Posted June 11, 2015 Book: The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic: How Engaging 1% of Catholics Could Change the World Author: Matthew Kelly The Dynamic Catholic Institute. Erlanger, Kentucky. 2015. Pp. 217 An Excerpt from the Jacket: As human beings, we are constantly engaging and disengaging in everything we do. We engage and disengage at work, in marriage, as parents, in our quest for health and well-being, in personal finances, environmentally, politically, and, of course, we engage or disengage spiritually. If you walk into any Catholic Church next Sunday and look around, you will discover that some people are highly engaged, others are massively disengaged, and the majority are somewhere in between. Why? What is the difference between highly engaged Catholics and disengaged Catholics? Answering this question is essential to the future of the Catholic Church. If we truly want to engage Catholics and reinvigorate parish life, we must first discover what drives engagement among Catholics. Matthew Kelly explores this question in his groundbreaking new book, and the simplicity of what he discovers will amaze you. Four things make the difference between highly engaged Catholics and disengaged Catholics: the four signs of a Dynamic Catholic. An Excerpt from the Book: The Four Signs --- an Overview The things we do repeatedly determine our character and destiny. This is equally true for an athlete, a business leader, a parent, or a Catholic. Life-giving spiritual habits are what set the 7% apart from the rest. When I studied the lives of Dynamic Catholics I discovered many things they did that the other 93% of Catholics tended not to do. In fact, I identified 264 behaviors or qualities that were unique to the 7%. I then examined the cause-and effect relationship between all 264 behaviors, and the overlap that existed among them, to arrive at the four signs of a Dynamic Catholic. . . . The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic are: Prayer: a daily commitment to prayer Study: Continuous learning Generosity: Dynamic Catholics are generous Evangelization: Dynamic Catholics invite others to grow spiritually by sharing the love of god with them This may not seem like any great discovery at first glance. What I find most fascinating is the way Dynamic Catholics approach each of the four signs. What I find most admirable is the almost unerring consistency with which they apply themselves to the four signs, especially the first and second. Table of Contents: 1. Incredible possibilities 2. Are you spiritually healthy? 3. The genius of Catholicism 4. The happiest people I know 5. Changing the world 6. A new level of thinking