Living as an American Catholic in the Twenty-First Century was written for the busy contemporary American Catholic who desires to take a retreat, but does not have the time or economic resources to enter a formal retreat environment. Consisting of an introductory essay, four retreat talks and a final meditation, this book addresses four specific challenges that American Catholics face: (1) The Challenge of Yourself, (2) The Challenge of Society, (3) The Challenge of the Church, (4) The Challenge of Our Peers. Organized around a typical weekend, the reader is invited to read the introduction and first essay on Friday evening, the second two essays on Saturday morning and afternoon, and the fourth essay on Sunday morning. The final meditation can be read on Sunday afternoon. Once the reader has negotiated the challenge of understanding him/her self, then the challenges of society, Church, and our peers can be addressed. While challenges of society and our peers might be seen as negative, the challenge of the Church will be a support to the individual. This book should be very useful both as an instrument to foster spiritual growth by raising challenges that the reader must contemplate and negotiate. As an aid each reflection includes a series of reflective questions and biblical passages. †