Growth Through Renewal
September 2013
Welcome to our September issue, in which we celebrate the joy of renewal.
As discussed by columnist Kate Basi in “Just Live It,” the act of becoming new is constant.
This month, for example, students are back in school, breathing in the scent of crayons, old books, or new laptops—renewing their commitment to learning. Somewhere, longtime friends who had lost touch laugh and whisper over coffee—renewing their friendship. Somewhere, a Catholic enters a church for the first time in years—renewing her or his relationship with God. Renewal is all around us.
Like the sprout on our cover, it requires full engagement with what lies at the beginning of something—the origin, the promise, the seed. In this month’s cover story, Liguori author William Rabior uses that premise to dissect grudges in “The Truth about Grudges.” Renewal through forgiveness restores the hope that once blossomed at the beginning of a relationship.
Renewal also requires welcoming fresh ideas and energy, as Joan Weber discusses in her article on “Reaching Young Adults” in the Church.
Taken together, these ideas suggest that renewal is deeply true to the origin (the re part of renew), yet it can be profoundly different from what grew before (the new part).
At Liguori Publications, we’re engaging in our own renewal. Fr. Mat Kessler, the energetic and creative Redemptorist who led Liguori for six years as both president and publisher, set us on a path to renewal. As of July 1, Liguori has a new leadership team: Fr. Donald B. Willard, the president, and me, Virgil Tipton, Liguori Publication’s first lay publisher. Together we’re renewing Liguori in the truest sense of the word by starting at the beginning.
Redemptorist documents call for an active response to a changing environment, declaring that Redemptorists “will diligently pioneer new ways of preaching the Gospel.” That message inspires Fr. Don and me, and we’re eager to fulfill that mission. All works we publish—our books, this magazine, parish materials, e-books, and mobile applications—are only avenues by which we express the core message of the Good News.
As we renew, we’re excited to see what startling new developments might emerge that are still true to the seed.
Let us know your ideas, and we’ll let you know what we’re working on.