Evangelizing to devout Christians who are not anti-Catholic

  • Thread starter Thread starter yellow8yellowM
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Y

yellow8yellowM

Guest
How do you evangelize to devout Christians who have no beefs with the Catholic Church? Maybe this doesn’t come up a lot, but please bear with me–there is a couple in my neighborhood who fits this description.

On one hand it seems like it should be easy to evangelize because since they are not anti-Catholic, but on the other it is hard because they are already have such a strong faith and don’t feel like they need anything more.
 
Personally, I’d just live a good open catholic life in front of them and from time to time offer to have them join with you to non-confrontational things at your parish like retreats, choir performances, prayer services, catholic soup kitchens or other catholic volunteer stuff etc etc.

I wouldin’t actively pursue them accept through prayer. If they are doing well and have a good faith life…that’s a beutiful thing. Of course we want them to have the fullness of the faith…but they may not be ready for that moment and maybe they never will be in this life (although if they are following truth as they precieve it with their sincere hearts … we know that God will take care of them and reveal Himself to them as they are able to understand Him.).

Hopefully through how you live your catholic life (invite them over to your home and let them notice your holy water font at the inside of your door or notice your catholic cross, pictures, icons around your home), by inviting them to participate in catholic works of charity or choir performances…maybe it will set the stage for their questions to come.

Pray for them a lot!

Michael
 
I agree with most of what Michael said but would also mention that you should make a concerted effort to dialogue with them. You don’t have to bang their door down and demand they attend Mass or a retreat with you, but you shouldn’t simply let them stay in their ignorance either. If they truly love God, their hearts will be open to His Truth, and you will be able to help them learn about Christ’s One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. First and foremost, pray about it. After that, play it by ear. Keep them on their toes, but with the right approach. Keep them asking questions. Ask questions about their faith, ask questions they can’t answer (it isn’t hard to do, protestantism has zero foundation Scripturally, historically and theologically) so there are many critical things to ask, and approaches to take. Don’t make it feel like a witch hunt though (obviously). Just because protestants are living their faith to the best of their knowledge, doesn’t mean we should simply move beyond them to others who might need our help more. They are still outside of the Truth. And that is no place to leave someone who loves Christ so much. Pray about it and do what you can to bring them to Christ! God Bless!
 
  1. Invite them to Mass…weekday seems to work best…easier in time commitment…and …a more quiet time with less distractions for reflection before Mass…the simple piety and intimacy is very attractive…more suitable for discussion/fellowship after Mass.
  2. Invite them to come pray for their deceased loved ones (offer them some of the Church;s devotional prayers for the dead)…or for special needs of their loved ones (sick, suffering, trials and tribulations)…in the Church or chapel…wherever the Blessed Sacrament is reposed.
  3. Invite them to come pray an organized Liturgy of Hours Vespers…at parish LOH or arrange if possible with a priest order (Dominican, Franciscan) or a religious order (sisters/brothers)…or with a deacon in your parish/area. (deacons really like to do this in my experience…with just a little help on my part).
  4. Invite them to a Divine Mercy Chaplet devotion service.
These options have never been met with anything but gratitude and questions and an enduring curiosity in the Catholic Faith…in my experiences.

Also…most importantly…pray a novena to the Holy Spirit…do a one day hard fast…and make a specific alms gift to a charity…all for their spiritual well being. What will happen…only God knows…but something always happens…

Lastly…two of the young men that I did this with…are now priests…the Holy Spirit always does the “heavy lifting”…we just have to do the “light-weight work”. The “Pearl”…for me…it has always helped me in unexpected ways/areas of my life…inspired me to want to be a better Catholic,

Pax Christi
 
My mother had two friends in our neighborhood who would meet for food, knitting, secular educational topics, chats, canasta, etc. They were both raised in Protestant backgrounds and occasionally the subject would get around to religion and Mom would say, “Here’s the Apostle’s Creed: Let’s see if we differ.” She would take a few parts at a time and eventually they both converted.

I’m not as skillful as my Mom; I believe in showing others Jesus whenever I can in my interactions. I talk about Jesus a lot. I talk about the good effects of practicing Catholicism.
 
yellow8yellowM said:
How do you evangelize to devout Christians who have no beefs with the Catholic Church? Maybe this doesn’t come up a lot, but please bear with me–there is a couple in my neighborhood who fits this description.

On one hand it seems like it should be easy to evangelize because since they are not anti-Catholic, but on the other it is hard because they are already have such a strong faith and don’t feel like they need anything more.
Click to expand...
Maintain the nexus of comaraderie of faith and treat them as “imminent converts”. That is, any day now, they will convert.

You on the other hand must keep a life of prayer and a life of the spirit, nurtured by the Sacraments of Confession and Communion-and pray the Rosary everyday.

Some day they will tell you, “hey, wanna do this, that or the other thing?” But, when you tell them, " Oh, that sounds good but I haven’t prayed the Rosary today. Can we do it in about another half hour when I’ve prayed the Rosary?"

This can be the case for Confession or a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. You have a great opportunity to preach without preaching and testify without testifying.

They need to see and experience your catholicism in it’s most genuine.

In hoc signo vinces.
 
I agree that prayer is a component of bringing people
into Catholicism.

But that also needs to be complemented by gentle action
that highlights the richness of Catholic culture. It needs
to be done gently in my opinion, else may get the opposite
effect. But just introducing them to specific devotions
such as the Sacred Heart, Divine Mercy, etc. can at times
be effective.

People often underestimate the power of Catholic devotions
and the impact they can have in bringing people in.
 
I thought it might be prudent to throw in what my Uncle told me a few weeks ago. “Come to Mass. Christ is here!”

Someone who wants to be closer to God will find that offer hard to refuse. It was for me. I went the following Sunday…I met the priest a week later and my first RCIA inquiry meeting is tomorrow night! Don’t underestimate the simple, awesome power of the Mass itself.
 
Agree with much written here

If an individual(s) want to look at holy God they will

God bless You
Peace
 
I’m sorry I couln’t help to notice that there is no scripture? Can someone please post scripture to back this up…
By. The way your icons and images will not convince a debout christian but drive him away from ur home
 
faiithseek said:
I’m sorry I couln’t help to notice that there is no scripture? Can someone please post scripture to back this up…
By. The way your icons and images will not convince a debout christian but drive him away from ur home
Click to expand...
Good point. Few Catholics remember to discuss scripture and how it connects to our liturgy, prayers, rosary, sacraments, clergy, Pope, even our icons and images. Many Christians are unaware of our scriptural base. Many Catholics seem unaware. It is important to learn and explain how our traditions even are scripture based.
 
yellow8yellowM said:
How do you evangelize to devout Christians who have no beefs with the Catholic Church? Maybe this doesn’t come up a lot, but please bear with me–there is a couple in my neighborhood who fits this description.

On one hand it seems like it should be easy to evangelize because since they are not anti-Catholic, but on the other it is hard because they are already have such a strong faith and don’t feel like they need anything more.
Click to expand...
Peter Kreeft has a great talk on ecumenism and it’s free on his website: peterkreeft.com/audio/03_ecumenism.htm Give it a listen, I think you’ll enjoy it. 👍
 
To whomever has ears to hear 😉

Every one has great advice, so you have a lot to go on.

I personally love to talk to devout Christian. From my point of view our state of mind is just as important as what we actually say. That would include prayer and our own spiritual state. I think it is importan to remember that Only the Holy Spirit can convert someone! we are just instruments. So if we are trying to controle the inviroment then we can easily fall to doing it thorugh “our will be done not His Will.”

A new phrase that as been in my mind is that, ‘Christ did not come to comdem but to convict’ Our first goal is to Love and add value to someones life (that is why the sacraments and the Power in the church can speak for themseves). what is that line?..93% of communication is non verbal. 7% is the acual words we use.

However knowledge is important, “ignorence of Scripture is ignorence of Christ”. That is a good way aproach non Catholic Christians… Can we back up Catholic doctrine from Scriture? Every Catholic doctrine is either directly or indirectly in scripture.

Everyone has different temperments… God will use what you have so dont worry that someone may say you “should” do it a certain way (including me). that is where prayer comes in at: discernment! “ALL TRUTH IS CATHOLIC” (Justin Martyr) we enter into (holy) conversations with nukes.

One other piece of advice: if a persone get angry because you are sharing what is important to you, then that is their problem not yours. if they are denying truth we cannot do anything about it but Work on Ourselves {be good witness, be people of integrity, love them, pray for them, and be there when they need us (plant seeds and let the Holy Spirit work)}

a Catholic who fights for unity in the ‘catholic’ Church
James D. Landry
 
I think it was Peter Kreft who said… “Orthodox Catholics and orthodox Protestants have more in common than orthodox Catholic and liberal Catholics and orthodox Protestants and liberal Protestants”
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top