GOD COULD BE A TEEN
No One Understands Him, Either

"You want to be loved, but not everybody loves you. There are people you want to have a relationship with who don’t love you back — and it hurts. People misunderstand you. You’re a very complicated person, but others see only what’s on the outside, and they jump to conclusions about you that aren’t true. People tell false stories about you. You have ideas which you know are good, but others make fun of them as being weird. You get blamed for problems that aren’t your fault. You know that if people would only make the effort to get to know you, if they gave you a chance to reveal who you really are, they would understand you better and love you. But you’re frustrated that this doesn’t always happen.... Don’t let it get you down, God — it happens to me, too.” With these words the author opens his discussion with teenagers about the moral problems all humans face. And he offers them some very down-to-earth, concrete suggestions for their consideration as he shows them why God expects certain things of us if we are to reach our full potential here and hereafter and indicates the special role the Church has been given to play in helping us reach that goal. A marvelous synthesis of Catholic moral teaching written in language all can understand.

About the Author: James Penrice, a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and life-long Detroit Tiger fan, grew up in Plymouth, Michigan. Married and the father of three children, he is the Director of Religious Education at St. Mary’s Parish in Spring Lake, Michigan. Mr. Penrice has written several other Alba House titles: Crossing Home: The Spiritual Lessons of Baseball (1993), Goal to Go: The Spiritual Lessons of Football (1994), If There Is A God, Why Do I Need Braces?: An Adolescent Journey to Adult Faith (1995), and God Could Be A Teen... No One Understands Him, Either: The Truth and Freedom of Catholic Morality (1997), and You Know More Than You Think: Your Intuitive Knowledge of God in the Catholic Tradition (2003).