S
Very Grassroots: streetevangelization.com/we need a grass roots movement although catholic answers is doing a good job. through t.v and books and even through music can we spread the faith
I share my faith, but I don’t belittle others and tell them their view is stupid or unimportant. However, I tell them that I care about them and I try to set a good example. Go beyond the normal doing good and be the best friend possible - I’ve seen it work as a tool of conversion and I’m no Assisi!As Saint Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words when necessary.” In other words, show then that we are Catholic by our love.
I agree. I find street evangelization and public prayer and/or protests to be a huge turnoff to many people. What brought me to the Catholic Church was not the people going door to door or handling Bibles, or preaching, or parading around pictures of aborted fetuses. That had no effect on me, whether the person was Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, or Pagan.Just my personal experience from being the frequent target of evangelization, but I immediately write off complete strangers that are too forward in their proselytization and people that I have observed not to be what I would consider moral or virtuous people. If you have to come aggressively peddling what your selling or if it doesn’t make you a better or happier person, why would I want it? What I do take notice of are people who are at peace with themselves, who do brave and compassionate things, and live honestly. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and I’m willing to tolerate a lot more from them, because what they have might actually be worth something.
There is no pamphlet in the world that will convince me to become a Christian. I consider them propaganda and I generally thumb through them and throw them away almost immediately. But, I have a friend that I volunteer with for Food Not Bombs who is the most peaceful person I’ve ever met and quite possibly one of the bravest, as she wears a modesty scarf here in the South where it’s a million degrees and people yell at her and throw things at her for being a “towelhead” on a daily basis, and she happens to be Greek Orthodox. She’s never brought it up as a serious discussion, she just does what she does and seems happy about it, and I find that interesting. I’d listen to what she had to say, and now that I have familial reasons to try and figure out the deal with Catholicism, I’ve had some good discussions with her on the subject and I have an open invitation to go to Mass with her at some point, which I might take her up on.
tl;dr; Most of us probably couldn’t care less about your pamphlets. If you have to give out stuff to strangers, why not give them something they can actually use. I received a cheapo Christian dayplanner from Campus Crusade a couple of years ago as penance for stopping to fiddle with my phone for a couple seconds in front of their booth and I actually used it rather than throwing it away. The little mini-bible studies were sort of endearing. It’s really your lives that make the most difference, not your literature.