Father of six to tackle “greatest problem of our time” at THIRST

Chris Stefanick said he spends about half of the days in a year traveling, “re-engaging a generation in the beauty of the Catholic faith.” A tall order for a husband, speaker, author and father of six.

On the heels of his trip to Bishop Ryan High School in Minot, Stefanick will return to N.D. to speak for the youth program at THIRST 2013 in Bismarck.

“If we don’t get the heart of the Gospel right, then our faith is a bunch of disjointed facts that really have no framework to fit into,” Stefanick explained in Minot. “[Our faith] starts to be perceived as a bunch of rules and regulations if it’s not about that love of the Father for us, and life itself can start to feel like this burdensome process.”

He plans to talk about the heart of the Gospel message as part of his larger theme at THIRST: “Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.”

Stefanick will explain that the Gospel tells us “we’re created with a purpose, sin breaks us and removes us from that purpose, and God loves us enough to become one of us to fix ‘the sin problem,’” he said.

To cover the idea that Jesus is “the truth,” Stefanick plans to tackle the concept of relativism, which he said Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called “the greatest problem of our time.”

“I’m going to talk about how to not fall into [relativism] and how to fight it charitably,” he said.

He will talk about Jesus as “the life” by sharing practical ways on how everyone can become “Saint ‘insert-your-name-here.’” His program will also include instructions for parents, grandparents and “anyone involved in the education of kids” on how to raise pure teens.

“It’s a huge conference and another sign that really exciting things are happening among the people of God in North Dakota,” Stefanick said. “When you think of the size of the state and how many thousands of people will be at THIRST, that’s huge! I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Stefanick is the author of “Raising Pure Teens” and creator of RealLifeCatholic.com. He speaks to over 50,000 teens and young adults each year. Stefanick and his family reside in Colorado.