CatholicVote asked Hart for recommendations on how best to present the Bible to young people, especially middle schoolers who may think Scripture is confusing or only meant for older people. “I begin by calling out the elephant in the room and admitting, ‘Yep, the Bible can be confusing… very confusing,’” Hart responded. “Sure it seems and sounds like it’s an out-of-date, out-of-touch book, but that’s only when you don’t know where to look or how to read it. If you stick with me you’ll be amazed at how many incredible stories are inside of it and you’ll see in time that this isn’t a book for old people, it’s a gift to all people.”

I picked up Ascension Press’ recent release Biblical Heroes because it looked like a meaningful, yet practical way to start each homeschool day with my kids ages 6–16. Between its bite-sized chapters and the many thoughtful discussion questions sprinkled throughout the text based on thirteen scriptural heroes such as Abel, David and Esther, I could tell it would be a huge hit with my family. And I was right.

I had fifty eyes glaring back at me with exhaustion and boredom. It was my first foray into a Catholic middle school classroom as a guest teacher for religion. I was twenty-one years old, relatively “hip” by preadolescent standards, and one week on the job as a new parish youth minister. After a whopping thirty minutes of preparation for a Bible study on peer pressure, there I stood, Bible in one hand and coffee in the other. I was woefully unprepared but didn’t know it. In retrospect, it would have been easier and less daunting to be lowered into a lion’s den where — like Daniel — God may have shown mercy on me; these middle schoolers did not.

Each prayer of gratitude to the Lord left me floored. The humility and sincerity in the room was palpable—a welcome reminder of how many blessings we so often take for granted. Just as I thought the moment could not go any deeper, a voice bellowed from the back of the room.