Brandon Vogt has written a masterpiece in Saints and Social Justice: A Guide to Changing the World (OSV, May 2014). Brandon’s writing and theological talents have been sharpened to the tenth degree with Saint-master mentor, Bert Ghezzi (author of Voices of the Saints) and Word on Fire powerhouses Steve Grunow and Father Robert Barron in his corner. This book is proof of just how effective our ministry will be if we are able to remain faithful to Christ’s Church and her teachings on social justice.
The New Evangelization has its roots in the human person. While doctrines and liturgical practices feed our souls, the root of our evangelical mission is to rediscover people and to invite them to share in the celestial feast as sons and daughters of God. Saints and Social Justice (SASJ) opens to door to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and sits the reader directly across the table from well-known glorified family members like Blessed Pope John Paul II and Blessed Mother Teresa. While you read, you peer into the souls of these great Saints and discover that within each of their stories, there is a mirror reflecting the virtues that you have within you to do complete the same works of mercy.
The best part about this book is that it doesn’t focus primarily on the “big” or “popular” Saints. On the contrary, Brandon took his time to research the obscure and lesser-known holy men and women in order bring their stories to the forefront of Christ’s never-ending story of salvation. In true hipster form, he introduces you to souls like St. Giles, St. Roque Gonzalez and Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey. Their stories were unknown to me prior to reading SASJ but I am forever in their debt for having illumined my spirit to the needs of the world; needs that I have the resources to help alleviate.
It was my pleasure to sit down with Brandon and ask him some questions about his book over at CatholicSnacks.com:
(0:14) You wear so many hats in the digital world with Strange Notions, your personal blog and now, Word on fire. Now, you are working on earning your Masters publishing your third book and on top of that, you are a young father and husband. How do you manage to keep up with all of your endeavors?
(1:50) Talk about your transition from engineer to content director at Word on Fire?
(3:36) Your book, The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops who Tweet, laid a foundation for using the New Media to evangelize digitally. The title of your forthcoming book, Saints and Social Justice- A Guide to Changing the World seems to be a call to get off the net for a bit to evangelize corporally. Can you shed some light on how 21st century servitude can marry both the digital with the corporal?
(5:00) Last question, if Pope Francis gave you a call on the phone today, what would you ask him?
(6:48) Where can people find you?
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