Maine’s Bishop Richard Malone is a voice to be heard on the catechetical front.  He was the keynote presenter at the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Institute where he addressed the theme of “Christ, the Face of Hope.”

“We need to be heralds of hope in what is so often a hope-starved world,” Bishop Malone told attendees. “For many years, you folks in this Premier See have been taking with great seriousness the insistence of (Pope) Paul VI that evangelization is the church’s essential mission.” He later added the church needs “to touch people’s lives and then, through them, touch the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.” More about the Institute here.

In the podcast, he reminds us that young people are our hope and we need them to be witnesses of hope in the world. When you talk with a teen, he says, and you see a real longing for the ultimate things, you can find your help enlivened.

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Meanwhile, your humble blogger continues to learn more regarding video editing, having recently purchased Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9.  I am hoping to get a quick handle on this before the National Symposium on Adolescent Catechesis,our Baltimore Youth Catholic Conference, and the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry.  On Saturday, I collected digital video on Bishop Malone and youth ministry track presenter, J. Michael Norman from Los Angeles.  (Watch this site on a future Wednesday for Mike!)

In the video, Bishop Malone reminds us that we, as evangelizers and faith formation ministers, must remain "awake to the non-neutrality of culture. It is always affecting us!"