Evangelize those who do not ask?

[hamilte3]

I have a colleague who is open to truth and quite religious. I’ve heard you generally answer what a person asks of you when it comes to the faith. Is it ever good practice to bring up something like the truth of the Eucharist without being asked? I feel she is missing out and I should tell her. I don’t mean to convince, just explain how beautiful the truth is. And obviously, in the end, you can only get to the Eucharist within the Catholic Church. And this truth may just bring a desire that will lead her there.

 

[FrancisBenedict]

Why don’t you tell her from the heart about your own experience?

PAX+

 

[Bonnie]

Religious topics can be brought up quite naturally in talking about family/friends. A mention of a child’s 1st Communion or Confirmation, a touching wedding or funeral Mass, something interesting the priest brought out in his homily, etc.

Once it is known that you like to talk about your faith, the questions will come! At one job, I ended up being the “go to” person for all religious questions, not just Catholic topics. If I didn’t know the answer, I said I’d look it up (I usually asked my husband) & I would have the answer the next day.

And of course, praying for your coworkers.

 

[godisgood77]

Evangelize always and when necessary use words…as St Francis supposedly said.

Or as Blessed John Henry Newman said… "Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example, By the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
The evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.

Sometimes I feel the world would be best served if we were all struck mute for 6 months or so… we would really be able to see Christians by their actions.

 

[504Katrin]

I have a colleague who is open to truth and quite religious. I’ve heard you generally answer what a person asks of you when it comes to the faith. Is it ever good practice to bring up something like the truth of the Eucharist without being asked? I feel she is missing out and I should tell her. I don’t mean to convince, just explain how beautiful the truth is. And obviously, in the end, you can only get to the Eucharist within the Catholic Church. And this truth may just bring a desire that will lead her there.

You have heard… mmhhh. Let me tell you this - you might consider it you might not - when Jesus died he had how many people at his cross? Was he the truth or was he not? Paul says in his books (paraphrasing) that it doesn’t matter what other people think of you. All that matters is what G0d thinks of you. So if you feel a deep call inside of yourself to evangelize this person, your question has already been answered.
When you feel you want to scream something from the rooftop, do it. It’s not about what you’ve heard other people do. Everyone has a different mission. Go and tell her about the Eucharist with your own heart. Know you’re blessed, as this is a great mission!

I might add that I would see it differently if this person wasn’t in the church already. Back when I was still in church I had a hard time accepting that others (Catholics) tried to get people to convert to Christianity.

 

[504Katrin]

But don’t cite anything but tell her with your heart, even if you stutter doing that.
Because first you need her to go. Studying comes later, and soon enough

 

[Robyn_p]

You have heard… mmhhh. Let me tell you this - you might consider it you might not - when Jesus died he had how many people at his cross? Was he the truth or was he not? Paul says in his books (paraphrasing) that it doesn’t matter what other people think of you. All that matters is what G0d thinks of you. So if you feel a deep call inside of yourself to evangelize this person, your question has already been answered.
When you feel you want to scream something from the rooftop, do it. It’s not about what you’ve heard other people do. Everyone has a different mission. Go and tell her about the Eucharist with your own heart. Know you’re blessed, as this is a great mission!

Good advice Katrin!!

I know I’m one of those “overanalyze the situation” types of people myself, which makes it really hard for me to evangelize. Too often I go, “Well it’s probably not the right time.” But there’s never a perfect moment is what I’m realizing. Just got to start letting God use me instead of fighting Him so much.

 

[hamilte3]

Good advice Katrin!!

I know I’m one of those “overanalyze the situation” types of people myself, which makes it really hard for me to evangelize. Too often I go, “Well it’s probably not the right time.” But there’s never a perfect moment is what I’m realizing. Just got to start letting God use me instead of fighting Him so much.

I know what you are saying, but I find myself more effective when I understand. I don’t remember in what context I heard it, but I know that Jesus told his apostles to leave a town who would not listen and Paul and Barnabas did just that. But it doesn’t mean they were to avoid persecution, but remember people’s freedom to reject his word. Typically, when you give spiritual advice to someone, I beleive you answer questions and don’t volunteer areas of work. I think the spirit within the person knows what is needed more then anything.

 

[504Katrin]

I know what you are saying, but I find myself more effective when I understand. I don’t remember in what context I heard it, but I know that Jesus told his apostles to leave a town who would not listen and Paul and Barnabas did just that. But it doesn’t mean they were to avoid persecution, but remember people’s freedom to reject his word. Typically, when you give spiritual advice to someone, I beleive you answer questions and don’t volunteer areas of work. I think the spirit within the person knows what is needed more then anything.

I know what you mean. It’s the situation where Jesus told the others to shake the dust of their shoes and to move on. That is when someone doesn’t want to listen. If she doesn’t want to hear anything about it then you should maybe let her go as she might not be ready yet. However, you shouldn’t decide not to speak with her in the first place. How can someone reject a word they never heard?