God & I: Mark Shea

YOU’VE described yourself as a “double-jump” convert. Can you tell us about your journey from agnosticism to evangelicalism, and finally to the Catholic Church?

I grew up in a nominally Christian home, but we never went to church. My most vivid early encounter with Christianity was watching A Charlie Brown Christmas – Linus quoting Luke’s Nativity story became a cherished tradition. Holidays like Easter were more about finding chocolate Easter Bunnies hidden in and around the house than faith.

I once tried to read a King James Bible. I tried reading it from Genesis, but gave up quickly. Later, I skimmed Revelation after receiving anti-Catholic Chick tracts on Halloween and was taken aback by what seemed to me an acid trip in print – my understanding was confused at best.

In college, I faced a spiritual crisis and met some evangelicals in my dorm. Their witness moved me, and after reading C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, I accepted Jesus as my Savior, and became active in their community at the University of Washington.

I met my wife, Janet, during that time. She had been raised Catholic and remained spiritually rooted in it, which got me asking deeper questions. Again and again, I arrived at conclusions that mirrored Catholic teaching. Eventually, I realized I should stop reinventing the wheel and simply listen to the Church. As Chesterton said, the Faith doesn’t just happen to tell this truth or that truth – it is a truth-telling thing.

In December 1987, after study and discernment – much of it alongside my friend Sherry Weddell – we were received into the Catholic Church at Sacred Heart Parish in Seattle. Later, at Blessed Sacrament Parish, we were deeply shaped by Dominican Father Michael Sweeney. Since then, I’ve worked to express the Catholic faith in language that resonates with evangelicals – because I once stood where they are.

Were there any other people who influenced you spiritually, besides the ones you mentioned?

I mostly read my way into the Church. C.S. Lewis was foundational – though an Ulster Protestant, his thought was steeped in St. Augustine and medieval Catholicism. G.K. Chesterton also helped, translating dense Catholic ideas into clear, accessible language. That made Church teaching less intimidating for me as a seeker – I was not quite a Protestant, just someone searching for Christ.

Tolkien mattered too – not for overt theology, but for showing a Catholic love of beauty and a sacramental vision of the world. And Thomas Howard’s Evangelical Is Not Enough resonated deeply, as he had walked a path much like mine.

How did you first get involved in Catholic media – writing, radio, and eventually TV?

It happened unexpectedly. I began writing simply to clarify my thoughts after a conversation about the Real Presence. What started as a letter became the manuscript for This Is My Body. I eventually found a publisher, and the book’s success led to an invitation to appear on Mother Angelica Live. I also sent a copy to Dr. Scott Hahn, who liked it and encouraged me to write a book on sacred tradition – By What Authority – offering to write the foreword. That encouragement launched me into writing and speaking more widely.

Radio and TV followed naturally. I never planned on this path, but after my confirmation, doors began to open. Now, I write and speak to help others see the beauty of the faith – especially when something clicks and brings joy or clarity.

You’ve written about the Our Father and the Hail Mary. What have you discovered about these prayers that still surprises or challenges you?

I always learn a lot through writing – it forces me to dig deep. Often, a book begins with something newly discovered that draws me further into the richness of the Catholic tradition.

With the Our Father, what continues to strike me is how it centers us on the Kingdom of God. Jesus says, “Seek first the Kingdom,” yet we often pray in reverse – starting with our needs rather than with God’s Kingdom. But the Our Father begins with worship: Hallowed be thy name. It teaches us to focus first on God’s Kingdom coming and his will being done. Only then do we ask for daily needs. That structure reorders our priorities and builds a spiritual discipline into the prayer itself – calling us to reorient our hearts toward God above all.

Many of your books speak directly to seekers and converts. Who do you most hope to reach through your writing?

I’m drawn to the peripheries. That’s one reason I admire Pope Francis – his instinct was always to go out and meet people where they are, especially those on the margins, rather than to defend a kind of Fortress Katholicus from outsiders. I share that impulse.

When I write, I’m often thinking of someone like I once was – someone with no real exposure to the faith. Will they understand what’s being said? Or will it sound foreign or alienating? Early on, I had one foot in American evangelicalism and the other in Catholicism, and that shaped how I communicated the faith.

Over time, my vision expanded, because the Faith itself calls us to a wider view. That’s what led me to write The Church’s Best-Kept Secret. I realized I’d never given serious thought to Catholic social teaching. Like many converts, I brought with me assumptions from a white, Protestant, middle-class American background. But most of the world doesn’t fit that mold – and in many cases, suffers because we who do cannot or will not see that. Increasingly, we see a theology emerging in America that’s nationalistic, politicized, and powerfully influenced by Prosperity Theology, which I believe is deeply at odds with the Gospel.

If you’re shaped by that mindset without realizing it, you’ll quickly find yourself clashing with Catholic social teaching. My hope is to reach those open to seeing beyond that narrow lens and invite them into the fullness of the Church’s vision – global, compassionate, and centered on Christ.

You’ve worked across many platforms – blogs, radio, television, and film. How has your approach to sharing the Gospel changed over time?

When I became Catholic, I often said it was because I wanted to be the best evangelical I could be. The core of what I learned in my evangelical background – love for Scripture, a passion for the Gospel – was not rejected by the Church, but fulfilled in it.

Take, for example, the Church’s teaching on the “preferential option for the poor.” The poor are easy to overlook because they often lack a voice or platform. But the Gospel calls us to see them, to care for the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned.

That realization led me to write The Works of Mercy. It was an early moment of awakening – of seeing how much I had neglected both the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The more I studied them, the more deeply I felt their call. I began to understand that sharing the Gospel isn’t just about speaking truth – it’s about living it through love and service to those most easily forgotten.

How do you imagine God?

When in doubt, I return to Jesus, because Jesus is God. As He says in John, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” But as a sacramental Church, we also see God revealed in creation, in others, in the sacraments and in Scripture.

I love the proverb: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; it is the glory of kings to search it out.” I don’t hold a fixed image of God, but cherish the moments when I realize, “God was in this all along.”

What are your thoughts on the election of Pope Leo XIV?

I absolutely love him and grow more impressed with him every day. When I saw the announcement live, I caught that he chose the name Leo, but didn’t realize he was American – I honestly thought the next pope would never be from the US, so this was a wonderful surprise.

Pope Leo clearly intends to carry forward Pope Francis’s mission. They are very much aligned, and I believe both are the Holy Spirit’s choice for our time. As an American, I’m hopeful – not out of nationalism, but because Pope Leo understands the deep challenges facing both the US and its Church. Those who dismissed and even defied Pope Francis with the claim that he didn’t understand America can’t say that about Leo. I eagerly await how the Holy Spirit will guide him, confident that this Pope is exactly who we need.

Pope Leo XIV is sharply focused on Catholic social teaching. Why do you think this part of Church teaching often goes overlooked?

Many Catholics assume that visible piety or agreement with certain moral teachings is enough, while ignoring the Church’s broader social doctrine. But Jesus asks, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?”

While dogma is clear and limited, Catholic social teaching – though virtually never dogmatic – is central because it expresses love for neighbor: caring for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized. Too often, people pick what aligns with their politics, letting human ideologies shape their beliefs rather than the Church. We must embrace the full fabric of Catholic social teaching. Selectively pulling threads distorts the whole weave. The word for this in antiquity was haereses, from which we get heresy. Pope Francis challenged this mindset, and Pope Leo will continue that necessary work. This whole weave teaching is essential and cannot be ignored.

How has being a husband, father and grandfather shaped your faith?

It has shaped me deeply. The family is the domestic Church, where faith is first learned. It’s a great responsibility, and like all fathers, I’ve had my struggles reflecting God the Father to my children. I often reflect on how I can do better.

My relationship with Janet – second only to the Eucharist – is the most spiritually nourishing in my life. She has been a true sacrament of God’s love and mercy to me, especially in my failings.

MARK P. SHEA (born August 5, 1958) is an American author, blogger, and speaker in Catholic apologetics. Raised in Everett, Washington, he was initially agnostic before becoming a non-denominational Evangelical in 1979. He entered the Catholic Church in 1987.

Since June 2020, Shea has run the Stumbling Toward Heaven blog, following his long-running Catholic and Enjoying It! blog (2002–2020).

His latest book, The Church’s Best-Kept Secret: A Primer on Catholic Social Teaching (2020), joins other works such as By What Authority?, Mary, Mother of the Son, This Is My Body, and Making Senses Out of Scripture.

Shea is known nationally for his one-minute Words of Encouragement on Catholic radio. He lives in the state of Washington with his wife Janet, their sons and grandchildren. Visit markpshea.com for more.