How to evangelize people who are comfortable

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Scott_D

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Hello all:

I am pretty new to evangelizing and could use all the tips you can give me. I am in my mid-40’s and most people I know are comfortable in what they believe in and resistant to change. I also live in Maine, which is one of the most irreligious states in the union. How can I evangelize the truth of the Gospel and of the Church without losing my job(I work in a public school) and without driving away friends and family?
 
Live by example! Have the joy of the faith reflected in the way you live.
 
PatriceA said:
Live by example! Have the joy of the faith reflected in the way you live.
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Aaaah, great! That means I’ve already been doing it! I am getting concerned that some in my circles are not getting the message.
I was wondering how forward I should be, since I have often had a big mouth and in trying to defend the Church, merely created a new enemy, which is counterproductive to what I was trying to do in the first place-to lead people to the truth of the Church.
 
Scott_D said:
Aaaah, great! That means I’ve already been doing it! I am getting concerned that some in my circles are not getting the message.
I was wondering how forward I should be, since I have often had a big mouth and in trying to defend the Church, merely created a new enemy, which is counterproductive to what I was trying to do in the first place-to lead people to the truth of the Church.
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When presented with the Truth who is a person, Jesus Christ and the objective truth of the Catholic Church people often become uncomfortable and defensive. Regardless of how welcoming you or the presentation is.

I suggest if you have a big mouth use what God gave you.😃 Of course be careful to discern your next step each time before making statements, and always pray that hearts will soften for Jesus and His Church.

I struggle sometimes with certain people, my family most of all. In this age of post-modern man in all the secular relativistic brouhaha our message will be disregarded by many, and outright denied by the rest.
 
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SonSearcher:
When presented with the Truth who is a person, Jesus Christ and the objective truth of the Catholic Church people often become uncomfortable and defensive. Regardless of how welcoming you or the presentation is.
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Not only now, SonSearcher, but 2000 years ago also. Look what happened to Him!

ScottD, the question you ask has no simple answer. Evangelization takes many forms. You know the people with whom you deal and you know how deep your knowledge and formation go. I also think like SonSearcher. Many people just are not comfortable with the truth. The responsibility for transmitting the truth lies squarely on the shoulders of the evangelizer. The choices of delivery range from a 2 x 4 between the eyes to soft, gentle hints.

I deal with a 39+ year old daughter–she would get extremely upset if I said 40 right now 🤷 --who had a basic Catholic formation. She now attends a non-denominational, evangelical church. She accepts my scripture references when it’s a subject that’s not threatening, but if I go towards the Eucharist, the walls go up. One day.

Anyway, my suggestion to you is to keep learning. Scripture. Spiritual reading. Vatican II documents. Get so you can “slip something in” during a conversation. You can be so subtle that people will not know they have been evangelized. It works. 😃

And of course, pray. If you want to evangelize, ask the Father to use the Spirit and put words in your mouth. Pray for wisdom and knowledge. The rewards are great.
 
Scott_D said:
Hello all:

I am pretty new to evangelizing and could use all the tips you can give me. I am in my mid-40’s and most people I know are comfortable in what they believe in and resistant to change. I also live in Maine, which is one of the most irreligious states in the union. How can I evangelize the truth of the Gospel and of the Church without losing my job(I work in a public school) and without driving away friends and family?
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Hey Scott,
It seems like you’re a “prayer warrior” so I doubt I can give you any better advice than what you already know! But I am 23 years and a recent revert to the faith and I can give you some tips that I’ve learned to evangelize!

From my personal experience the main goal is to get them into action. It doesn’t matter what someone “feels” inside or how “holy” they are - it’s about the action. Actions speak louder than words. Period.

Stay NEUTRAL at all times.

Never manifest any facial expressions of impatience, anger or such! People will remember the “bad” things you do (negative feeling) more so than whatever 100 good things you do for them. If you prosecute a protestant/lukewarm Catholic - they will only remember you as that angry person and guess what? They will tell the Father that “you didn’t do to the least what Jesus asked you to do to Him.”

Basically treat everyone as if they are Jesus. The point is to love everyone.

The second thing is to pray for the spirit of discernment charism!

There are three things to unlock the spirit of discernment (by Sr. Gertrude Gilette - Benedictine nun)
  1. Stable Prayer Times (morning and evening mainly)
  2. Obedient to Vocation
  3. No Resentments
Once you get those three things above in check you can actually hear the tugging of the Holy Ghost. Or as the Lord says

“Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.” - Mt. 7:7

Now when you’re able to invoke the Holy Ghost - He will lead you to whatever people, resource, place that you will ever need! Think of it like the Matrix almost.

You have to distinguish whether you want to take the vocation of doing “great works” or simply a “suffering soul”. Are you a “carry” or are you a “support”?

Do you want to lead the Church into a new movement evangelize in the “aggressive” way by reaching out to sinners? These are the people who have lost their faith in God or are in their trials. Remember that the greatest sinners are the greatest assets to the Church. They are our saints! They lost their faith because they don’t need God. If you can convert these people into our faith, through Jesus Christ, you will be essentially “edify” the church in this offensive measure.

Ideally, you can also “maintain” the church. Do you want to be a suffering soul and commit to “passively” nurture your brothers and sisters in your community? The contemplative prayer is something that allows you to do so to “support” the people who are in the offensive team. They essentially take in the blows of the sinners of the world and suffering of other people (read up on “give of sensitivity”) in order to balance things. Usually a devotion to Mary unlocks this or it could be marked upon your soul.

Once you identify what you’re comfortable with you can go out and pursue that! Obviously there are variations and this is just an outline! In all God is in control. But guess what? God also embedded your desires of your soul - chances are what you dream of is actually what your destined to!

I was reading this book (I forgot by who) and it basically states that in a movie there are actors - lead and support. I believe it was a book titled somewhere along the lines of “Abandonment to Divine Providence”. Anyways, it basically states that no matter how big or small (St. Therese little flower) - God loves you equally. So don’t worry about leading or following - worry about the Church as a unit.

I hope this helps!
 
Son Searcher is right. Family is the most difficult. I guess what I struggle with most is
the relative truth thing. So many believe that all opinions are equal and that all religions are
equal. Thanks for all the ideas!
 
=Scott D;10424669]Hello all:
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I am pretty new to evangelizing and could use all the tips you can give me. I am in my mid-40’s and most people I know are comfortable in what they believe in and resistant to change. I also live in Maine, which is one of the most irreligious states in the union. How can I evangelize the truth of the Gospel and of the Church without losing my job(I work in a public school) and without driving away friends and family?
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Hi Scott,

FIRST we need to understand that CONVERSIONS ARE God’s job; not ours:)

Our task is in this order:

To Know WELL our Faith; what we believe and WHY we do AND are able to believe it

Live it Fully, faithfully and publicly

Share it WHEN God presents the opportunity to do so. With charity; clarity and FACTS.

One may pray for this Ministry and ask also for guidance on how to live it it.🙂

God Bless you! ALL of us are to evangelize; but in the MANNER God desires for US.

pat/PJM
 
Love them. A couple of years ago I was on a cruise and I was discusted by glutny of some or most of the people on the ship. It made me feel very uncomfortable inside. I think I asked God what should I do? So as I was standing there I got an imediate reply which brougt great peace to my heart; Love them , That is all he wants us to do. He then can do the rest

Also a question of my own . Somebody said to me that they herd that six hundred years the Pope brought in “no meat on Fridays” because his brother’s fishing industry was doig badly? Has anybody got anything solid that I can reply with?
 
Scott_D said:
Hello all:

I am pretty new to evangelizing and could use all the tips you can give me. I am in my mid-40’s and most people I know are comfortable in what they believe in and resistant to change. I also live in Maine, which is one of the most irreligious states in the union. How can I evangelize the truth of the Gospel and of the Church without losing my job(I work in a public school) and without driving away friends and family?
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I am delighted to read such questions on a Catholic site.
In our Church we are pretty good at giving a good example and running all sorts of charities.
We are not so good at evangelism these day though and that is the greatest act of mercy.
Of course we do evengelism differently among the people we meet daily. But we should be open and creative in also sharing our faith with passing encounters with people.
The problem in the western world is that there is little recognition of sin. We need to reach the conscience and there are ways to do that that come across as natural and co incidental.
Think of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. Of course we must have the unction for the function. But it is wonderful to know that the holy Spirit is the protagonist in evangelism as the catechism says. In one day recently I evangelised 100 people just as <I went up in cable cars while snowboarding. It was all friendly and natural. I lert the subject arise indirectly. So many oiut zthere never get tue chance to be confronted with faith in Christ. They might die tomorrow, it is important. If wedo not sharer the treasure Christ has given us we will nor receive more ourselves.
 
Disciple_I_Hope said:
Not only now, SonSearcher, but 2000 years ago also. Look what happened to Him!

ScottD, the question you ask has no simple answer. Evangelization takes many forms. You know the people with whom you deal and you know how deep your knowledge and formation go. I also think like SonSearcher. Many people just are not comfortable with the truth. The responsibility for transmitting the truth lies squarely on the shoulders of the evangelizer. The choices of delivery range from a 2 x 4 between the eyes to soft, gentle hints.

I deal with a 39+ year old daughter–she would get extremely upset if I said 40 right now 🤷 --who had a basic Catholic formation. She now attends a non-denominational, evangelical church. She accepts my scripture references when it’s a subject that’s not threatening, but if I go towards the Eucharist, the walls go up. One day.

Anyway, my suggestion to you is to keep learning. Scripture. Spiritual reading. Vatican II documents. Get so you can “slip something in” during a conversation. You can be so subtle that people will not know they have been evangelized. It works. 😃

And of course, pray. If you want to evangelize, ask the Father to use the Spirit and put words in your mouth. Pray for wisdom and knowledge. The rewards are great.
Click to expand...
Good point often the people do not even realise they are being evangelised. It is great vto know too as the Cat. says that the Holöy Spirit is the main protagonist in evangelism.
 
On top of the advice given to you, PRAY AND FAST…

I noticed significant change around me already. Pray rosary and Mystery.

Now this is Easter, include also the Divine Mercy Nova.

All the best!
 
Read the New Testament or if you know it well already, expound it, see how much more complex the profile of Christianity is. Essentially, what you’re saying is how to personalize Christianity to people intrinsic identities. It’s all in the NT.

It’s more than obeying catechistic rules, it’s about tapping into the psychology of Jesus Christ. To aspire to being like Christ.

There are extremities of being and what people want to reach is the equilibrium, between those two extremes. That’s what the NT is like, not too much of this, and not too much of that, but reaching the balance of these two things.

To evangelize, one needs to do a lot of studying and reading first. Deep and knowing faith has a very subtle but substantive profile. The key thing to remember is : Motivation. What is the motivation for their actions, doing things for the right reasons and not for display or mindless obedience to authority, but knowingly acting on good motivations. I’m being vague but I might have more to add later on.
 
123Strontium said:
Read the New Testament or if you know it well already, expound it, see how much more complex the profile of Christianity is. Essentially, what you’re saying is how to personalize Christianity to people intrinsic identities. It’s all in the NT.

It’s more than obeying catechistic rules, it’s about tapping into the psychology of Jesus Christ. To aspire to being like Christ.

There are extremities of being and what people want to reach is the equilibrium, between those two extremes. That’s what the NT is like, not too much of this, and not too much of that, but reaching the balance of these two things.

To evangelize, one needs to do a lot of studying and reading first. Deep and knowing faith has a very subtle but substantive profile. The key thing to remember is : Motivation. What is the motivation for their actions, doing things for the right reasons and not for display or mindless obedience to authority, but knowingly acting on good motivations. I’m being vague but I might have more to add later on.
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True but in another way evangelism is a simple matter. I mean the basic thing is accepting in faith Christ as your own Lord over your life and as your own Saviour from your own sins and their eternal consequences. This of course includes repentance and baptism if not already baptised. When that happens life in the Spirit can bring us along very quickly. But of course discipleship and formation as a Christian is an on going matter. That man that was healed by Jesus did not need to do a course before he went and spread the good news neither did the Samaritan woman. We badly need to regain our primary mission to evangelise in our church. It is the main mercy mission too.
 
I have a Sacred Heart prayer card taped to the side of my monitor at work. It’s a simple way to identify me as Catholic, and people will ask me questions on their own initiative.
 
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