Adventures in the Great Mystery

John Paul II once said, “Dear Christian parents, [I] exhort you to be close to your children.  Do not leave them alone when they are faced with the weighty decisions of adolescence and youth.”  Then he added, “The activity of the family must be supported by that of catechists and Christian teachers, called in a special way to encourage in young people a sense of vocation. Their task is to guide the young generations towards discovering the plan of God for each of them, cultivating in them the readiness, when God calls them, to turn their lives into a gift for that mission. … Dear catechists and teachers, in order to reach this goal, help the young people entrusted to your care to look upwards, to overcome the constant temptation to compromise. Teach them to trust in God who is Father, and show them the extraordinary greatness of his love which entrusts to each one a personal task at the service of the great mission of ‘renewing the face of the earth'” (“Life as a Vocation,” Message of 5/6/2001.)

Adventures in the Great Mystery is designed to help parents and teachers guide young people in this way.  An action-packed beginning draws teens into the lives of Catholic college students who love God with a faith that permeates everything about their lives – their friendships, romantic relationships, decisions about the future, and especially their reactions to the challenges that constantly come their way.  As teens join the characters in their topsy-turvy lives, they will gain a new appreciation for personal and group prayer, the Mass, Holy Communion, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  They will learn how to approach decisions from a Catholic point of view.  And they will see that being an active Catholic makes life anything but boring.

Teens can enjoy the stories as individuals or form book clubs to use the discussion questions provided.  Since the books appeal to adults, discussion groups may include teens and adults learning together and from each other.  Teachers, parents, and youth ministers may choose to use the discussion questions to teach the Catholic faith or use our Theology of the Body Curriculum.  Personal Reflection questions or Group Discussion questions can be assigned as essay questions in an academic setting.  If you would like more information or would like the AGM team to develop questions to meet your particular needs, contact us by clicking here.

 

At what age should teens start reading Adventures in the Great Mystery?  High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors will be more interested in the topics of courtship and vocational discernment, but younger teens may need to read these books before they become influenced by society’s views.  In general, girls will be able to start about two years earlier than boys.  Consideration will also need to be given to local factors.  For example, in a town with a parish elementary/middle school but no Catholic high school, reading Adventures could be an important English/Religion project for eighth-graders to prepare them for the challenges of secular high school.

Adventures in the Great Mystery provides a catechesis that grows with the reader, or more accurately, it matures readers as they read.  The beginning of Book I will appeal to middle-schoolers, but the depth of the issues and theology presented increases in the second half of the book and in the later books of the trilogy.  The second trilogy is decidedly more mature, and the third trilogy even more so.  As teens read about their favorite characters, they are drawn into a progressively more adult understanding of what it means to be a Catholic living in the modern world.

Here’s what a few readers have to say…

Hope, 18 – “I really enjoyed how each of the characters, even the ‘bad’ ones, were treated as persons… The characters are portrayed as real people who make mistakes, but have the humility to ask for forgiveness.”

Emilia, 15 – “Heavy dialogue [is] interspersed with goofy college kid antics [and] funny dialogue…  We absent-minded teens don’t always remember to turn to God for our needs, thanks, and desires, but the novel’s characters set an important example…  I like the way they approach fundamental Catholic teachings:  by interpreting them and adapting them to their own lives and callings.”

John, 15 – “The first three books in the series are great books that explore the teachings of the Church about vocations, courtship, and many other things.   However, they’re also interesting novels, so they’re easier to read than the catechism.”