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:knight1:
:knight1:
Greetings everyone! I have some thoughts and questions surrounding evangelization in the Catholic Church, that I wanted to throw out and discuss with everyone. Let me start off by saying I am certainly not opposed to evangelization, how could any Christian be?
Personally however, my evangelical efforts only go so far. I hope that people inspired by my attitudes and example, which in truth, is not mine at all, but an effort to follow the ethos of the Catholic Church and the example of Christ, will continue to explore.
Rather than hide the fact that I am Catholic, I passively and sometimes actively advertise it, for lack of a better word, in hopes of giving other people “food for thought” into the Catholic faith. If… then… someone has questions, about Catholicism, good or uniformed, then I am only happy to address these questions. This is the full extent of my evangelization.
I see RC missionaries in a different light than everyday Catholic American followers who are, gosh how can I represent this in the spirit I intend it to be… in the same or nearby socio-economic situation I am in. The message, to be effective, has to be presented in such a way that the audience can quickly identify with.
Missionary work, in my view, is a calling. I think of Mother Theresa, the poor, the desperate, those who society have turned their backs on. Very inspiring stuff.
Here is the rub. When other denominations outside of Catholicism knock on my door, I am kind, but I quickly invent an excuse and close the door. JWs or Mormons are a good example, loosely followed by whatever the local protestant mega-church is. They all come a knockin. I would be delighted if a Nun or a brother came to my door, but that is because I am Catholic.
Here is the bottom line question… how far should Catholic evangelization go? What should it look like? I think door knocking by other faiths is odious, and an intrusion. Do we risk fostering the same reaction by untrained Catholic evangelization efforts? It seems to me that the Holy See should lay out a strategy for anything other than the passive evangelization efforts I spoke of early in my post.
Your thoughts? God bless you all.
:knight1:Greetings everyone! I have some thoughts and questions surrounding evangelization in the Catholic Church, that I wanted to throw out and discuss with everyone. Let me start off by saying I am certainly not opposed to evangelization, how could any Christian be?
Personally however, my evangelical efforts only go so far. I hope that people inspired by my attitudes and example, which in truth, is not mine at all, but an effort to follow the ethos of the Catholic Church and the example of Christ, will continue to explore.
Rather than hide the fact that I am Catholic, I passively and sometimes actively advertise it, for lack of a better word, in hopes of giving other people “food for thought” into the Catholic faith. If… then… someone has questions, about Catholicism, good or uniformed, then I am only happy to address these questions. This is the full extent of my evangelization.
I see RC missionaries in a different light than everyday Catholic American followers who are, gosh how can I represent this in the spirit I intend it to be… in the same or nearby socio-economic situation I am in. The message, to be effective, has to be presented in such a way that the audience can quickly identify with.
Missionary work, in my view, is a calling. I think of Mother Theresa, the poor, the desperate, those who society have turned their backs on. Very inspiring stuff.
Here is the rub. When other denominations outside of Catholicism knock on my door, I am kind, but I quickly invent an excuse and close the door. JWs or Mormons are a good example, loosely followed by whatever the local protestant mega-church is. They all come a knockin. I would be delighted if a Nun or a brother came to my door, but that is because I am Catholic.
Here is the bottom line question… how far should Catholic evangelization go? What should it look like? I think door knocking by other faiths is odious, and an intrusion. Do we risk fostering the same reaction by untrained Catholic evangelization efforts? It seems to me that the Holy See should lay out a strategy for anything other than the passive evangelization efforts I spoke of early in my post.
Your thoughts? God bless you all.