I'm tired of people using slogans and jargon when it comes to answering questions about faith and about spreading the good news. "Jesus is the answer" is a popular slogan but it turns me off and a lot of other people too. We know Jesus is the answer but we need more. Can you offer some suggestions on ways of spreading the good news that don't turn people off or make them feel stupid? How can we witness to people who don't want to listen?

A few simple statements might help answer your questions:

1. Slogans do not satisfy people who are really looking for answers.
2. We spread the "good news" more by who we are than by what we say.
3. The best witness is one's own love and relationship with God.
4. Create a climate of trust and respect —this opens up the lines of communication and disposes one to listen.
5. We don't give people faith — we can only awaken it through our efforts to share the message of the gospel.

We hope these few statements shed some light on your concerns.

I am trying to get a lesson plan on some moral question to present as an example of good teaching skills in the classroom. The grade level is 7th or 8th grades.

The teachers guide for most religion texts will have a variety of lesson plans for each topic. One of the most recent junior high texts on this topic is the Morality Text from Sadlier's Faith and Witness Program. An especially good session for your purposes might be Chapter 11, of this book which is titled, "Called to Truth".

I'm looking for a Catholic magazine that would be suitable for my young daughter age 8. Can you suggest some?

A very attractive and popular magazine for young people is entitled: "My Friend" from Pauline Books and Media. You can find more information on this by going to the web site: http://www.pauline.org.

Another suggestion is the magazine "The Good News Weekly" by Liguorian Publications.

View previous questions and answers in the Nurturing Faith Archive.

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