A retired priest who once worked at my parish — and who many years ago was pastor to the very first deacon ordained in the Diocese of Brooklyn — has asked me to spread the word about a project he’s launched. Anyone can participate. How can I say no?

He wrote about it not long ago in our diocesan newspaper:

One of the many changes in our society in the last 60 years is people’s ability and practice of saying more clearly how they feel. This is manifested in many ways, such as group sharing, TV shows, etc.

One of the benefits of this is that we all know and understand each other more fully if we reveal our thoughts and feelings, especially about the important things in life.

I remember a good example of this. When I was co-pastor of St. Mary Mother of Jesus in Bensonhurst, the Parish Council members all took a shortened version of the Meyer Briggs personality profile test and shared the results. It was so enlightening for all of us to get to know each other more fully and to begin to realize why we think and act the way we do. Our personality is who we are! This gets us to the reason behind this piece and my thoughts about you, dear readers, and brothers and sisters in Christ.

I was so impressed by the two books of our late Catholic brother, Tim Russert. Reading his material put an idea in my head. His first book, “Big Russ and Me,” was very popular and the response was so great that many peopple sent him letters or short articles about their own fathers. Hence, the second book, “Wisdom of Our Fathers,” a vast collection of how people knew and loved their dads.

That gets to you. In May, I celebrated 49 years as a priest. I can’t count the wonderful people I have met with real faith and deep love for God, especially His Son, Jesus. Over the years, many of them shared this faith in Jesus and it has helped me tremendously. I thought that it would be wonderful if we had a book full of paragraphs written by the People of God of our diocese, stating clearly in thoughts and feelings how they love Jesus, their Savior.

What personal testimony! What good reading to share with others! So, here’s the free offer! Why don’t you write me and ask others to write two or three paragraphs on how you think and feel about your friend and savior, Jesus. At least your first name and parish or neighborhood is essential.

Two good priests from our diocese, Msgrs. Eugene Feldhaus and Dino Zeni, have agreed to help me put this book together. Let’s see what happens! Maybe the People of God in Brookyn and Queens will give greater praise to God by writing a book and giving witness to others about how much they love their God.

Since our diocese is blessed with so many different peoples and diverse languages, if you wish to write down your love for Christ in another language, please include a version in English and we will publish both.

Send your entries to me, [Fr. Robert Blauvelt,] at Bishop Mugavero Residence, 7200 Douglaston Pkwy., Douglaston, N.Y., 11362.

Fr. Bob has also asked that people send e-mail submissions to the following address:

moellinger@rcdob.org