A Well-Built Faith

One of my Lenten resolutions every year involves learning more about my Catholic faith. If you also like to use this time to deepen your faith, you should definitely read A Well Built Faith, A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe by Joe Paprocki and published by Loyola Press.

I initially chose this book because of the title and description in the Loyola Press catalog, which states in part, “A Well-Built faith … makes it easy for Catholics to know what they believe and to feel confident in sharing those beliefs.” No matter how much I know about my faith, there is always a hunger to learn more. This book presents the faith of our Church in a practical, easy to follow style with nice everyday language. The chapters are cleverly organized around a construction theme that adds nice structure to the book.

Though much of the information presented in this book is not new to me, it is presented in a new way that made it interesting to re-learn and absorb. The author addresses our faith in four sections: Creed, Sacraments, Moral Life, and Prayer. The last section on Prayer: Praying Faith really spoke to me. Mr. Paprocki defines prayer as “…our awareness of the divine presence in our lives. Prayer is our response to God’s undying efforts to reach our hearts.” A simple statement; so beautiful to mediate on. This section does a great job identifying the different types of prayers used by Catholics and offers practical examples to help you recognize all the various ways we answer St. Paul’s call to pray without ceasing.

In my opinion, this book would be a wonderful gift for anyone interested in the Catholic faith or entering RCIA. It is also a great tool and resource for all of us cradle Catholics who want to brush up on the “why” of our faith or learn things we’ve missed along the way. A Well Built Faith gives you the knowledge and confidence to be able to share your faith with your friends, family and children.

This book will remain on my nightstand for a long time as a valuable resource as questions of faith arise or when a refresher is needed.