Evangelization topic during Mass discussion

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How about we try to bring back some lapsed Catholics who fell by the wayside? I was one of these. My wife and I are now attending mass weekly, and even on week days. I managed to get the priest to come to their house and hear my very elderly parents confession, and give them Holy Communion for the first time I can even remember. Sometimes evangelism begins in our own home. Or make that Revangelism.
 
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We’re on here posting answers to questions. Presumably, that is helping a few people move closer to the Church. It might even be somebody who just reads and never comments.

The last couple years I have put an occasional “Catholic” post on my social media. I usually try to make it something light and humorous and not anything heavy or pushy. More like along the lines of Catholic Memes or some cool window I saw in a church. I have actually had some people ask me to pray for them, want to talk about something regarding God, or say that they were inspired in their faith by reading this stuff. I was pleasantly surprised because I’m more used to getting angry rants when I talk about church and prayer. We could all do stuff like that, just kind of making God part of the daily conversation without being annoying about it.

There are a lot of people who are longing for God on some level but they need a little motivation (I was in that boat for a lot of years) , or they don’t want to deal with pushy Christians, or the only people they know who pray are 80-year-old grandmothers plus a few nerds who seem to lack normal social skills. If these folks see normal friends of theirs getting something out of a spiritual life without turning into a weirdo, then they’ll be motivated to think more about God/ Jesus/ Catholicism themselves.
 
You have a good point, Tis. I wish I had your social skills. Lol
 
Evangelization doesn’t mean hitting people over the head with the catechism.

You can let people know that you’re Catholic (even in this day and age). If it comes up naturally you can mention something that happened at church or that you’re busy Tuesday night because that’s when your prayer group meets. If someone mentions being sick or out of work assure them that they’ll be in your prayers.

If someone mentions that they “used to be” Catholic invite them to come to Mass with you and have brunch afterward.

If you’re talking with someone about a new movie you might mention the part that was life affirming or the part that left you uncomfortable because it clashed with your values.

There are little things you can do to reach out and let people know that you’re Catholic and it’s meaningful to you.
 
Yes; thank you all for your suggestions. I definitely don’t want to hit people over the head.
 
OnAJourney said:
Like Indulgences. That was wrong and the Church rectified that by essentially banning the practice
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I presume you just wrote this in a hurry and you know that the Church still has indulgences, an entire handbook of them, and that many people on this forum obtain indulgences regularly. We simply don’t have John Tetzel and his ilk running around selling them and they are not linked to donating money to the Church. Indulgences themselves are not “banned” and in fact people are often encouraged to get them because the practices you go through to get them benefit you spiritually.

Please be careful if you’re going to discuss subjects like indulgences that you put the correct information on the forum. Otherwise you will be propagating misinformation and contributing to the poor catechesis that you are complaining about.
 
I meant in the context of selling indulgences, that practice was indeed ended by the Church and it was wrong. My mistake for not being totally clear on the subject.
 
I’ve had many people quickly fire back about the ongoing child molestation epidemic in the Church. Obviously the people responsible for this reprehensible behavior were not guided by God of Church teachings. This topic is however difficult to talk about as many people feel the Church has attempted to sweep it under the rug and in some instances evil people within the Church have.
 
Ugh. I’m personally tired of hearing about it. The Church is cleaning house and that’s good enough for me.
 
My parish just last week had a priest put on admin leave due to abuse allegations. It’s very much still a hard topic
 
I just tell these people I’m in the Church for Jesus, not for any priest whether he’s a good priest or a bad priest. My mother always said, “We go to church to worship God, not to listen to the priest talk.” I further tell them that most priests I know are good men and that there have always been some bad apples in every profession and will continue to be some bad apples in the future.

If the person is coming from some emotional standpoint of actually having been abused by a priest, or knowing someone who was abused by a priest, then it’s important to express sympathy for them and to also tell them the Church has been working very hard with training and reporting to keep this from happening in the future.

But if the person just is mad at the Church and is not interested in changing their mind and just wants to rant, best to walk away. I know some people who just hate Christian religion and it’s usually related to something negative that happened in their family or with their own upbringing. It’s impossible to have a discussion with them because their minds are not open. With these people it’s best to just talk about other things, but if they start trashing Catholicism or Christianity you can gently remind them you’re a Christian/ Catholic too and could they please respect your views even if theirs differ.
 
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That’s not good enough for many people. New cases keep arising and it seems to be front and center in the news.
 
Sigh. I know, I know. There was an abuse allegation in my diocese and the priest in question was removed from the parish.
 
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Yeah unfortunately the abuse allegations aren’t going away until more reforms are put into place. Even then they won’t completely vanish. But at least it’ll further cut down on the number of priests that abuse children. And it’s hard. Trust me, I really struggled with hearing that a priest at my parish was accused. Especially when I’m in the process converting
 
Well, I feel welcome at my parish. And I want to have a relationship with God. And I would feel like I’m letting myself down by allowing a priest to destroy what I’ve managed to do so far. I think the Eucharist is important and choosing to deprive myself of it would be a terrible decision.
 
I agree. Even when I’m in mortal sin, I still go to Mass. I admire you. You’re still going even when a potential bad apple can spoil things for you.
 
And I’m coming from a background with very little Church. And yet I do try to be at least a decent Catholic. I’m going to RCIA, I pray inside the sanctuary at night when no mass is being held. I’m trying to do things right I guess. Eventually I do want to be able to partake in the Eucharist
 
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I’m a convert myself and I did a lot of Holy Hours during my time in RCIA. Have you ever prayed a Rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament? I have, and it’s worked wonders in my spiritual life.
 
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