Upcoming 'Year of Faith', and a short book review

I've known about this for some time now, but it's been popping up in my head a bit more lately: the upcoming "Year of Faith" that Pope Benedict announced will take place from mid-October 2012 until late November 2013.

I like dedicated, themed things like this. It's right up my alley. So, when I first heard that there would be a new "Year of..." I got all excited. Then when I heard that it was be the "Year of Faith" I have to admit, I felt a bit deflated. I mean, doesn't that seem just a hair vague?

However, I know that oftentimes I'm too short-sighted, and I trust the pope to pave an interesting way for us. And in fact, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has written a little missive to guide us as we prepare for this upcoming year. It includes goals for the year on both the diocesan and parish level.

For me, I think that the year will be a good time to reflect on a few things.

(1) What does it mean for my life that I have faith in God? How strong is my faith? Are there things that I can do to increase my faith?

(2) What does it mean for my life that I have *our* Faith? What does my Catholic identity mean to me, and how do I reflect it to others?

Relatedly, I've been reading book 4 in the John Paul 2 High series, Undercover Papist, and it includes a lot of apologetics in the plotline. It's making me feel very proud to be Catholic. :) I highly recommend this book, as I do the whole series. In this installment, one of our main characters starts going to a large evangelical church and experiences an emotional conversion. When she renounces her Catholic faith, states that she won't be returning to John Paul 2 High, and is attending a summer Bible Camp affiliated with her new church, another one of our favorite characters signs up as a camp-goer in order to try and convince her to return to her Catholic roots. It's excellent, and may even be my favorite book in the series! The books are very reasonably priced in print from both the publisher and from Amazon, but for Kindle they are a mere $5 each! You should read them!