Why Every American Catholic Should Read "To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach" by Jared Dees: A Book Review

Plummeting Mass attendance, fewer youth getting married, widespread dissent from vital Church teachings on the part of American Catholics, caricatures of the Catholic Church in the media, what a time to be Catholic! If you [still] love, celebrate, and embrace your Catholic faith and strive to live a sacramental life centered around serving the Lord Jesus Christ, you are probably aware of the crisis in the condition of the modern-day Catholic Church, particularly in Western developed countries, including the United States. The reality is that it is no secret that the last few decades have not featured an ideal quality of catechesis. We could decry this all day long, but ultimately, we must ask ourselves – where do we go from here? If someone has left the practice of the faith, or is otherwise currently disinterested in hearing the Good News, what can we do? Similarly, if someone has direly gaping spiritual wounds, what can we do? How do we reinvigorate the faith to draw others to Christ? Many other questions may be swirling through your mind.

Before entering into full-blown crisis mode, we need to step back, take a deep breath (along with a bite of humble pie) and reflect on two occasionally overshadowed passages within the Gospel of Matthew. “[Jesus] went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people” (Matthew 5:23). Compare this to a passage that occurs later in Jesus’ ministry: “Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness” (Matthew 9:35). In these two very similar passages within Matthew’s Gospel (commonly referred to as the “teaching” Gospel because of its prominent emphasis on Jesus’ moral teachings), we see Jesus undertaking three distinct – yet ultimately complementary – ministerial roles: healing, proclaiming, and teaching. Jesus’ ministry was clearly imbued with compassion and outreach to multitudes, and as his disciples, we are called to imitate him by likewise filling these three roles for the greater glory of the kingdom of God.

In renowned author and master catechist Jared Dees’ book To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach: The Essential Guide to Ministry in Today’s Catholic Church (Ave Maria Press – March 2016), Dees emphasizes how we must employ Jesus’ approach of healing, proclaiming, and teaching when carrying out the New Evangelization. In fact, Dees’ book is so persuasive that it has the potential to revolutionize how we go about handing on the faith to future generations, and also how we continue to evangelize those who have already heard the Good News. In To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach, Dees delivers a sweeping yet quickly-read nearly three-hundred-page guide to expand on how all of us who love the Catholic faith can evangelize by meeting people where they are on their spiritual journey. Meeting people where they are does not run the risk of watering down doctrine or jeopardizing pastoral approaches to particular situations; rather, it means recalling why we are disciples of Jesus in the first place: because he loves us, and became we are called to love him first and foremost, and our neighbors in turn (cf. Mark 12:30-31). Evangelization is an ongoing process, and it requires a ministerial approach that draws others to Christ rather than pushes them away. Once someone senses God’s love, he or she is more open to hearing the gospel proclaimed, and is thereafter able to more effectively comprehend the beautiful expanse of the Church’s exquisite teachings and age-old wisdom.

The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy (December 8, 2015 – November 20, 2016) would be the perfect occasion for the faithful to read To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach. Among other considerations, Dees provides key excerpts from the writings of Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and Saint Pope John Paul II, the three of whom are synonymous with the New Evangelization. With its abundance of instructive and inspirational examples of how we can foster healing, the proclamation of the gospel, and the teachings found in Church doctrine that underpin this all, Dees’ book seeks to renew and revitalize the approach to ministry in the Catholic Church. To provide an illustratively extensive excerpt from within Dees’ book: “It is our responsibility to cultivate our hearts and minds for ministry so that Christ can sow the seeds of faith in all we do. How do we do this? What lies at the root of every effective ministry? What drives the saints and heroes of our great tradition to make disciples? Below the good soil, at the root of all effective ministries, are these three keys to evangelization: healing, proclaiming, and teaching. Commitment to these first priorities of ministry is essential to cultivating good soil and bringing forth a great harvest. Without a doubt, the current situation in our Church calls for a renewed approach to ministry. For decades, maybe even centuries, Catholics have become too comfortable. We have lost a sense of urgency in spreading the Gospel within our communities and even among our friends and families. We have allowed our ministry fields to become infested with weeds. We have permitted the soil to become thin and rocky. We have created a path on which little is growing. We can no longer depend on cultural Christianity to be passed from one generation to the next. The only way we can ensure survival is by standing up and working together to reenergize cradle Catholics and passive Christians through the new evangelization. It is time to prepare good soil for Christ once again” (pages 291-292).

To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach is a fast read that would make a great gift for lay leaders, teachers in the faith (at any educational level), clergy, and anyone else interested in why we lead others to Christ in the first place: because “God is love” (1 John 4:8).