1. Why did you write these books?

I thought of writing Speak to Me several years back when I was working as a teacher. I was mentoring a good number of teenagers. It was the pre-smartphone era. I could still see that these young friends of mine were finding it difficult to pray, even when I suggested good books for them to use for personal prayer.

With the advent of smart phones a “culture of dispersion” has set in. Silence has become more and more elusive. And without silence, there can be no personal prayer. I decided to put pen to paper.

A page a day will help people to pray: I felt this would appeal to anyone. You don’t even need to be well versed in the liturgy to use the book. You don’t need to be Catholic or Christian. Suffice it for you to pick up one of the booklets and read a Gospel text. The better if this becomes an everyday habit.

The commentaries are of secondary importance. They are intended to foster a conversation between you and Him. I threw in nuggets of wisdom from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, writings of some of the Popes and St Josemaría’s book The Way. I thought that perhaps someone may feel urged to look up one of the references and discover for himself or herself that the Faith is so beautiful. It makes sense to pray!

2. What has the response been so far?

The response has been great. I did a kind of a “litmus test” with the Advent booklet. I printed a few of these for a small group of people. The word spread and after some time I started getting requests for more books to be printed in bulk.

I went over to the Paulines to ask them for advice on some legal issues. They leafed through two of the booklets that I had drafted. They liked the content. In fact they felt that the Speak to Me series will be useful not only to youngsters, but also to anyone who is interested in learning how to pray. I was happy when they said they would publish it and I’m very grateful to them for all their inputs.

3. Where can people get them if they are interested?

The books are available at the Paulines Books and Media Centre in Westlands, Nairobi and the Catholic Bookshop right next to the Holy Family Basilica. They can also be bought online at this link:
https://e.paulinesafrica.org/book/showbooksbysubcategory/99.

For bulk orders, it’s best to write to the distribution@paulinesafrica.org.