Catholic Blogger Edmund Mitchell

If you haven't heard of Catholic blogger Edmund Mitchell, allow me to make your day. If you don't smile during the reading of this post, leave a comment and let me know. I'll enter you in the "people who need more cheering up than I do" prayer list I keep on hand.

Here's the nutshell description of Edmund, lifted shamelessly from his about page:

I believe the Catechism of the Catholic Church is one of the most important tools for the renewing of Catholic culture in the West, the New Evangelization, mass conversion, fulfilled lives, happy families, and making saints.

Join me as I strive to become a deadly wielder of the Catechism, slayer of dragons, and a saintly husband and father. I’m exploring hipster ways to use the catechism, training people to wield it like a CCC ninja with a fresh haircut, and unveiling the beauty of the catechism in ways that would make your agnostic neighbors blush.

He's written in a number of other places online too, including Ignitum Today, and he's been featured a number of times at the National Catholic Register.

I could go on. (And on and on AND ON.) But let's let Edmund have a few words, shall we?

Tell us about your blog in five words or less.

Hipster Catechism on adrenaline, etc.

Why did you start blogging?

Because I'm a horrible writer who misses college, thinks too much, reads too much, and enjoys writing too much. I also needed a hobby.

Why do you keep blogging? What's your inspiration to continue?

The more you write, the better you write, and the better you write, the better you think. I want to think better.

Also, as I continue to read and write I've slowly realized how important and underutilized the Catechism is for our time, and its importance is only becoming more and more evident. I take Fr. John Hardon seriously when he said, "The Catechism is of historic importance. Depending on how seriously we take it, the future of the Catholic Church will be shaped accordingly."

The Counter-Reformation was successful to some degree at beating doctrines into heads, but in a lot of instances lacked a life changing "encounter" with Jesus Christ. Vatican II ushered in an age of "Evangelical Catholicism," as George Weigel puts it, in which the Church began (re)engaging modern man with the basic Gospel message, the "kerygma," and with it a personal and life-changing encounter of Christ.

But after the kerygma there needs to come "mystagogia", or a deepening of the mysteries of our faith and relationship with God. I think this is an area in which we need more work, especially moving forward in the New Evangelization. We need to engage modern man with Jesus Christ, and challenge Catholics to have a mastery of the basics of the faith as well as send them to the depths of the mysteries. We also need to teach Catholics how to teach themselves and others the faith. I think the Catechism is a beautiful gift from the Church that can accomplish all three: provide an encounter with Christ, provide Catholics with a mastery and life-changing knowledge of the content of our faith, and provide Catholics with a tool with which they can spread the faith to others.

I'm not alone in this belief. Dr. Scott Hahn has said that the Catechism is THE tool for the New Evangelization.

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa preached on the Catechism at the Vatican during Advent last year, saying, "...this book can be transformed from a silent instrument, like a valuable violin resting on a velvet cloth, into an instrument that sounds and rouses hearts."

That is the focus of 80% of my research and writing. The other 20% is whatever I am passionate about at the time.

When you think of the New Evangelization as a Catholic blogger, what excites you? What makes you want to continue?

Seeing more and more Catholics on fire for their faith and showing up in public spheres like the internet, radio, and your local bar. That makes me really excited for the future.

It also reminds me how important it is to continue diving deeper into our faith because there are a lot of well intentioned Catholics who, not having a solid enough foundation in Catholic doctrine, philosophy, history, or catechetics, are answering modern man's hunger for deep, living waters with sprinkles from a red Solo cup.

The more I write and engage in the public sphere, the more I am forced out into the deep.

What's the most rewarding aspect of your blogging?

The millions of dollars I'm making.

Also, when I write about something I am passionate about and it creates passion in others.

Sharing a unique perspective or different take on a familiar topic can be very rewarding as well, especially when it makes people say, "I never thought about it that way. You are definitely weird, but I never thought about it that way."

I find the keywords that people search that make them wind up on my blog to be particularly rewarding.

If you were wondering how to say "Catholic Hipster" in Russian, it's: католицизм хипстеры.

In all seriousness, I am most rewarded when people tell me that something I wrote brought them closer to Jesus Christ.

In your spare time, what are we likely to find you doing?

Youth Ministry.

The other 1% of my time is devoted to loving my wife, throwing my kids around, and reading. I recently started growing vegetables out of frosting buckets, mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, drinking beer, eating pizza, listening to NPR, and forcing myself to write something. Sometimes I shower.

AMDG

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Copyright 2013 Sarah Reinhard