One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.
So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!
New Evangelizers in Action: Super-Writer Mike Aquilina
Despite weekly speaking and radio appearances, hosting multiple series on EWTN television, and writing more than forty books and hundreds of articles about Catholicism, Mike Aquilina understands his primary vocation starts under his own roof.
“The most important apostolate I have is as husband and father,” says Mike. “I am passionately in love with the woman I married twenty-seven years ago, and our love has given us six children. Four are still at home with us. We’ve always homeschooled.”
Even still, this parishioner from the Diocese of Pittsburgh continues to work on his own understanding of the Catholic faith.
“Making time for ongoing study,” is what Mike says is his biggest challenge in knowing the faith. “The demands of the work are constantly urgent. Yet the pope keeps saying things that are very valuable. Theologians keep writing wonderful books. Had I but world enough and time!”
Mike also candidly shares the difficulties he encounters when sharing the faith, despite the opportunities he regularly has to do so. “I’m an extreme introvert, extremely shy,” Mike explains. “Yet my work demands a very high level of social interaction. God is good at getting us over ourselves.”
And identifying the ways God helps other people grow in their faith is one of the greatest benefits of the New Evangelization. “I am constantly in awe of the fidelity of the people who go to Mass every day,” Mike says. “They’re the folks who also fill the town with deeds of kindness every day. That’s how the world will be won. Charity radiates from the Mass. Charity converts the world.”
You can visit Mike’s blog and discover his books about Catholicism at www.MikeAquilina.com.
