Reaching out to non-Catholic Christians First

[IamWishing]

Growing up I always asked my parents, “How come we don’t go to that church?” as we would pass non-Catholic churches down the road. The answer I got was always that they weren’t Catholic churches. At a young age I had always wished for them to know what we know. Granted, too, at that age I didn’t know nearly 10% of what I know now.

My question is: Why don’t we go directly to non-Catholic Christians and let them know all that they are missing? If we truly love our Church and all that She has to offer: the Eucharist and all the Sacraments, the Liturgy, and more, wouldn’t we want to be going out and telling the world all that’s here! People who come to know Jesus for the first time do nothing but let everyone know how great He is. Why not do it for the Church He created?

I’m not saying to go and attack others’ beliefs, ways, thoughts, or anything like that, but rather come with a gentle message of what they might be missing and how what we have really fulfills everything a person desires.

Thoughts?

 

[MarcoPolo]

My question is: Why don’t we go directly to non-Catholic Christians and let them know all that they are missing?

I think that’s what Catholic Answers is all about. And my community is full of Why Be Catholic talks, and roadside banners and advertising. I’ve seen some beautiful efforts from Catholics in recent years. Sounds like you will do the same. Here is a good place to be.

 

[IamWishing]

Thanks Marco.

Being up here in good ol’ New England, well right outside of Boston, there’s not that much in terms of evangelization to bring people to, or back to, the Catholic Church. My parish is one of the largest in the diocese and we don’t have a lot of things to really keep everyone together. I was planning on calling our new pastor this week to discuss some things. One thing I’ve brought up is adult education classes, something I think we desparately need. Turns out one of our beloved priests who passed a few years ago wanted it, too. Maybe he’s been whispering in my ear for a while now.

I’ve been a huge advocate for Catholic Answers, Catholic Exchange, and more, for years, and have sent people here to look for answers. I also financially support them because I feel they are one of the best places to learn.

My biggest concern is I don’t want to be pushy and here I am conversing with an associate pastor. What if I can show him the full truth he is missing, then he can in turn go back to his whole congregation, etc. So you’re saying it’s okay to go out and evangelize?

My biggest question is this: Is it okay to initiate the evangelization rather than wait for them to come to us first?

 

[distracted]

My question is: Why don’t we go directly to non-Catholic Christians and let them know all that they are missing?

Wow - i was feeling kind of lost and “bored” (4 lack of a better word) until i read this Post.

I have been feeling this way for so long… and feel VERY alone having this viewpoint. Virtually all the Catholics i know are “un-evangelically-inclined”… & this one friend i have acts like i am some kind of nut case (my perception) because i tell everyone i come in contact w/ about the wonderful things the Catholic Chruch has to offer (trying hard, as i do, not to cast pearls before swine, as it were…)…

I haven’t read the other posts because right now, i don’t have time, but i am wondering just why it is that so many Catholics are so… reticent about sharing their faith. One reason is t hat our world is SO incredibly un-Catholic & anti-Catholic. I sometimes wish i lived in South America or Ireland… But then, maybe devout Catholics are more needed in t he U.S.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Virtually all the Catholics i know are “un-evangelically-inclined”…

I think there are many Catholics like this…but remember, there are also those Catholics who are using the notion attributed to St. Francis: “Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.”

As Father Corapi echoes, we also preach by our deeds. Someone will look at you and say, “So that’s what a Christian is.” It doesn’t mean you aren’t ready to give reasons for your hope. But it means there is more than one way to preach.

It is not the only way to do it, of course, but know that this kind of Catholic is out there. They are people walking the walk, with perhaps a little icon in the workplace revealing who they are, or a cross-necklace, or Church calendar, and they are living their life according to the Gospel. It is a very strong method of evangelizing!

 

[IamWishing]

Not to boast but this is how I’ve lived my life for as long as I can remember. We were always told to do this but I have not seen anyone come to the Church or come back to God because of my deeds and how I live my life.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Not to boast but this is how I’ve lived my life for as long as I can remember. We were always told to do this but I have not seen anyone come to the Church or come back to God because of my deeds and how I live my life.

No? You have planted no seeds? How do you know?

 

[IamWishing]

I don’t know. I might not know for a very long time if you know what I mean. I do hope someone has changed because of me but I don’t know of any definitive cases right now.

But back to my original question: Is it okay to initiate evangelizing a non-Catholic Christian provided it is done carefully, for the right reasons (to let people know of what we have and not to boast that I won people over), and out of love?

 

[MarcoPolo]

But back to my original question: Is it okay to initiate evangelizing a non-Catholic Christian provided it is done carefully, for the right reasons (to let people know of what we have and not to boast that I won people over), and out of love?

I say sure! If that’s what a person is called to do!

 

[IamWishing]

I sometimes wish i lived in South America or Ireland… But then, maybe devout Catholics are more needed in t he U.S.

I sometimes feel the same way, that I wish I was living in a more Catholic-based community or society where everyone gets along and believes the same way. It must be an incredible feeling of being “home” when we’re in those regions. I heard Pittsburgh is a big one, then again living right outside of Boston I know I’m surrounded by Catholics but there are a lot of non-Catholic influences gaining strength. I’ve seen a few friends leave the Church to another group and I’ve tried to talk to them about it. But we need to think about this: Maybe we’re in these regions for a reason. If God won’t give us more than we can handle then maybe He knows something about us that we don’t: That we’re here as representatives for Him and His church to get it back. Look at St. Francis: He was told by God to rebuild His Church. Not the building but the people. He might have been surrounded but that was his call.

 

[distracted]

there are also those Catholics who are using the notion attributed to St. Francis: “Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.”

thanks for that reminder…

Even so, my position tends to be that we should do both…

Then again, if we all got martyred there wouldn’t be anyone left to continue evangelizing.

 

[Mini_gerbel]

thanks for that reminder…

Even so, my position tends to be that we should do both…

Then again, if we all got martyred there wouldn’t be anyone left to continue evangelizing.

rofl that made me laugh. good one

 

[THutch04]

But back to my original question: Is it okay to initiate evangelizing a non-Catholic Christian provided it is done carefully, for the right reasons (to let people know of what we have and not to boast that I won people over), and out of love?

I think it’s fine if you pray about it and discern that this is the way God calls you to evangelize. Not everybody is able to do it in the correct way. I will say though that personally I would have been very turned off by anybody who approached me with an “I’m right you’re wrong” attitude, which is what seems to happen when people don’t pray hard about their decision to publicly evangelize.

 

[Fidelis]

Bottom line: We are ALL called to make a *conscious effort *to bring souls into the kingdom. If we don’t, the Church teaches we are USELESS. Consider this:

…We must never make the mistake of saying-as some of us do-“I don’t talk about my faith; I just live it.”

If we make this excuse for not talking about our faith, what we’re actually saying is that we are such marvelous Christians that anyone can look at us and see Jesus Christ exemplified. We’re saying that if anyone wants to know what it means to live a faithful Christian life, let him look at us and follow our example. Who of us is prepared honestly to make such statements?

Look at the Lord Jesus. He was perfectly united with the Father. He was Truth incarnate. Did he restrict himself to nonverbal communication? Did he perform miracles, healing the sick and diseased, casting out demons, calming the troubled waters of the sea of Galilee, all the while saying nothing of the Father whom he was revealing? No. He constantly articulated the faith: teaching, exhorting, reproaching, sometimes condemning-but always teaching. No “wordless witness” for him!

Pope Paul VI said that a “wordless witness” can radiate the spirit of Christ, but by itself it is not enough. **Even the best witness of life “will prove ineffective in the long run if it is not explained, justified . . . and made explicit by a clear and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus” **(On Evangelization, 22).

Never forget our Lord Jesus’ solemn warning: “Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required” (Luke 12:48). This applies with special force to us Catholics. We have been entrusted with the fullness of gospel truth. We have access to the full means of grace by which Christ intends to nourish his people. We follow Christ on his terms, not ours, as we respond to his teaching us through his Church. Therefore, we must take and act on our individual responsibilities to evangelize with utmost seriousness.

Vatican II could hardly have spoken more strongly about our obligation to evangelize. It declared, **“A member [of the Church] who does not work at the growth of the body [of Christ] to the extent of his possibilities must be considered useless both to the Church and to himself” **(Decree on the Laity, 2). “Useless”: useless to oneself, useless to the Church. Would that not also mean useless to Christ? What an indictment!
catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0209fea3.asp

'Nuff said.

 

[IamWishing]

I think it’s fine if you pray about it and discern that this is the way God calls you to evangelize. Not everybody is able to do it in the correct way. I will say though that personally I would have been very turned off by anybody who approached me with an “I’m right you’re wrong” attitude, which is what seems to happen when people don’t pray hard about their decision to publicly evangelize.

And that’s exactly the attitude I do not want to have. Yet a lot of cradle Catholics get pulled away from people who do this to them. Maybe there are cradle Protestants. Then again I wouldn’t want to just let them know, I’d want to let ALL of them know.

Again, I don’t want to tell everyone so that I can feel good about myself that I helped all these people. No, I want to let every non-Catholic know of all that they’re missing and how great and wonderful it is. True conversion only comes through a person’s free will and I can never ever change someone on my own. But if I can present my case softly and gently (just as Jesus did) then maybe someone will see the goodness and fullness we have. I don’t want it to be “I’m right, you’re wrong.” which I feel is what a lot of Protestants hold when they come to us.

So enough with them coming to us, let’s get to them now!

There’s a second page to this and that is we need to better educate Catholics. It’s one thing for them to be led to websites like these but it’s another to explain why we should know all of this. Not only to defend themselves but so that they can understand better all that we do. I will admit I was a cradle Catholic, but when I researched it all everything made so much more sense and there was so much more purpose! Just as my CCD kids ask me, “Why do we have to take a test?!?! God doesn’t want that!” No, maybe not, but He does want us to know quite a bit about He and the Trinity, Heaven, the Saints, the Church, and more.

In short I will pray about all of this and figure a way to do this. I’ve been wanting to do that adult education class and we can invite everyone who wants to come and tell them to bring a friend. I work in marketing but yet feel that if a product is good enough it should sell itself. I think that could be the case here. At least I hope it will be.

 

[distracted]

I: Maybe we’re in these regions for a reason. If God won’t give us more than we can handle then maybe He knows something about us that we don’t:

do you think…??

I am laughing because this is so true, that we are in these regions for a reason… & yet i keep complaining when certiain “things” happen…

Your comment about God knowing something about us that we don’t hit a nerve. I know what it means (kind of) to me but -

What exactly did you mean?

Being human, I have to remind myself more often than i care to admit, that our lives are not supposed to be about making money, accumulating things (etc)… or even about our human relationships per se… except in so far as they help us to get to Heaven… In America & other prosperous (materially) countries, it is so easy to get caught up in thinking that life is to be enjoyed & that, therefore, we should have this and have that… Then when we can’t get something, we throw a tantrum (kill other students @ a college, have an abortion, etc… )…

That we’re here as representatives for Him and His church. .

So true… that is the universal vocation, as it were: to be representatives of Christ & His Church…

…I needed your Post to remind me. Thanks.

 

[jmcrae]

I don’t know. I might not know for a very long time if you know what I mean. I do hope someone has changed because of me but I don’t know of any definitive cases right now.

But back to my original question: Is it okay to initiate evangelizing a non-Catholic Christian provided it is done carefully, for the right reasons (to let people know of what we have and not to boast that I won people over), and out of love?

What would this look like, in practice?

Products never “sell themselves” but the key to good sales is personal invitations, and a good and concise answer to the first unspoken question, which is “Why should I bother?” Most people who buy something never realize that they have been “sold” - they are under the impression that they made a free decision, on their own. This is exactly as it should be. The best sales people are completely invisible to the customers. All they see is a friend who is trying to help them become the best that they can be.

 

[distracted]

Most people who buy something never realize that they have been “sold” - they are under the impression that they made a free decision, on their own. This is exactly as it should be. The best sales people are completely invisible to the customers. All they see is a friend who is trying to help them become the best that they can be.

Thanks for this bit of knowledge that was there somewhere in my cluttered up mind but buried & somewhat irretrievable…

Even so, the thought occurs to me that, well, in order for someone to be sold something - anything - they have to first know that that something they want actually exists.

I believe in informing people about the teachings of the Church… we always have to make an effort to do that because most non-Catholics just don’t have a clue. They are taught many wrong things about Catholicism…

people want what the Catholic Church has - they just don’t always know they want it. I mean, how would you know you were hungry if your body never “told you”? So we have to “tell people”, albeit in a subtle kind of way…