Catholic Evangelism

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This morning I went to a Tommy Zito Ministries meeting teaching basic evangelical evangelism. I learned lots of good things but did not feel comfortable doing street evangelism.

They were asking the question: if you die tonight will you go to heaven. If you didn’t give the answer they want (which this Catholic does not believe is the correct answer) they tried to “save” you.

While I believe everyone needs to accept JESUS as their savior, I also know it is a process not a one time thing. And I would want to guide them to the Church JESUS established so they could grow in their relationship with JESUS.

So if I do street evangelism I need to figure out how to better word the encounter. I might ask if the person knows JESUS. If not I would introduce them to HIM and HIS awesome love. And ask them if they wanted to accept JESUS as their savior. If they did I’d pray with them then I would suggest they find a church (recommending a Catholic one of course) and get baptized. If they did know JESUS I might ask if they had a growing relationship with HIM and HIS people. If so I might pray with them that those relationship continue to grow.

I do not currently feel called to do street evangelism. I do indeed understand their concern. They quoted JESUS words to love one another. And if we love one another we will want them to go to heaven. And I do indeed want that!! I do my evangelism by wearing shirts and hats proclaiming my belief in GOD. I also send Christmas cards and correspond with prisoners. I also put signs up at Lorain County Community College.

Is there a model for Catholic street evangelism? If so how can i get a hold of it?

The man explaining the process claimed that living the life as a silent witness is not enough. if he heard St. Francis quote: Preach the gospel all the time, use words if necessary, he would say it is always necessary to use words.

I tend to agree with him. I’ve often heard of people who discoved the church and was excited they
were joining it and shared it with a fellow worker only to find out that he was Catholic.

"I have never been able to convince myself that someone could be saved, if he has never done anything for the salvation of his brethren . . . " Saint John Chrysostom.

My favorite catholic evangelism quote comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 166: “our love for JESUS and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith!”
 
You sound like you could benefit by making yourself a mission statement regarding your faith. You could determine what exactly is the message you would like to give and then develop a method to give that message. If you are not comfortable with street evangelization then perhaps you could do another form of evangelization until you feel called to this.
 
Hello Lonnienord -

I read your post and as a fellow Catholic share some of your perspectives. I too feel challenged to “Evangilize” (if that’s the correct word) but haven’t found THE proper method. I suspect for me and you there won’t be THE correct method.

Like you, I contend that the acting out of my faith is a life process, not a one-time event, though I will quickly add many Protestants I know live their faith out loud. I suspect we just differ on the whys. (maybe on the hows, too?)

Here’s a few things that have worked for me:
I’ve been going to Mass much more frequently. This helps me pesonally and recharges me more frequently through the graces obtained through the sacraments. Actually, I now find that I’ve come to love the Mass much more than previously and feel bad if I miss a day.
I’ve been more involved in Bible groups and have started facilitating a study group at our Catholic church with other like-minded, searching and interested Catholics.
Evangilization has become more about Christ; more about being as Christ-like as I can be. Rather than evangilizing my religion, I feel I’m representing Christ to those He has me encountering.
I’ve become more of a servant in my church, involving myself in other opportunities to do God’s work as I hear His call.
I’ve modified my prayer life. I regularly ask God to use me, to keep me holy, to help me recognize how He wants me to be in all situations, to give me more wisdom and humility and to help me in my daily endeavors.
I’ve joined a parish prayer group to pray for the intentions of others and try to intentionally pray for other’s intentions that I learn of.

As I reflect, I would say that God has answered my prayers. He is using me more, helping me to come closer to Him, I’m living more intentionally for Him and in Him. I’m not Billy Graham, nor is that my calling, but I KNOW that God is using me and I get to witness His miracles in action, which motivates (maybe encourages is the better word) me more. (a la Rom 8:28)

There are times when I release my will to His. After that, I’m just going along for the ride - and what a ride!

If there’s one prayer that I tell people God will answer, it’s to be used for the benefit of His kingdom - for “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Lk 10:2).

I hope some of this helps you - for God has wonderful plans for you and indeed for all those who love Him!

God Bless you!
 
Agreed on wanting to evangelize… i’ve actually found more ‘traction’ when i show soemone that the logic of get down on yer knees one time and pray philosiphy is bogas. Alot of people jsut dont buy it but do becuase ‘thats how they grew up’

anyway, i dont go out and do it on the streets because it IS a process. Being a guide to one or two at a time is probably better because you offer them a single point to ask questions.

As an aside… I love it when I am asked if you die today, would you be saved. I like to turn it back on them and say… Your asking the wrong question. Your focus is on YOU, not God. I like to change it by saying what they should ask is do you do everything in your life so that it is pleasing to god?

On more extreme occassions, ill go so far as to say if you died today and god sentenced you to hell would you be angry at his judgment, or rejoice because His judgement is Just. (Of coarse, if you are in such a mentality, the chances of you being sentenced to hell are pretty slim)

anyway… Always look at the question that they ask you… Who is the focus on. More often than not Evangelicals realy have the focus on the individual, and not on God. God is merely the provider of the gifts and THAT is why they think he should be praised.

FIid a way to evangilize that keeps the focus on god, not the individual

Cheers
 
A good thing to do is get people to talk about their faith (or lack of it) in an unthreatening way.

A lot of people secretly want to talk about faith but fear being pressurised by fanatics.

A good method of getting in contact with people might be setting up a leaflet or tract stall with interesting materials, and be willing to gently talk with people who show interest, and maybe lend them books, dvds etc
 
One thing that I think works better than all that “witnessing” on the street is to carry a few good Catholic tracts with you when you go out and just be friendly when you offer them to folks. Most often I just say, “Can I give you something to read when you get time?” and lately I’ve been using “Sound Bites on Salvation” by Grotto Press and they have quite a few other topical tracts that are also very good.

They even have one about Halloween that is good enough to give away with candy to Trick or Treaters. It tells what the real origins of the “All American Holiday” are.
Pax tecum,
 
wow you all have been so helpful!! Thank you for your replys!!
 
You could always stop people on the street and ask if they’ve accepted Mary as their personal mother… 😉

God Bless,
RyanL
 
RyanL said:
You could always stop people on the street and ask if they’ve accepted Mary as their personal mother… 😉

God Bless,
RyanL
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That is WONDERFUL! 👍 I will have to keep that one in mind. So very Catholic. Thank you.
 
lonnienord said:
So if I do street evangelism I need to figure out how to better word the encounter.

I think you have found the answer below.
My favorite catholic evangelism quote comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 166: “our love for JESUS and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith!”
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lonnienord said:
I learned lots of good things but did not feel comfortable doing street evangelism.
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Sure you could do on ‘street’ evangelism. For instance, at work, you show your love and care to your co-workers. On the street, if you see someone driving a bit fast, pray for that person. If you see a homeless man, help them.

Evangelism is not only about the Words but also love.
 
A good thing to do is get people to talk about their faith (or lack of it) in an unthreatening way.
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Yes! I don’t know about other people but about 2 years ago, before I went through the RCIA and became Catholic some non-denominational church sent a street preacher to our campus. I couldnt even talk to the guy. He wouldnt settle down so that I could discuss the questions I had. This was before I even was looking into the Catholic Church, so who knows maybe if he had taken the time to talk to me? Thank God he didnt 👍

Some people are good at street evangelization, and are very comfortble with it, I would not be.

God Bless
 
Everywhere I go, I wear a scapular and also a very shiny hologram of our Blessed Mother. You have no idea how many conversations are started by just wearing that. Plus I also wear on my coat, the little feet of a 10 wk old fetus. That starts a lot of conversations as well. People notice!

Keep praying on it!
 
remember, each of us is given a calling or charism that is unique…not all are apostles or teachers, etc. However, we all start with the basic duty to witness in how we conduct ourselves with each other and with non believers. We also must “always be ready to give an account” of the joy we have in Christ to others.

So, it is true that street preachers are insipring, and I am thinking of doing this through music with my guitar, but I am first praying about it, trusting that God will let me know if that is what I am being called to do.

Remember, Paul learned this lesson, as I once heard Bishop Sheen explain well. He spent a long time in Athens “street preaching” and debating with philosophers in the market place, and even got to give a sermon in one of their big arenas. It was a failure, because he never mentioned the Blood of Christ or the Cross. He never started up a strong church in Athens, nor do we have any record of one that lasted. The key is his comment in 1st Corinthians, wherein he reflects on his attitude having left Athens in defeat and came to Corinth:

“I was resolved to know nothing among you save Christ and Him Crucified.” he goes on to disparage his own attempts at taking a philosophical approach to evangelizing.

This is what evangelism comes down to, even for Catholics. Not handing out tracts, not philosophical debate, not trying to prove a point, not asking that stupidest of all questions “would you go to heaven or hell if you died tonight,” rather, converting another person is all about sharing with them the good news that Jesus Christ died for them because he loves them. Even our Catechism starts with this basic Truth. God’s free gift of Grace in the Blood of Christ is ours free, if we just believe. In fact, our catechism is very, very clear that man can merit nothing apart from God.

So, really, the first question to ask is, do you believe in God’s faithfulness? Do you believe that once you assent to his redeeming love on the Cross that he will guide and protect you, and pour out Grace abundantly upon you? Then just share it any of the many ways available to us. It doesn’t have to be in the street. If you believe it will happen anywhere you are.
 
lonnienord said:
While I believe everyone needs to accept JESUS as their savior, I also know it is a process not a one time thing. And I would want to guide them to the Church JESUS established so they could grow in their relationship with JESUS.

”
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Accepting Jesus as savior is a “one time thing.” There must be a moment of assent wherein we believe God’s promise to save us through the Blood of His Son. This promise means that God will protect us. The danger of an institutionalized religion is to lapse into a self-made existential view of salvation. This is inconsistent with Catholic teaching and certainly Scripture. The flipside is accounting for free will. Well, the promise takes care of that. When God promises to be faithful to us, it does not depend upon our merit. Period.

It all hinges on God’s promise and faithfulness, not ours. The Catechism tells us that man can merit NOTHING apart from God, and that all merit is first attributable to God. Hebrews tells us that God eliminated the old “process” view of salvation in favor of a new Covenant founded in the eternal Blood of Christ. The Catechism also distinguishes between an initial moment of salvation and what comes after:

2027 No one can merit the initial grace which is at the origin of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods.

The problem with a “process” is that it often involves going through the motions, even religious motions. What should be a wake up call for us is that Jesus specifically and aggressively vilified and condemned a particular class of people: the religious ones who believed they could craft a righteousness for themselves apart from Grace.

The greatest danger therefore for us as Catholics is to lose sight of the simplicity and the evangelical force of the truth that, “while we were still enemies” God sent his only son to die for us. Not to give us piecemeal graces, not to just get us started on our journey, not to give us a little help along the way, not to lead us eventually, someday, to salvation, but to tranform our very existence into a new creation that now has “access into this Grace” which has been “poured out abundantly.” For Paul this was never a “process.” He was absolutely overwhelmed by the Cross, and could not stop talking about it. He excoriated himself severely for not doing this in Athens.

Just as in Jesus’ experience the greatest damage to souls was at the hands of the controlling religious leaders, I believe today it continues to be our greatest danger to view salvation as a self-directed “religious process.” Thank God Jesus shed his blood to give us his Grace without measure rather than a “religious process.”

Catechism # 2025: We can have merit in God’s sight only because of God’s free plan to associate man with the work of his grace. Merit is to be ascribed in the first place to the grace of God, and secondly to man’s collaboration. Man’s merit is due to God.

Curiously, I searched the catechism for the word Process. It Occurs only 7 times. The word Grace occurs 280 times. This is no accident. Here is one of the Process ones:

1489 To return to communion with God after having lost it through sin is a process born of the grace of God who is rich in mercy and solicitous for the salvation of men. One must ask for this precious gift for oneself and for others.

So, even when a process is mentioned, it is predicated on the Grace and merit of God. Our Faith is all about surrendering to God’s faithfullness in the Blood of Christ.

So, I have never had a problem interacting with evangelicals, especially with regard to the Catechism sections on Grace and merit. I have not yet found one who disagreed; however, I have found too many Catholics who are surprised or troubled by their own Chruch’s teaching on Grace and merit. I even had a guy in a Catholic prayer group check to make sure I didn’t have some kind of Protestant tract.
 
The best Evangelisation you can possibly to is to continously and humbly strive for holiness. Dont push it in people faces, (like some do) just always go to Mass, say the Rosary daily, and strive to be a humble and loving person to all. You need to also read the Scriptures and other faith related books so when someone asks you about your faith (hopefully because they see what a good example your setting) you can answer them properly)

After this and once you have educated yourself academically try teaching at your church’s religious class. This will give you a safe enviorment to learn how to teach and learn how to answer questions on your feet.

The next thing you need to be doing in ministry. Sign up and go on mission trips and go help people. This will increase your own faith and love by doing what Jesus said to do: Cloth the naked, feed the poor etc. but will also make a great impact on others. In addition its not uncommon for the people your helping to ask you why your there (Opportunity to share your faith)

Now if you really really wanan try street preaching you have ALOT of homework and its very difficult to get prepared for. One you need to form a team, never go out alone. Two you need to have buried yourself in the Scirptures to where you can basically give a Priest a run for his money. In addition you need to start studing apologetics, both for non-reliigous and for Protestants. You have alot of homework to do before you can even think about hitting the streets. If you want to give it a test try out some chat rooms, you can get a taste of how harsh people can be.

Street preaching however will accomplish very little in comparison to the other things i suggested, and nothing at all if your own faith isnt rock solid and your mind prepared.

ALWAYS keep in mind that any Evangalism or Apologist work is to be done with the highest spirits of Love and Humility. (many forget this)
 
I also feel called to evangelism. Here is how I’m working on it.

In order to evangelize, you must learn your faith well, so learn it.

-Study one subject at a time. I’m starting with Mary and going on to the Eucharist after.

-You can make records of what you find to defend the faith. If you don’t need to write it down/type it to remember it then just don’t or save a link about the topic on your computer

-I have found that these forums are a good way to learn the basics about the faith, but its not that effective as a means to learn good apologetics. Instead, use the articles from “This Rock.” They are good to explain the faith. Just type in the subject (ie, Mary) in the quick search and look through the articles and take notes.

-Don’t feel like you have to learn everything about a topic. Just try to learn enough to make effective arguments. In the future, you can always learn more.

-You can get books from the library about topics in the Catholic faith.

I have a blog that I am using to keep all my apologetics material organized.
romanloyalist.blogspot.com/

Additionally, I found this article interesting. It’s about door to door evangelization for Catholics.
catholic.com/thisrock/1990/9012fea1.asp
 
NFrancis, I discovered your blog (Roman Loyalist), because I was moved today to start a blog which I hope to use to share the faith with others.

I saw part of ‘The Journey Home’ on EWTN this morning, and the guest was a former Mormon and he was talking about sharing your own faith experience as a form of evangelism.

It’s kind of hard to figure out the whole evangelism thing now that I’m Catholic (I’m a recent convert, was formerly Neopagan, grew up Presbyterian, long story). I don’t even know the proper Catholic way to discuss concepts such as ‘being saved’ or ‘receiving Jesus as your personal savior’.

(My evangelising-blog will be at ontheveritasroad.blogspot.com/, visit if you dare…
 
I know this is waaaaaaaaayyyy late, however, I would suggest you look up the Catholic Evidence Guild and see what they did. They were apparently quite efficent street preachers back in the day and did a wonderful job converting people. I think, they also still have a “guide book” that you can refer to.

Posting this just in case anyone seems to find their way back to this thread.
 
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