Dear Reader,

As I began researching and writing this book, I realized that the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church were breathing new life into the faith I had lived with for more than four decades. Suddenly, when I said the profession of faith at Mass, it was as if I were saying it for the first time. Even the seemingly simple rituals of dipping my hand in holy water or making the Sign of the Cross took on greater meaning from this new perspective.

Then one Sunday I was sitting in church when the lector began the Scripture readings of the day. It was a reading I had heard many times before. God revealed his name to Moses: “I Am Who Am.” I had written about that very passage just the day before. I felt chills race up and down my arms. It dawned on me at that moment that I was meant to write this book, not because I am the only person who could write it (that’s certainly not the case) but because I was ready for this spiritual adventure that turned me into an eager explorer in the familiar territory of my own faith.

I truly believe that if you open your mind and your heart to what is inside the Catechism, you cannot help but be changed. I’m not saying that if you read this book you’ll become a Catholic or you’ll become a better Catholic. I’m just saying that if you give the Catechism the chance to take root in your soul and grow, it will lead you to surprising and wonderful places. It’s inevitable, really, because what we are dealing with here are the most fundamental of life’s questions: Where do we come from? Who made us? Why are we here? Where are we going?

For me the Catechism is no longer a textbook of teachings and rules. It is a love story, a treatise on what it means to have faith in the one Triune God and to live that faith in the world every day. Even if you are not a Catholic, even if you don’t agree with all of these teachings, it is my hope that by the time you finish this book you will see the beauty of the Catechism in a new light, the light of Jesus Christ, who transformed the world with his love and his sacrifice and who will transform each one of us if we let him.

Peace and blessings,

Mary DeTurris Poust