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Sheila Kippley Review

Sheila Kippley reviewed The Missionary’s Catechism in the Couple to Couple League’s Family Foundation Magazine, March-April 2001 issue, on page 30. This is her review in its entirety:

Missionary’s Catechism Makes a Great Gift

The Missionary’s Catechism
Russell Ford
330 pages, $12.95

As a long-time subscriber to This Rock, I looked forward to my next issue to see if Russell Ford had another article in this magazine. He had a style of writing I enjoyed - simple and evangelical, and his background is most unusual. He’s doing prison time in Alabama, became a Catholic in 1989, and has helped others into the Catholic faith. Regrettably in my opinion, he no longer writes for this magazine.

Recently I discovered his 1998 book, The Missionary’s Catechism, which has an easy, simple, question and answer format and tells it like it is. For example, he lumps the Sixth and Ninth Commandment because “both deal with sexual purity. The Sixth Commandment deals with external sexual purity, and the ninth commandment deals with interior purity.”

Need some help with the Fourth Commandment? Ford is concise and brief with words. “The fourth commandment obliges us to respect our parents, obey them in all that is not sinful, and help them in their needs.” He asks, “How do children show love and respect for parents?” He answers: “Children show their love and respect by speaking and acting with gratitude, trying to please their parents, readily accepting corrections, seeking parental advice in important decisions, and praying for their parents.” Amen!

Another example is his teaching of the Fifth Commandment. “The fifth commandment forbids intentional homicide, abortion, euthanasia, child abuse, sterilization, suicide, and all that can lead to physical or spiritual harm to oneself or others, such as anger, fighting, revenge, drunkenness, drug abuse, torments inflicted on body or mind, hatred, and bad example.” Church teaching on abortion and euthanasia would please pro-lifers. Modern issues, such as organ transplants, in vitro fertilization, and use of donor sperm or ovum or surrogate uterus are also covered in this catechism.

Mr. Ford refers readers to the Couple to Couple League for “natural methods of birth control, which do not offend God if used for right reasons.” He defines systematic NFP and discusses the right and moral use of NFP based on fertility awareness. In speaking of right reasons to space babies, Mr. Ford does not mention God’s plan through breastfeeding. This is one change I would like to see in a future edition.

The main sections of his book are The Apostles Creed, Divine Grace and the Sacraments, and The Ten Commandments, more or less following the outline of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to which he makes frequent reference. The book is geared for helping non-Catholics understand the Catholic faith and for Catholics to use for evangelization.

The book has a preface by Karl Keating, president of Catholic Answers, and a foreword by Martin Barrack, born Jewish and a Catholic convert. In his Introduction, Mr. Ford reminds his readers “It is impossible for you to convert anybody. Only the Holy Spirit can made conversions.” As he says, “It is my earnest prayer that all who use this book will be offered and accept many wonderful graces: To non-Catholics, the graces of conversion; to Catholics, the graces for continued interior conversion; to those who recognize the need for evangelization, the graces for that ’fire in the belly’ to share the faith with everyone!”

This catechism is written for personal conversion and for evangelization. Nowhere in this book could I find any reference to the number of conversions attributed to the Holy Spirit and accomplished through the prayer and efforts of Mr. Ford. I have read that he is responsible for over 200 conversions as a prisoner!

I looked for offensive material in this book. Definitions are clearly given without referring to biology; terms are limited to sexual activity, sexual intercourse, or sexual relations. For example, “homosexual activity is sexual relations between people of the same sex. Homosexuality is a gravely disordered condition, and homosexual activity is always mortally sinful.”

I highly recommend this book for teenagers (a great Confirmation gift), for RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) programs, for home schooling parents (to be used as a basic review during eighth grade or when beginning high school), and an excellent resource for any home to supplement The Catechism of the Catholic Church. The book is available through CCL for $12.95.

Marty Barrack’s notes:

1. The Missionary’s Catechism is in the Couple to Couple League’s Catholic Interest section. It can also be ordered by calling CCL at 800-745-8252.

2. Russ Ford had taken a brief sabbatical from writing, so Sheila Kippley’s observation that “he no longer writes for this magazine” was correct when she wrote it. However, Russ has now resumed writing, so watch for him in This Rock and other magazines.