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Guest
I was handing out free rosaries and talking with people about Catholicism this weekend at a town festival near my house. I had a lot of really good conversations and a few important questions. A few notable points to report.
(1) Among 20-somethings that have been away from the Church, there seems to be a lot of intention to come back.
(2) One of the “make or break” questions I received was from a woman who asked me, “what does your church teach about homosexuality?” My initial response, “That God loves you, no matter what,” induced her to say that she was glad to hear that. She then revealed her being bisexual and her having left her Lutheran faith because her parish condemned homosexuality. I didn’t have time to get into much else. She did take a rosary and instruction pamphlet and thanked me.
(3) I received a question about Catholic beliefs about Mary young woman who identified as Jehovah’s Witness. She said that she lived at home with her mother, who would be very upset if she saw anything from “outside her beliefs” come into the house. The young woman was curious – about whether we worship Mary and whether we consider Mary something outside the Bible. I shared with her the basic belief we have in Mary “Mother of God,” which came from our believing Jesus to be part of the Holy Trinity. I showed her John 1:1 in my Bible, and pointed out how the JW New World Translation modifies the translation to say, “the Word was a God.” Overall, she seemed curious, and interested in learning more about Catholic beliefs despite her mother’s strict rules forbidding non-JW material in the house.
(4) I continue to find stories about personal experience to be more effective at reaching people than intellectual apologetics.
(5) There are a lot of Protestants who have no idea that the Rosary is for praying.
(1) Among 20-somethings that have been away from the Church, there seems to be a lot of intention to come back.
(2) One of the “make or break” questions I received was from a woman who asked me, “what does your church teach about homosexuality?” My initial response, “That God loves you, no matter what,” induced her to say that she was glad to hear that. She then revealed her being bisexual and her having left her Lutheran faith because her parish condemned homosexuality. I didn’t have time to get into much else. She did take a rosary and instruction pamphlet and thanked me.
(3) I received a question about Catholic beliefs about Mary young woman who identified as Jehovah’s Witness. She said that she lived at home with her mother, who would be very upset if she saw anything from “outside her beliefs” come into the house. The young woman was curious – about whether we worship Mary and whether we consider Mary something outside the Bible. I shared with her the basic belief we have in Mary “Mother of God,” which came from our believing Jesus to be part of the Holy Trinity. I showed her John 1:1 in my Bible, and pointed out how the JW New World Translation modifies the translation to say, “the Word was a God.” Overall, she seemed curious, and interested in learning more about Catholic beliefs despite her mother’s strict rules forbidding non-JW material in the house.
(4) I continue to find stories about personal experience to be more effective at reaching people than intellectual apologetics.
(5) There are a lot of Protestants who have no idea that the Rosary is for praying.