As Received - Our Readers

Have a Nice Day
Readers share their opinions.

Pleased but not euphoric

I love your magazine! Its an excellent resource. Nevertheless, I had a problem with Curtis Martins article "You'd Better Not Pout" in the Premiere Issue. No clear distinction was drawn between emotional, subjective and objective happiness, and the smiley face decorations and title only contributed to the problem. Christianity does not, in any way, promise subjective, emotional happiness (just ask the martyrs and ascetics!), only objective happiness or blessedness. Job was not a happy camper, and faith based on subjective, emotional happiness is doomed to failure as soon as anything disrupts the subjective "euphoria." There are enough people seeking short term subjective happiness over blessedness in our country without us encouraging the horrendous mistake. Just my two cents. (From Franciscan University - home of emotionalism and experientialism.)
Cat J.A. Clark, Steubenville, OH

Perhaps you should reread Curtis Martins article. He neither promoted nor promised unmitigated "subjective, emotional" happiness. He reminded us of our need to cultivate joy in the midst of trials, the supernatural joy that comes from knowing and loving Christ. If you disagree with that, then your quibble is not with Curtis Martin, it's with St. Paul.
The Editor

Move over, Sister Bertrile

Hi! I have really enjoyed your magazine. I am a recent convert to the Catholic Faith and I am also a postulant in a religious order, the Daughters of the Holy Spirit. I was extremely anti-Catholic in college, but eventually I felt called to become Catholic and a religious at the same time (which was a lot to deal with, to say the least!). All my friends and family were Protestant. Reading Surprised By Truth made a huge impact on me.
Jennifer Norton, via e-mail

Baby steps

Kudos to all of you for the most engaging magazine I've ever read! Envoy is incredibly refreshing and, thankfully, loving to us all right where we are. Why didn't I just get a bulk subscription? There is so much I want to share with my friends and friends to be in Christ. Oh well, small steps, and my first gift subscription order is on its way to you. Envoy makes me proud to be Catholic. What a glorious calling we have to bring others to the fullness of the Faith, and Envoy certainly helps to do that with a true generosity of spirit. May God bless you richly.
Helen Elder, via e-mail

He's seeing double

Congratulations on a truly wonderful publication! I pray that its circulation doubles each issue for at least the next 100 years.
Sam Inlow, via e-mail

Rite on!

First, as others have noted, great job in terms of appearance, coverage, and attitude. Second, thank heaven there is finally a Catholic magazine that believes in quoting our Eastern saints and the liturgical texts of our Eastern Churches. I am a Byzantine Catholic priest and am delighted to see so much used from the ancient Christian East. I have FMS and it is hard to work the keyboard sometimes, and today is one of those. I am hoping to work on a Catholic evangelization program for parishioners, with a Byzantine slant. Specifically, I hope to create a program of door to door missionaries in our metro area and provide pamphlets using the Eastern Church Fathers and liturgies. Well set up a center in a house we hope to buy in 1998 next to the rectory where we can train the missionaries. Besides being disabled by a bad case of FMS, I have no priestly assistance in the parish, so this will be a lay project; it has to be. I am spread too thin! We currently expanded our church building to hold 200 people. The parish has grown from 45 in 1985 to 200 today. The expansion was made possible by grants from Catholic organizations and the hard work of the people here. Only 25% of members are of Slavic/Hungarian descent and/or are canonically Byzantine Rite. The others are all Roman Rite Catholics, many of them formerly fallen away from the Church. We also have converts every year, but I know the Lord thirsts for more. Any assistance your readers could offer to my parish would be appreciated. My e-mail address is frchris@swcp.com. Our address is Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 1840 Palomas Dr. N.E., Albuquerque, NM, 87110-5113.
Fr. Chris Zugger

Too focused on making converts?

I have read the last two issues of Envoy, and have been really impressed by the freshness and vigour of the content. When I did apologetics in the seminary, it was quite a dry and ponderous subject leaving me with doubts as to its capacity to inspire a generation of little defensores fidei. You have made an old, tired subject come alive for me. Thank you! Now here is a criticism, and I hope a constructive one. I sense a danger in focusing too heavily on making converts to the Church. While that is the goal, and I am aware that Christ and His Church are theologically inseparable, yet in the subjective sense of faith, the primary objective, as the Catechism says, is "putting people in communion with Jesus Christ." I think that the personal relationship with Christ is paramount and then the understanding that Christ intends us to be in the Church He founded. This was Newmans sentiment, I think, when he wrote, "And I hold in veneration for the love of Him alone, Holy Church as His Creation and Her Teachings as His own."
Daniel J. OConnor, Notre Dame, Australia

He's almost home

God has certainly used the book you put together, Surprised By Truth, as a tool to bring people to a deeper understanding of Christ's Body. I know this to be true, because I am one of those people. What a masterful way to discuss and prove God's precepts: through the real life experiences of real people. I am able to relate to every one of them in some way, and to some in all ways. I nearly put the book down upon reading the introduction and actually laughed out loud, dismissing Scott Hahn's words as just another denomination claiming to be the Church. But I couldn't put the book down and nearly read it straight through. My story has just started. I am a Protestant making a journey that seems at this point to be destined for the Catholic Church. Even as I write it, this notion seems odd, ludicrous, scary, and inescapable. This is the first time that I have felt "good" about "religion." The Catholic teachings I have uncovered so far are the first to actually ring true to my mind as well as my spirit. I always felt uncomfortable speaking to people about the "Truth," because I had no base, no authority, and no history to back up what I was saying. I would hope no one would ask questions or would have a real problem. I could go on and on, but I just wanted to exhort you, give you courage, and say that the Spirit of God that lives in me will be eternally grateful for your work and the work of everyone involved. My deep joy and gratitude cannot be transferred to you by this technology. Your brother (coming home).
Paul James, via-mail

Great Expectations

Wow! I had wondered if Envoy would be a good magazine. But its much more than good, its spectacular! Great job. By the way, have you thought of doing a piece on the Eastern Catholic Churches? What with your graphics capability you could have quite a beautiful article. Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dave Brown, Phoenix, AZ

Keep on truckin'

Fantastic! You kept me up past my bedtime last night. Great writing, just the right amount of humor, and so visually appealing. I don't see how it can get better, but keep right on trying. The Spirit is working here! Amen!
Tony Koski, Ph.D., Fort Collins, CO

It raised a few eyebrows 

The March/April issue of Envoy is great! Your article "A Major Apostolate Turns Ten" [Going the Distance] shows your love and loyalty to the cause. This is a contrast to the February issue of This Rock which listed major Catholic web sites, and even anti-Catholic sites. The absence of Envoy's web site in this list is glaring. Thank you for turning the question marks right side up! The article "A Kosher Ham Finds Christ" is very inspirational.
Jim Anderson, Columbus, OH

Surprised by exploration

I just wanted to let you know how much Patrick Madrid's book Surprised by Truth has meant to me and to some of those that I love. I loaned it to a friend of mine last month, and he said it answered questions for him that he didn't know he had. He has a background in the Church of the Nazarene, but has been a member of a Pentecostal church for 10 years. I shared the book with him so that he would perhaps become less anti-Catholic, but I never imagined he would begin to explore Catholicism for himself. I keep you all in my prayers. You're doing a wonderful job!
Elizabeth Janson, North Highlands, CA

InQUIZition on trial for heresies

Your web site looks great, in terms of layout and style, very nice design. I found the Catholic quiz under the magazine articles section and took it. While most of it was straightforward, I did wonder about two questions: 9. What early heresy denied the true humanity of Christ? a) Gnostic Docetism b) Arianism c) Nestorianism d) the Luddites. The answer given was "C", which is arguably correct, though I suspect the Nestorians would argue with that interpretation of their doctrines, but wasn't one of the key points of Gnosticism in general that Christ was not fully human because he could not have had a true body? I thought the Docetist Gnostics shared this general view: Because matter was evil, God was never really incarnated. Aren't these the heretics Ignatius of Antioch is addressing when he speaks of those who refuse to share the Eucharist because they do not believe it is the true Body and Blood because they don't believe the Lord ever had a body? Don't mean to pick nits, but unless I'm wrong (quite possible), (a) would seem to be the best answer, even if (c) is possible. After all, the Nestorians at least thought they were merely arguing over the mechanism of how divinity and humanity were united in Christ. So, no matter how misguided, they weren't intentionally rejecting the humanity of Christ. The other question I question is 12: Which of the following is not a formally defined dogma of the Catholic Church?: a) purgatory, b) infant baptism, c) the nine orders of angels, d) indulgences. Here the answer key says (d) is correct; perhaps a typographical error? Indulgences are dealt with dogmatically by Trent. The correct answer would seem to be (c), as angelic hierarchies are speculative and were never formally defined by the Church, as I recall. I've subscribed to Envoy and am looking forward to my first issue. Looking over the staff, it certainly seems that you have a first class team assembled. Gods blessing upon your apostolate.
Dwight Divine, via e-mail

Additional evidence

First of all, let me congratulate you on beginning what looks to be a fine Catholic apologetics magazine. I am writing to make a small correction to the InQUIZition in the Premiere Issue. Question 9 asks what heresy denied the full humanity of Christ. Nestorianism is given as the correct answer. a) is also a correct answer, namely, Gnostic Docetism.
Blaine Barclay, via e-mail

The Editor recants:

Youre both right about question #9. It was a typo and the correct answer should have been given as A. Also, #12 should have read C. Our proofreaders have been sent to the dungeon. When they get out, they wont make the same mistake again.

I love you more today than yesterday

Thank you so much for Envoy. Its incredible. Each article is better than the one before. My mom sent in a gift subscription for a relative of ours and ordered a few single issues to share with friends. You've created a terrific magazine. I cant think of a single thing that I don't like about it. (Charles Harvey's InQUIZition is great!)
Melanee Targia, via e-mail

This pictures worth a thousand subscriptions

What a great magazine! I knew it would be after seeing the first ad's picture of the young girl and her little brother getting ready for Holy Communion, with the caption, "Do you know someone whose Catholic Faith ended here?" I didn't see the ad in your first bimonthly issue. I hope you're not through using it. It says so much to so many. Its timeless. Keep up the good work!
Jeff C. Lang, via e-mail

Shell give them an education

Congrats on a great magazine. After distributing countless copies of Surprised by Truth, I am so glad to see this venture. I'm a cradle Catholic and longtime home educator who has relearned my Faith through questions and debates with Protestant homeschool friends! I would like to share Kristine Franklin's article "How I Solved the Catholic Problem" (Premiere Issue) with an Evangelical friend and his family who are in Guatemala as missionaries (yikes!). I thought they were spreading the gospel to "unbelievers." Silly me. I'll send them a copy of this article, as they plan to be there for two years. I also want to give copies to two friends in our homeschool group who are Baptist ministers.
Felice Gerwitz, via e-mail

Readers digestion

I'm a subscriber and I have 3 issues now. Its a good thing Envoy only comes out every two months. It takes me that long to digest everything in each one.
Brigid Kowalczyk, via e-mail

Does this mean he wants to order back issues?

Please be so kind as to discontinue my "gift subscription." (No doubt the work of my parents.) I must say the Darwin article was the most [expletive] collection of half truths and out of context rubbish I've seen in a while. The most hilarious statement, though, had to be "people who don't believe in God will believe anything, including the idea that something can come out of nothing." This presents Johnson with a hilarious rhetorical question. Hmmm, does this include "God?" OOOPS. Tsk. Tsk. C'mon. How amateurish can you be? This combined with other smarmy articles, no better than I've seen from annoying self righteous Protestants, merely makes me more disgusted with self righteous interpretations of religion. Any slight chance of my children growing up Catholic (which you have thus far made very slim and with only one issue) will most certainly move to a snowball's chance if you continue to send me this dreck. Please, keep your money, your sophomoric and alarmist articles, and your magazine to yourself.
Ramon Medina, via e-mail