Evangelizing Anti-Catholic family--does it work?

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We just recieved the second anti-Catholic book in the mail from a relative of my husband’s. I am wondering how successful any of you have been evangelizing such relatives to the Catholic Church? Should we even bother trying?

Since my husband joined the Catholic Church, we been open to life, and God has blessed us abundantly. I fear the gift of a child is viewed as an effort to “work” our way into heaven.

The first booklet arrived last year as an anniversary gift shortly after the baptism of our new baby. We responded by sending her a video on the life of St. Paul by Stephen Ray. We briefly discussed these things at a couple of family events while those around us smiled nervously and ran. This book arrived shortly after we announced we are expecting our seventh child.

She has a great love for the Lord and is probably his most religious relative. I know it is out of fear for our salvation that she sends us this. But I am sad for her. I honestly would like for her to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. But I don’t know if my husband and I are the people to evangelize to her. I’d like to read your stories of success or failure evangelizing anti-Catholic relatives.
 
Hi:

Who is she? And what is the background of the faith that is anti-catholic?

🙂
 
Heh. I’m in the same boat. A friend of mine believes I’m being “decieved by the devil” and keeps giving me books/booklets, mostly by James McCarthy, which only makes everything worse. I don’t know if it works, but all I can do is try.
 
MGEISING asked:“Who is she and what background that is anti-Catholic?”

She is an aunt on his mother’s side. She was raised baptist, and has attended both baptist and other churches. At one point she was is a Christian group that some of the family thought was more of a cult. Right now I think she just considers herself “Christian”. She has spoken about “right division of scripture” meaning that she believes some of the New Testament was written for Jews and some for Gentiles. As she is a gentile, she pays closer attention to some letters from St. Paul and pretty much ignores the rest. The book she sent yesterday ends pretty much calling the Catholic Church the whole of Babylon.

The rest of his family attends various Protestant denominations and are fairly tolerant of his change to the Catholic Church. But this aunt takes her religion more seriously than many of them. I think she is searching for the truth–otherwise she wouldn’t keep landing in such strange churches!
 
Hmmm, not sure I can be of much help, as my family sounds like your husband’s auntie. 😃 In fact, I’m just praying for the HS and the intercession of Mary to soften their hearts.

I’d just try to reassure her that you and your husband are Christian and let her know of the things that Catholics and Protestants do agree with. And pray alot. 🙂 I don’t think we can do much, but the HS can work wonders. 😃
 
In the case of relatives, there is not much success for me.
I do better with other peoples relatives, than with my own.
The love they have, and the strong opinion, does not lend itself well to listening. Time and exposure to our religious conviction has softened my relatives who are now just mildy anti-catholic (particularly about too many children), Ironically, we are the ones my relative brags about the most now that she is really old. Many of her children have done the multiple unhappy marriages thing, and we are a puzzle to her. Sometimes actions are better than words.
 
Ask your aunt to disprove the Catholic Church and to prove hers right, but with one twist. She must start at the time of Jesus and work foward in time with supporting facts. She will find it impossible to end up with her Church from this method. Protestants can only justify their sects by working backwards and hunting for proofs that seem to support their opinions in some way.

Lern your Scripture good! Then talk to her about Scripture too and how it supports the Catholic Church 100%. Ask her why she uses a Bible that is incomplete too since Christians used a complete 76 books for 1,000 before Luther started to rip them out. Learn where the Bible came from and how it evolved. Ask her why her Bible is any more inspired then the Book of Morman or the Koran and how she can prove it?

Allways be polite and show her the ‘love’ Jesus demands all Catholics show others.

If she is too old and senile it may be too late?

Good luck.

PS. Ask her what religion her ancestors were 700 years ago. Let her tap dancing begin!

My wifes grand mother (75 yrs young) told us that the Catholics crucified Christ! Thats right the Catholics. Why? Because the Romans are all Catholics! Thats why we’re called the ‘Roman’ Catholic Church! Boy, the stories I could tell about what she believes.:whacky:
 
If she is sending you this stuff, then that means she at least is slightly concerned about your salvation. I would welcome dialogue with her as long as you are prepared.
Here is something I learned from John Martignoni, let them evangelize you, but ask questions. Here is one great point he had in one of his talks. If she sends you a book thank her, but mention that you read another book that makes a lot of sense to you and you would like to know what is wrong with it. Send her or give her Catholicism and Fundamentalism, or Evangelical is not enough.
Bam! You just got her to read Catholic literature!

Anytime someone is still trying to evangelize you, think of it as an opportunity. I pray that my brother and his wife would still talk to us and be willing to listen. If they are talking to you then at least you have that door open, use it!

I am ashamed to say that I blew my first chance at real dialogue with my brother and have been mentally anguished ever since. I now have learned a little bit about my faith and take every single opportunity to set up chances to talk to people about it.
 
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scylla:
I am ashamed to say that I blew my first chance at real dialogue with my brother and have been mentally anguished ever since. I now have learned a little bit about my faith and take every single opportunity to set up chances to talk to people about it.
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That happened to me too unfortunately with my in-laws before I took my faith seriously. I have regretted that ever since. But I do think that by trying to live the best Catholic life I can now, I’d like to think I’m having a positive influence. At least maybe through my example now they are less anti-Catholic. I even got condolences on the death of JPII, which was really getting somewhere! :amen:
BTW - I keep a basket of entirely Catholic reading materials in the loo - a captive audience you could say? :whacky: It’s got copies of This Rock, Envoy, Surprised by Truth, and some other misc. booklets, etc. I know it gets used even though no one fesses up… 😃
 
It takes great patience. My wife was somewhat anti-catholic when we met. God did the work on her. Then my mother in law said she was going to hell and taking the kids with her when she converted. Over three years with great patience my wife changed my MIL’s heart and she is now Catholic. Set your goals long term, years rather than weeks of months. Feed them only as much as they can handle which aint much. Pray for them and first and formost be an exemplary example of the faith.
 
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thessalonian:
It takes great patience. My wife was somewhat anti-catholic when we met. God did the work on her. Then my mother in law said she was going to hell and taking the kids with her when she converted. Over three years with great patience my wife changed my MIL’s heart and she is now Catholic. Set your goals long term, years rather than weeks of months. Feed them only as much as they can handle which aint much. Pray for them and first and formost be an exemplary example of the faith.
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That’s a great story. I wonder how often this happens?
 
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thessalonian:
It takes great patience. My wife was somewhat anti-catholic when we met. God did the work on her. Then my mother in law said she was going to hell and taking the kids with her when she converted. Over three years with great patience my wife changed my MIL’s heart and she is now Catholic. Set your goals long term, years rather than weeks of months. Feed them only as much as they can handle which aint much. Pray for them and first and formost be an exemplary example of the faith.
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:eek: :eek: :eek: I think Hell would freeze over before my anti-catholic, bigoted mother inlaw (who often tells me I am on my way to Hell because I am Catholic) becomes Catholic.

Now that would be a miracle.

But you are right - be the best Catholic you can be, because we get a bum rap from so many Catholics who don’t live their faith - most probably because the don’t know it …

Be a shining example of how awesome our faith is … and how grounded we are in scripture!

👍
 
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Jennifer123:
BTW - I keep a basket of entirely Catholic reading materials in the loo - a captive audience you could say? :whacky:
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I have a few small booklets like “Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth” and such in a drawer within reach in the bathroom. If anyone goes sneaking around, searching through my drawers they can find hard core apologetics material!
 
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scylla:
If she is sending you this stuff, then that means she at least is slightly concerned about your salvation. I would welcome dialogue with her as long as you are prepared.
Here is something I learned from John Martignoni, let them evangelize you, but ask questions. …Anytime someone is still trying to evangelize you, think of it as an opportunity…
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I like the idea to let her evangelize but ask questions. That might help me with my tendacy to talk too much and overwhelm the listener! And that way she can express what bothers her most about the Catholic faith. Then I could know more specifically what she doesn’t understand properly and hopefully gently correct her misunderstanding.
 
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thessalonian:
It takes great patience… Over three years with great patience my wife changed my MIL’s heart and she is now Catholic. Set your goals long term, years rather than weeks of months. Feed them only as much as they can handle which aint much. Pray for them and first and formost be an exemplary example of the faith.
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Your post offered me great hope! As many people have said they don’t have much luck with their own relatives, I was wondering if we should even bother trying or if that would just make things worse. (And if I don’t have patience with this woman, I know I’d just make things worse.)

So far our conversations have been very brief over the years at family functions. We don’t agree, but generally the discussion is pleasant. The last time we spoke we simply discussed the hope of the Ressurection at a funeral, and we agreed and comforted each other.

My husband and I are thinking about inviting her and her husband over for a discussion. I’d love to speak with her more than we have in the past, but I wasn’t sure if we were the right people to share the Catholic faith with her or not. I know she misunderstood things I said last summer. She didn’t like the video we sent her. As she has now re-initiated the discussion it might be time to pursue it further with her.

I don’t think she knows how to reconcile knowledge of us and how we live with what she* thinks* she knows about the Catholic Church. I think she has been searching all along for the right church that teaches the truth, but the thought that it might be the Catholic Church never entered her mind. She may even be a little afraid of the Catholic Church, but her love of us and seeing all our children following it too inspires her to overcome her fear and try to save us. That inspires me to want to share our faith with her.

As she has such a great love for the Bible and especially the writings of St. Paul, I have been asking for intercession from St. Paul (and St. Timothy) to help her. Please pray for her with me.
 
Don’t ever get in to an arguement. If starts starf getting heated remain charitable.

I also recommend for you a book by Patrick Madrid called Search and Rescue. It gives an excellent perspective of evangelization, especially of realative.s
 
I’m with the poster that said to send her Karl Keating’s book, Catholicism and Fundamentalism. It is a wonderful book and very easy to read and has lots of scripture.

Send her a little note that says something like - Since you can evangelize me by sending me a book to read then it is only fair that I can ask the same of you. This book will give you an idea of what we actually believe. Maybe we can get together after we have read our books and ask each other some questions?

See how she responds. If it’s good, then you’ll have another opportunity before you. If her response is not favorable, well then, at least she has a great book she can read in the future (and it sounds as though she might just be curious enough to read (when no one’s looking) bits and pieces at her leisure!).

No pressure.
 
Yes, my biggest fear is my mouth will start going off in an uncharitable manner if we met to discuss this! I know that would spell disaster. Sending a book is a safer bet. We tried a video, but she didn’t recognize all the scripture in it since it didn’t continually site every chapter and verse. (Maybe I could just send the accompanying Bible study guide that she apparently either didn’t recieve or notice in the video!)

I have prayed that God put other people in their lives, that they find Catholic radio and t.v. to evangelize them, etc. With all the coverage after the Pope’s death I prayed God would reach his family. Maybe I should just send a book, keep praying, and let God do His stuff. Sometimes it seems He does His best work when I’m quiet.

So, I’m not sure if the idea of meeting with them for a longer discussion is a good plan or not at this time or ever. We’d like to in theory, but we recognize that we could end up doing more harm than good. I guess we need to pray about this more before taking any action.
 
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