Ways to evangeliz in a catholic way

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Mejamy

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As a newly converted I want to lern how to evangelize in a catholic way. I heard Sister Mary Gabrielle (Sisters of Life) tell about someone who used to answer the question “How old are you” by telling the time since he last went to confession. And for that person this led to sharing the faith and conversions. I thought this was a very interesting way to do it. . Only problem, as an adult I hardly ever get that question 😉 So do you have other creative ways to share your catholic faith? Please tell me!
 
Hello and welcome!

I am the Asst Director of Religious Education at a large parish and some of my best catechists (teachers of religious education) are people who went through RCIA. The “stuff” you are teaching is new and fresh as opposed to those of us who learned this “stuff” 40 years ago. Most of our RCIA team are “graduates” of the RCIA program.
 
Thank you! 🙂 I’m from Sweden, and I Don’t know what RCIA is?
 
I’d say more evangelisation is done through action than words. Your aim should be to make people question why you are so happy, cheerful, and just a great person!

The answer: Because you know Jesus and are known and loved by Him!
 
Don’t be embarrassed to talk bout the Catholic faith. I recently had a conversation about purgatory with two non-Catholic Christians. They did not know whether a soul goes straight to heaven after death, and admitted their curiosity about it. I explained the Catholic teaching, I talked about going to Mass, and voilà! One of them said he was interested in finding out more about Catholicism. I invited him to get in touch with me to discuss it if he wanted to. I invited him to Mass at my church, and I told him the Sunday Mass time. It’s his choice to pursue it further. That’s how I do it.
 
Blessings and Graces for you Mejamy.

Option 1: Overt Evangelization
This is where we can set up a table, signs, and have brochures and rosaries. Have conversations with folks as they pass by, answer questions, provide materials.

Option 2: Basic Evangelization
In this option, this is basically how to “break the ice” when a conversation strikes up. Instead of asking something like “Is Jesus your Lord and Savior”, we can just casually bring stuff up. For example, everyone has a smart phone, make some kind of remark that the phone is smarter than I am and how amazed I am about the creative humans are since we were created in a divine image.

Another trick I use is when I’m at a convenience store or something and the guy/gal in front of me has a coke or something, I’ll offer to buy it. They will always ask, “why would you do that for me” and I simply reply, “Just to remind you that God loves you and can’t wait for you to get to know Him better”

There’s so many more methods of bringing up faith in a conversation … sneeze, cough … bless you … you know why we say “bless you”?

Option 3: Silent Evangelization
This is a very effective means, but is not effective with strangers as much. This method works really well for those that you come into contact with on a regular basis, family, friends, coworkers, that kind of thing. As AdamPeter posted, let the love of the Spirit pour out from your very existence and everyone around you will notice. Now, once they want that and notice enough that it sparks a curiosity, they will approach you. Demonstrate your faith through action and words and, every once in a while, rarely, toss in a mention as to why you have so much joy in your heart … you’ll draw them to God like moths to a flame.

Best of luck (the good kind, not the superstitious kind) and may Our Lord Bless you this day and every day.
-Kevin
 
In my opinion the best way to evangelize is through ever more generous friendship.

We need to know our faith very well, and we need to very good at presenting it faithfully and attractively, in such a way that it creates a certain curiosity or awe about the idea. This approach then “attracts”.

It’s not a push approach, but a pull approach from the other.

First, though, friendship. Our scope for who we might be able to eventually evangelize to is principally our friends and coworkers, and family members.

We must live our faith sincerely, no duplicity. Our example must become perfect.

And if/when it does…we will be more cheerful, more generous, less prideful, less vain, less comfort seeking, more other oriented…and this will fuel and deepen our friendships.

And at God’s pace…our friends will begin to ask us questions…why do you like having so many children, why are you so cheerful at work, why all the neighborhood kids congregate at your home, why are they cheerful when they come back…etc.

We must live our Catholicism so generously and heroically that people sense Jesus Christ in us. We must take advantage of the graces from the Sacraments frequently, have a serious prayer life, live soberly, perhaps with a bit of personal austerity.

And we will find that our friends will start to ask more substantial and eventually more supernatural questions…and this is where we must be ready (but not too eager) to explain our faith to them, naturally, and attractively. A bit at time, letting the Holy Spirit do most of the work.
 
Wow Thank you for this link! I’m swedish But very interesting to read about how they do it. And lern.
 
Hi there neighbor. I am a Catholic convert from Denmark so I get the situation you are in. Very few catholics and not a lot of ressources in our native language. But what I did was order a while lot of books from Catholic Answers and every single dvd from my favourite apologist Tim Staples both Those from CA and from Parousia Media. And then start writing Down verses and Marking them by color in Your bible for it is a sure thing you gonna Meet protestants and JW’s. I even Met some American mormon missionaries and got them to come to mass on Holy Thursday and gave them Tim staples “Why be Catholic” and I am Well know among jehowah witnessss just ate with some a couple of weeks ago at their Scandinavian HQ which is in my town. And maybe you wont convert them but i guarrentee you Will make an impression because they dont meet a lot of catholics and even fewer catholics WHO know their faith. God bless
 
Oh Hello neighbour! 😃 Good job! I’m a mum of five and our sixth child will Come any day now 🙂 So won’t have the time to read and studie so much. But I’m gonna start an weekly email-course now and try to lern more about the faith reasons. And I do listen to apologeticts like Scott Hahn, Steve Ray and Patrik Madrid on youtube now and then. I’m not so clever though But I try my best and hope Jesus will do the rest. At the moment it’s my first vocation to bring up my children. The four oldest aren’t catholics, so praying and beeing a Good catholic witness for them is my first goal. But I still want to lern how to share the gospel in a carholic way (former evangelikal - non-donominational) with other to and have already lerned some from sources above. God bless!
 
I live in an area where Catholics are in a minority so there is more of a chance to come in contact with protestants who are out trying to convert. So what I do is ask them questions. For example when they invite me to their ‘church’ I ask them ‘oh is that the Church Jesus founded?’ Or when they quote a bible verse I might ask ‘by what Authority do you get to tell me what that verse means?’
 
When they invite you…simply say…I am Catholic and I go to Mass, which is different. But let’s have lunch (play tennis, drink a beer, get a hamburger) sometimes.

Friendship…sincere, non-manipulative friendship is what you want that may “never get into evangelization topics”. We put ourselves at the disposal of the Holy Spirit. We confidently open ourselves up to “better friendships…” At God’s pace and way.

Matters of the soul are the most intimate of our lives…and “going to someone else’s service”…never accomplishes anything, until they ask to go to yours.
 
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