. There is also a few pieces in the Catechism for each Sunday as well. If I make it this far I love having the chance to see how the other readings connect to the Gospel and getting to see a direct relationship to the teachings of the Church. While I do enjoy the explanation others give to show those connections, I appreciate being able to see them and make them for myself as well.

The very final piece is the official reflection. This is a small piece from the Gospel reading that you can focus on throughout the week. These pieces typically are the piece that sums up the most important idea from that Gospel. I have found them to be very useful for prayerful mediation, especially when I am having a hard time focusing on my own.

Overall, I am very glad I have this book in my collection. I could see it being very helpful for someone just starting to explore the Catholic Church, but easily just as helpful for someone who has been a member of the Church for years. The simple guidance this book provides makes it possible for even the busiest of people to prepare for Mass during the week.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book from the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

I am using this on a weekly basis for adult formation.

One complaint --- there are some typos in the references to the US Catholic Catechism book.