Meet Marcel LeJeune

Fallible Blogma has asked that Catholic Bloggers interview Catholic Speakers during the month of October. I wish I were more tech savy so I could just link the videos and set up a picture, but these are not my gifts so I've added the links at the end.

Now it was a great delight to discover a person I'd known as a kid has become a dynamic speaker about Christ to people across the country. We both grew up with parents who thought it was fun to hang out with college students and talk about God. At the Lamar University Newman Center, my folks and his helped run the weekend "Happening Team" retreats. There was much more to those Saturday Sunday retreats than the name would convey.

Apparently, Marcel still likes doing it because he now serves as the Assistant Director of Campus Ministry at Texas A&M at College Station, Texas.

Me: Marcel,
I'd like to interview you for the Catholic Blog Chain for the Month of October.
But first, I need to do some homework. Are there any talks that you've given that are online that I could watch so I could better form some questions. Or lecture notes that would serve the same purpose?

Marcel: You can check out my website. It will answer a lot of questions.
http://www.thecatholicevangelist.com/

So first and foremost, I watched the clip he placed on his website illustrating his style and substance. Then I checked out his blog, his Facebook, and sent a few emails.

What I noticed in listening to his words was his fearlessness. Many Catholics I've known may be tigers with the written word but find it a bit awkward to evangelize even to a friendly audience. It just feels unusual and almost not Catholic. So I give kudos for being willing simply to speak out because witnessing what should be obvious, what should be universal in a public manner, takes guts.

Me: How did you get started providing Catholic talks?

Marcel: I started by teaching the faith and found I have a gift and a passion for doing so. I started getting requests to do talks at other parishes, events, conferences, etc. So, I jumped into doing more. I now am on several speaker bureaus, regularly do national radio shows, travel frequently, and I have a new book coming out in 2010.

Me: What do you hope people take away from your lectures?

Marcel: I hope that people are challenged to think deeply about Christ and the Church. The ultimate goal of every talk is to help impart the Holy Spirit in a deeper way and to seek the conversion of those who might hear me.

Me: You have five children, if you were crafting this lecture for them, what would you want put into it?

Marcel: I wouldn't change my talks for my kids. I want everyone to hear the Good News.

Me: And having seen his talk, despite having attended (admittedly for only 9 graduate credit hours, UT), I have to consider this school for my oldest son who is a junior, and give a hearty "Gig'em Aggies" Thumbs up.

You can contact Marcel LeJeune via his website http://www.thecatholicevangelist.com or at http://www.aggiecatholic.org or via his email, mlejeune@aggiecatholic.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsWnVk6opb4&feature=player_embedded