GET OFF THE CROSS, SOMEONE-ELSE NEEDS THE WOOD

“When people discover their own capacity to give life and hope to others, then they want to give more.. . the power of love rises  up” -JEAN VANIER

Have you ever wondered what religion really offers us in our busy, 24/7, twenty-first century world? Have you looked at our churches and wished that they would be magically brought up-to-date to deal with the lives and problems that we now face? And do you ever wonder what the church has to say about an Internet-driven world that leaves little time for reflection? Take this exciting, inspiring, and convention-smashing journey with Father Ken of Los Angeles’ St. Agatha’s Parish, and find out what God, faith and religion really mean to us now in a new, high-tech century.

Written in the no-nonsense, urban style of The Cross and the Switchblade, this tale still heaps up the comfort-food warmth of Chicken Soup for the Soul as it inspires each of us and helps us face our own struggles. Watch Father Ken become Father Confessor to a diverse group from Hollywood notables and power figures to the toughest gangbanger on the street-and at the same time readers will discover facets of their OWN inner faith, love and endurance. Father Ken confronts every conflict with hilarity and frankness as he puts to use the priceless wisdom dished out by a friend who admonished him to: “Get off the Cross- Someone else needs the wood!”

Get Off the Cross: Someone Else Needs the Wood is a fresh, vibrant, inspirational memoir/exposé penned by a baby-boomer-generation Catholic priest. The approach is honest and entertaining, the writing frank and glib, the audience clearly fellow Catholics. The text essentially provides a respectfully irreverent Gospel-According-to-Ken, putting a 21^st Century spin on Church doctrine and supporting judicious detours when that canon strays from such fundamental Catholic principals as love, charity and resurrection through Jesus.

Like an extended series of blogs, Get off the Cross is part sermon/homily, part confession, part apology, part rant, part narishkite. The voice alternates between formal, conversational and verbal, which, because it cannot include the author’s tone, expression or gestures, caused me to regularly stop to figure out if a given line was intended as sarcasm, sincerity or a non-sequitur aside.

FATHER KEN grew up in a working-class suburb of Los Angeles, California as he struggled in his younger life against hard-times and neglect and church convention to become a priest, social reformer and community leader of St. Agatha’s Parish in one of Los Angeles’ hardest neighborhoods. His friends include Hollywood luminaries and jailed gang members, and his faith and leadership have transformed many lives, and as a result, a whole city.

ISBN: 1-932407-28-6