Reviewed by Father. Vivian Boland, OP
Assistant Professor at Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas – Angelicum
Francis Etheredge’s passion for communicating to the younger generation a Christian vision of the human person comes through very clearly in this book. With humility and wisdom, drawing on his personal journey of sin and redemption, he considers the central questions of identity: who am I? what is my life for? what ought I to do? His consideration of these questions ranges from the most immediate physical and psychological issues about personal identity, some of which have become seriously complex in modern times, to the deepest foundation on which each person’s identity is securely and eternally established, namely being known and loved by God, with the calling which comes with that. Our deepest identity lies in becoming the person God knows and wants us to be by receiving His Word in our hearts and allowing the grace of that Word to heal, to form and to guide us.
There are five main sections of ‘input’, contextualized among a series of poems and prayers which bring before God certain groups of people and situations for which prayer is particularly necessary in our time: evangelists, journalists, victims of trafficking, children’s mental health, problems arising from gun violence (especially suicide), the use of opioids (and other addictions), young people generally, artists and church musicians.
The circumstance that gave rise to the first two presentations was World Youth Day in Lisbon 2023. Etherege prepared two catechetical conferences to give to the large group of young pilgrims with whom he and his wife wound their way through France, Spain and Portugal, took part in the WYD celebrations, and then returned home, the pilgrimage continuing until one returns to the place from which one starts. Also interspersed between the main sections are accounts of the pilgrimage itself noting the historical, cultural and spiritual significance of the places visited.
Life is multi-faceted and complex and young people are faced with many challenges as they seek to find a clear sense of who they are. Many negative things shape their world, various kinds of ‘leprosy’ that mislead, distract, weaken and depress them. What is clear enough, strong enough, beautiful enough, realistic enough to help them respond effectively to these challenges? For Etheredge it can only be the Word of God received in the heart, whereby persons come to realize that their deepest identity is to be a son or daughter of God. It is also the basis on which relationships with others can be lived with honesty and joy.
Portugal’s association with the Immaculate Conception explains the theme for the first conference, ‘Mary and Portugal’, but as his thought developed it became clear that it was essentially linked with the second one, on ‘Youth, Mental Health and the Word of God’. The Immaculate Conception may be a surprising starting point for thinking about these contemporary challenges, but it is Mary, known and loved by God, established by God’s grace in her identity as mother of Christ and Mother of God, who provides the richest possible basis for reflecting on identity and vocation. The factor linking these two conferences is the question of ‘identity’, clearly at the centre of concern for the second catechesis but finding its most adequate response in what is presented in the first one.
The remaining main inputs consider questions of bioethics, in particular those raised by contemporary gender theory, the fact that all human life is lived in relationship and community, and some final reflections on Christ’s death and resurrection and the mystery of suffering in human life. Looking to the next World Youth Day, in Seoul in 2027, there is a short presentation of the history of Christianity in that country.
At one point Etheredge says that ‘it takes a ‘word’ to reveal what our experience is actually about’. Under God’s providence this may be a word from a parent or a teacher, a friend or a colleague, but more deeply it is the Word from God which reveals the definitive and comprehensive answers to the questions with which he began: who am I? what is my life for? what ought I to do?
Pope Francis called on evangelists and catechists to do their work with creativity and simplicity and this Etheredge succeeds in doing. There are far too many interesting arguments, references, statistics, citations, for the range of the book to be adequately noted here. Suffice it to say that THE WORD IN YOUR HEART is a treasure trove of reflections on the contemporary world, particularly as it is affecting younger people. It is always honest in its analysis of what is happening, always richly informed in the scientific, philosophical and theological sources to which it appeals, and always powerfully convinced that the way forward is with Christ and with Mary.
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