This week on Off the Shelf Father Sebastian Walshe joins me to discuss the rising issue of young adults leaving the Catholic faith. Listen in as we cover some of the reasons why this is happening and what parents can do to bring their kids back. Hint…don’t smother them to start! Check out Father’s book Always a Catholic – How to Keep Your Kids in the Faith for Life- and Bring Them Back If They Have Strayed here.

From the Publisher Catholic Answers Press

Most Catholic parents agree: our number-one goal in life is to pass on the Faith to our children. But here’s the bad news: today’s world has a million ways to steal your kids’souls. From sects to sex, from atheism to consumerism, rivals to Catholic doctrine and morals want to snatch your children away from their baptismal heritage and eternal destiny. Don’t be afraid, says Fr. Sebastian Walshe (Secrets from Heaven). Because there’s good news that’s more powerful than the world’s temptations: God loves your children even more than you do, and he desires their salvation more than anything. In Always a Catholic, Fr. Walshe shows you how to cooperate with God to bring about the fulfillment of his will for your kids. There are lots of Catholic parenting books promising results with this or that system or trick. But although it contains solid practical counsel, Always a Catholic reminds us that keeping our kids in the Faith (or helping them get back to it) is more than a matter of technique. Above all, it’s about the way we live out Catholicism–in our own lives and as a family–from day to day. Fr. Walshe gives you the principles–drawn from Catholic teaching, truths of human nature, and the best habits of successful Catholic families–that you need to transmit the joy and confidence that will keep your kids in the Faith for life. The world and the devil don’t stand a chance!

Bio

Fr. Sebastian Walshe, O. Praem, is a Norbertine canon of the Abbey of St. Michael in the Diocese of Orange, California. After earning a degree in electrical engineering, Fr. Sebastian worked at an intellectual property firm before pursuing further education at Thomas Aquinas College. Graduating in 1994, he continued studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., receiving a license in philosophy. Later, while in the seminary, he attended the Pontifical University of St. Thomas at Rome (the Angelicum) where he received a master’s degree in sacred theology and a doctorate in philosophy. Since 2006, Fr. Sebastian has been a professor of philosophy in the seminary program at St. Michael’s Abbey, where he is the dean of studies.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.