Practical Advice for Catholic Evangelization

Let's face it, the past several decades have been hard on the Catholic Church in America.

Membership and Mass attendance is down in most areas of the country. Catholic school attendance is down and some parishes have closed their schools. Media treatment of the Church in recent years has not helped matters at all. The net effect has been to make it so easy for Catholics to fall into the the relative ease of the "Prosperity Gospell" where God want's you to be rich or into the heresy of sola fide where "Faith is a journey, not a guilt trip" and all you have to do is believe in Jesus and you automatically get a ticket to heaven.

But the leadership of the Church - led by Pope Benedict XVI - understands the need for evangelization and a new generation is taking the reigns. Msgr. Charles Pope over at the Archdioces of Washington blog site hits the nail on the head when he states, "It’s Time to Obey Christ and His Command that We Evangelize."

Catholics have as much opportunity to witness to their faith as anybody else. That the one, holy, universal, and apostolic Church teaches the fullness of truth should have every Catholic brimming with confidence. That Jesus Christ himself extablished the Roman Catholic Church and promised the Holy Spirit as it's guide and protector should empower every one of us.

Now I understand that going door-to-door or engaging in public debate are not activities for which everyone has been gifted. I'd like to throw my hat in the ring on the subject of evangelization however, with five practical tips as to how every single Catholic can evangelize in a very personal way.

Pray

It goes without saying but then again, it needs to be said... Pray. Ask God for help you and ask Mary to intercede on our behalf. We can do little if anything on our own and really need God's help in this. We have but to ask.

Don't Try to Win and Be Prepared to Lose

You are not in a fight. You are not even in an argument. Other human beings, Christian or otherwise, are not enemies to fight nor opponents to defeat. We are all God's children and Mary is mother of all of us; parents hate it when their children fight. We are not in it to win. If winning is your goal then you will have failed when you lose an argument.

The goal is to discuss the truth and to bring others to the realization that the Catholic Church is where the thruth about God can be found in it's greatest abundance. With this as your goal, you can show someone how the Catholic Church is and always has been correct about one or two particular beliefs and then walk away knowing that you may have planted a seed which God will nurture.

It could be that you are mistaken about something and the person with whome you are speaking might have something useful to teach you, so be humble. You will always encounter people who know more than you about the Bible, who are better debaters or who simply overpower and beat you down. Get over it. God has chosen to touch this person's heart at a different time and in a different way so never take anything personally. Shake the dust off of your feet and move on.

Read the Bible

I live in the deep south and can testify to how well Baptists, "Full Gospel" Christians and other Evangelicals know their Bible. Even the majority of non-Christians have fallen into the believe that the Bible - and not the Church - is the ultimate authority on religious truth. These people see the Church as a mere institution of man and as such, really don't care what the Church says about anything.

Non-Catholic Christians have one overriding question which you will hear again and again... Where is that in the Bible?

Out of context Bible verse will likely be thrown at you fast and furiously and you will not be able to refute all or even most of them. At a minimum however, you should be ready to point to Bible passages which are the basis for, or lend support to the most basic Catholic doctrines.

Non-Catholic Christans have been told that docrines such as the papacy, oral confession of sins, veneration of Mary and a celibate priesthood have no biblical basis whatsoever and for many, your discussion of these Catholic beliefs in the context of the Bible will likely be the first time they have every heard Catholic arguments about these subjects from an actual Catholic source. The goal here is not to convert a non-Catholic Christian to Catholicsim immediately but to present the Catholic faith as something which, contrary to what they have probably been told, is deeply rooted in scripture.

Again, God will nurture what you have planted.

Be Enthusiastic About Your Faith

People get excited about politics, NASCAR or their favorite sports team. Non-Catholic Christians, especially Evangelicals, are truly obscessed with their personal relationship with Jesus and never shut up about it.

As a Catholic, you have just as much right - more even - to be enthusiastic about your faith so jump right into to the conversation, answer proudly when asked where you go to church and don't be afraid to say, "I'm Catholic and my heart is on fire for Jesus Christ and the Church he established."

Then ask, "Don't you want to be part of that too?"

Invite People to Mass

Most of the time, an acceptance of my invitation to Mass is my primary goal. Like a used car salesman, when I think the time is right, I drop the question and try to close the deal...

"So, would you like to meet me at the coffee shop at 10:15 and then we can head over to the Church at 11:00?"  

Many non-Catholic Christians, especially those here in the deep south, have never participated in the Mass. Those who's Churches don't have a strong liturgical style of worship are often shocked at the display of reverence, humility and unity. If you have taken the time to convince someone of the biblical correctness of one or more Catholic doctrines, then the mass is a great stepping stone and will often lead to many more questions being asked of you about the Catholic faith in general and the Mass in particular.

As a practical matter for bringing non-Catholics guests to Mass, consider the following;

• I like to invite my guest to breakfast before Mass and offer to explain basics of the Mass to them. The fact that Jesus is actually present in the Eucharist will give your guest a point of reference when he considers the bowed heads, quite prayer, genuflecting and lack of rock-band. The basics of the penitential rite, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the moment of consecration should be discussed briefly.
• If you do invite someone to breakfast first, explan the Eucharistic fast and observe it.
• Assure your guest(s) that they don't have to do anything which they feel is wrong. Encourage them to just watch and listen and to participate if they feel moved to do so. As an example, a friend of mine was afraid that he was going to have to pray to a statue of Mary and felt that doing so was a violation of the commandment against idol worship. I assured him that even if, in the course of the Mass, we all turn to a statue of Mary and ask that the real Mary in heaven take a special prayer to her son Jesus, that nobody would look at him funny if he remained seated or didn't say anything.
• For guests who know the Bible well, Mass is an awesome opportunity to show the Biblical basis for Catholic worship. The sancus (Holy, Holy, Holy Lord...) is straight out of the Book of Revelation and you can mention to your guest that they will actually be joining the choirs of angels in their unending hymn of priase... not symbolicall but for real! Right before we recieve the Eucharist, we all say, "Lord I am not worthy to recieve you..." and your guest has probably never heard this passage in the context of the Eucharist. This can really get them thinking about the Eucharistic message all through the Bible. Even the sheer volume of scripture reading and psalm singing is appreciated by those who have a deep love for the written Word of God. Use it all to God's avantage.
• Do not underestimate the intimidation which some feel upon entering a Catholic Church. Your guest will likely be a little nervous about kneeling for the first time, about doing the sign of the cross right or about using holy water for the first time. Assure them that there is no test and that everyone is just glad they are there.
• Do not underestimate as well, the enormity of God's presence in the Catholic Church. This is not their little Protestant sect and from the moment they enter the Church, your guest will be immersed in twenty centuries of Christian history. This is holy ground and Jesus is truly present. If your guest has never been to Mass, they will behold the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" for the first time in their life. This is something which Catholics sometime take for granted but which can be a deeply moving (and frightening) experience for some.
• Introduce your friend as a first time guest to the priest. Priests love it and deserve to know that their work is bearing fruit. Ask your priest if they will pray for your guest so your guest will know that a holy man of God is praying for them.
• Most of all, laugh and have fun. Mass is the best place on earth - the Marriage Supper of the Lamb - so act like it.

Jesus commands us;

Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you... (Matt 28:19)

Let's start now.

-Tim-