mro,
Thank you for your honesty. I 'll be honest too: I agree, and I am no longer in college. I do not fault EWTN; I think they do the best they can with limited resources, and I would agree with some who have replied that they would do better with more support. All that being said, EWTN is not a place I go when I have time to watch television. There are a few wonderful programs, and I am comforted to know that the good sisters are praying for me and for us all, but I need something that makes me think.
There are a few places I go online. One is this site; people occasionally write something that get me thinking (You, for instance, just did!). Another is
bustedhalo.com. Another is America Magazine’s online site. Commonweal, National Catholic Register…they all make me think and help me to continue to engage myself with my faith and the faith of the Church. I don’t have to agree with them, but I do want something that engages me, challenges me, forces me to consider what my faith really is. Vatican.va, the Vatican website, will connect you to a whole range of materials from the Pope and from the Curia; the original documents are not always exciting, but they are substantial and rich.
Not all of these will be instantly engaging. But if you take the time, you will find things of interest, and you will find yourself immersed.
I’m going to split the difference between what you wrote and what some others have replied: You are right: it is not all instantly engaging. And the great good news that Jesus Christ, the only son of God, became one of us, and died for us, and rose for us is sometimes far too taken for granted by those who present it. But by the same token, it is also easy to look for something that is easily engaging, even entertaining, and to miss that at much deeper level, things that need to be appreciated deeply are going on.
God bless you, mro, for what you have ventured to write; may it be a challenge to us all to become more engaged and to present the Gospel in a way that it will speak to young men and women of good will, as our late Pope, Blessed John Paul urged us in his discussion of the New Evangelization, and as our current Holy Father, Pope Benedict, has challenged us again and again to do.
One thing that would be helpful, mro, both for yourself and for those we *should *be reaching but aren’t, is to take up a question and perhaps share your answers here: What concretely
should we be doing to reach out to young people like yourself who are the hope of the Church? If you wish, you might also ask some other young Catholics and Christians–they could offer great insights!
I look forward to your reply, and to the replies of others who may be willing to take on that question!
Thank you again, mro, for writing!
