...to a book launch can mean a slightly bleak evening, with some wine and potato crisps and not many people, and a publisher anxiously hoping that somehow all this will result in some sales...
But the book launch I attended this evening was utterly different. An absolutrely packed Westminster Cathedral Hall, lots of young families, a stirring call to evangelise, and at one point we were all invited to sing (yes, you read that correctly) the Hail Mary, and everyone stood up and did so, in rousing style, to a tune I had never heard before.
This was all to launch a book, The Kerygma, by Kiko Arguello, founder of the Neo-Catechuemenate. I heard the word Kerygma ( you say it: Kare-ig-ma) a lot when studying evangelisation at Maryvale: it means the first proclamation of the Gospel, the invitation to encounter Christ.
The Neo-Cats are impressive: enthusiastic, prayerful, practical.There was a warm welcome, interesting speeches, a good atmosphere, and a delicious buffet with sandwiches and snacks and cakes, and plenty of wine. Cardinal Vincent Nichols was there and spoke well, quoting Pope Francis and encouraging us to ake the Gospel out to the lonely and the confused and the needy. A Christmas Tree glittered on the stage, alongside a massive icon depicting the Nativity. A Neo-Cat priest encouraged us to think about three angels - messengers. First, Lucifer, the fallen angel, who tempted Eve and succeeded in getting her to put her own wishes first and disobey God. Then the second angelic messenger - Gabriel, to Mary, who opened her heart to God and said "Yes". And then us - each of us should be a messenger...
I'm enjoying the book and will report on it in due course.
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