In a
time of discouragement, how can the Church renew itself and its outreach to all
people? Bishop Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles, insists that a “dumbed down” Catholicism cannot succeed in today’s
highly educated society—instead, the Church needs to draw upon its great
theological heritage in order to renew its hope in Christ.
With Renewing
Our Hope: Essays for the New Evangelization, Bishop Barron traces this
renewal through four stages. “Renewing Our Mission” lays out the challenges
that call for Catholics to become more aware of their own intellectual
resources in encountering the “Nones.” “Renewing Our Minds” showcases the
importance of theological reflection as a font of wisdom and sanity in the
Church, touching on Thomas Aquinas, Hans Urs von Balthasar, the recently
canonized John Henry Newman, and Pope Francis. In “Renewing the Church,” he
proceeds to look at how Scripture, the family, the seminary, and Catholic
college graduates can each contribute to this renewal. Finally, in “Renewing
Our Culture,” Barron returns to the judgments Catholics must make in assessing
contemporary culture, specifically, family life, liberalism, relativism, and
(surprisingly) the beauty of cinema.
340 Pages - Paperback
AUTHOR:
Bishop Robert Barron, known as the host of the Catholicism PBS
video series, was previously rector and professor of systematic theology at
Mundelein Seminary outside Chicago, Illinois. He demonstrates again in Renewing
Our Hope his ability to make the fruits of his wide reading accessible
to a broad audience, while still giving his academic colleagues much to
consider.