How to do Witnessing Follow-Up?

[jmm08]

Last Sunday’s Mass reading included:

Romans 13: 13-14: let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

It bothered me in a good way and I didn’t sleep very well Sunday night. I suppose I’m in good company because those verses also bothered St. Augustine.

Here is my dilemma: what do I do now?

If I put on Christ, I will want to tell others about Jesus and when I find somebody who wants Jesus I’ll want to point them in the right way. Perhaps it is just as indelible a mark on my soul as my being Baptized.

I am in RCIA since I am now fully convinced to be a Roman Catholic. However, years ago (1984-1991) as a non-Catholic Christian (Evangelical), I used to often go “witnessing”.

Essentially, the idea was to find people who:
a) Knew that Jesus Christ was God’s Son
b) Knew that Jesus died for their sins
c) Wanted Jesus more than anything else
d) Had not taken any steps towards doing anything about it

Typically, after leading them in the “sinner’s prayer”, I gave them a “WHAT DOES GOD WANT YOU TO DO” sheet and a New Testament.

SECOND: It is critical that you go to a GOOD church that teaches the BIBLE. If you don’t know what church to go to, a safe place to start looking is a BAPTIST Church. It is in church that you’ll find Christian FRIENDS you need so desperately to encourage you.

Obviously that isn’t what I want to tell them any more. But if I just change the word BAPTIST to ROMAN CATHOLIC it won’t work. If somebody really new just walks in to the Catholic Church they might well try to do what they see others doing – and may wind up taking communion. And furthermore, the Catholic Church doesn’t have a point in the service (like Baptists) where they ask if there are any “first time visitors” – to please stand and introduce yourselves. And I don’t think they would find many friends at a Catholic Church because that just doesn’t seem to happen.

Requests:
(1) suggested rewording of my “SECOND” part of “WHAT DOES GOD WANT YOU TO DO”.
(2) suggest to me what I should do.

Thanks

By the way, I watched “Orange County Choppers” last night. Paul Sr. got out his old Harley from 1974. Most of it cleaned up pretty good, but there was some rusted chrome. He was very frustrated because the way the parts went together didn’t make a whole lot of sense. A lot had changed with motorcycles over the last 30 years. But he knew it was a great motorcycle and he would just love to ride it a lot once more.

I feel the same way as Paul Sr. Very frustrated with something old that really brought me a lot of pleasure. And at the same time it really needs fixing up before I can take it out.

Witnessing brought me an awful lot of comfort and meaning to my life. I pray at this time for the people I talked with.

jmm08

 

[JGC]

There would be no need for sermons, if our lives were shining; there would be no need for words, if we bore witness with our deeds. There would be no pagans, if we were true Christians.
St. John Chrysostom

 

[PaulDupre]

Hi jmm08,

There is a great web site to help you get started at:

1bread.catholic.org/evangelist.html

They offer a free Catholic Evangelist starter kit that is really good.

1 Bread also has a terrific pamphlet called “The Scriptural Context of the Catholic Mass” that is a great way to prep someone before taking him to mass with you, especially if he loves the bible. Ask them about it.

God bless you,
Paul

 

[MariaG]

Good question. How do you welcome them to the Catholic Church, but tell them “don’t take communion”.

I think the answer is in the sheet you hand them on “What God wants you to do” In it you can talk about the need to be in full communion with the Church. IF you did that, I think you could say number two in good conscience. I mean the Catholic Church is wonderfully Biblical. You could add a quote about “hold fast to traditions whether oral or by letter” and that the Catholic Church is the only one that has held fast to the oral words of God.

Before inviting them, explain that at Mass, it is a deeply personal meeting with God, and most Catholics choose not to socialize after Mass. They wish to continue in their personal worship of Him. Then specifically let them know which Mass you will be at, as well as any Bible studies or things like that. Include that on the What God wants you to do sheet.

Just a few ideas, I hope they help.

God Bless,
Maria

 

[jmm08]

MariaG:

Good question. How do you welcome them to the Catholic Church, but tell them “don’t take communion”.

I suppose in ancient tradition (when the Church was growing quickly), that “early dismissals” were not a rare thing. I bet that the “early dismissals” were an every-Sunday thing. And that whatever new people showed up were given instruction in the faith.

And I’ll also bet that the early church had much less trouble recognizing who the new people were.

 

[jmm08]

JGC:

There would be no need for sermons, if our lives were shining; there would be no need for words, if we bore witness with our deeds. There would be no pagans, if we were true Christians.
St. John Chrysostom

True. And as a result, there are people out there who already know enough. But they haven’t taken any initiative to do anything about what they know to be true. For example: maybe all they do is watch EWTN and do nothing else.

I heard an estimate once. About 90% of everybody who is not presently going to church – for them to start going to church they will need to be invited and initially provided with transportation.

= = = = =

Perhaps what I need to do is provide the local parish church address and its RCIA/RCIC person’s name and phone number. And just know what parish I’m in when I talk to people (and have a follow-up sheet prepared specifically for that parish).