Why are Catholics so reserved, generally speaking, about sharing their faith?

[jennstall]

Mijoy2:

Why wasn’t “no reasonable opportunity” one of the options?

So often, here in these forums, I read posts refering to discusions / disagreements etc, that Catholics have had with non-Catholics. I am always left wondering, how do these discussions originate??

It simply NEVER comes up in either, my family, amongst my friends or at work. In fact, discussing the faith doesn’t even seem to come up when I meet people from the church. It simply seems that discussiing the Faith, outside the realm of a Bible study, is not a topic of discussion.

Some of y ou may say, “well bring it up”. It just never seems appropriate. It would be out-of-context and simply odd.

This is interesting. I would have thought so too until today. I never had much recourse to discuss issues of faith with anyone who wasn’t of a like mind before I returned to Catholicism, but something seems to be shining out of me now because the queries have begun. Today I attended a Centering Prayer workshop in which I would guesstimate that the majority of attendees were not Catholic. After the workshop was over, one of them came up to me, asked me if I was Catholic and when I said “Yes” she sat down to discuss some things with me. Turns out she is a former Catholic now exploring some Catholic “stuff” and wonder of wonders she is now attending the church I attended before I reverted – so I had a lot to say to her and could say it in a manner that seemed to resonate because I knew just what she had been taught in Religious Science. I could never handle evangelizing a Baptist or another strongly bible-based Protestant, but I sure can evangelize a Religious Scientist. You bet! God works in mysterious ways. He gave me what I could handle and nothing more and through me I believe He did open a door for this women to think more about returning to the Church.

I think maybe that if if we’re simply open to the idea of sharing our faith vocally then God will steer the right opportunities to us.

 

[Psalm45_9]

Many Catholics don’t know enough about their faith. If you have an evangelical at the door reading passages from the Bible that leave you tounge tied, then how can you possibly evangelize them? We’ve been having a group like that at the restaurant I work at. on Saturdays. Me and the other busser began talking about scripture loud enough so they could here us. I asked him, “Did you know all the sacraments are mentioned in scripture?” Then I told him the verse. I did notice they were looking over at me time to time.

 

[MariaG]

I think maybe that if if we’re simply open to the idea of sharing our faith vocally then God will steer the right opportunities to us.

I totally agree with this! God throws so many non-practicing Catholics in my path it is sometimes scary! Almost everyone is in a fundamentlist church, the kind of church I came from. If we have good intentions, the Holy Spirit can take even muddled thinking and plant a seed.

 

[Cherubino]

White Dove,

I voted for choice # 3, and here’s why. Fifty years ago the idea of evangelizing was almost totally foreign to Ameican Catholics, and for exactly the reason you gave in that choice. I’m a product of 1950s Mothers of the Sacred Heart, Jesuit and Benedictine education, and all I can say is how it looked from that perspective.

If I could put my finger on it, those teaching Orders in general, but perhaps especially the Benedictines, saw themselves primarily as members of a loosely organized coalition called the Independent Schools, the basic requirement for accreditation being a very strong commitment to the old fashioned liberal arts curriculum. Our Registrar, Fr. Andrew, made no bones about it that his main mission every year was to get a certain number of boys into Harvard, Yale and Princeton. The second-stringers went to Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, UPenn or McGill, and the consolation prizes were St. Michael’s in Toronto, Fordham, Georgetown, Villanova and various state universities. In that school’s 70 year history, I think maybe a dozen boys went on to Notre Dame or Catholic U in Washington.

That’s not to say, however, that seeing everything from a “Catholic” as opposed to a “secular” point of view didn’t exist then, but that it was pretty well confined to the diocesan schools and seminaries. There was a great deal of academic snobbery about it all, and we were certainly abetted in that by the Benedictines, etc. in looking politely down our noses at it as blue collar or, at best, white collar voc tech. So yes, I won’t deny that it was a rather snooty.

A little sociological background here. These schools were originally founded and privately endowed in the early 20th century to give upwardly mobile second and third generation Catholics a way up and out of the urban immigrant ghettoes, and one of their “latent functions,” as we say in sociology, was to create and uphold measurable criteria of social class and to position Catholics for entry into the upper echelons of business, law, finance, etc. by getting them into Ivy League colleges. Then in return, it was understood that these successful alumni would make substantial contributions to their schools’ endowment coffers while changing society by achieving some measure of social, political and economic clout.

Continued below…

 

[Cherubino]

In his 1956 book, “The Power Elite,” sociologist C.Wright Mills named my Benedictine alma mater as the Catholic equivalent of Choate, Andover and Exeter. Did it work? Well, Chief Justice William Rhenquist is a fellow alum, as is William Randolf Hearst, III. But to make that happen, these schools and their curricula were designed so that any student who got a B+ average could apply to Harvard or Oxford with a reasonable chance of getting in.

A little sociological background here. These schools were originally founded and privately endowed in the early 20th century to give upwardly mobile second and third generation Catholics a way up and out of the urban immigrant ghettoes, and one of their “latent functions,” as we say in sociology, was to create and uphold measurable criteria of social class and to position Catholics for entry into the upper echelons of business, law, finance, etc. by getting them into Ivy League colleges. Then in return, it was understood that these successful alumni would make substantial contributions to their schools’ endowment coffers while changing society by achieving some measure of social, political and economic clout.

In his 1956 book, “The Power Elite,” sociologist C. Wright Mills named my Benedictine alma mater as the Catholic equivalent of such Protestant “preps” as Choate, Andover and Exeter. Did it work? Well, Chief Justice William Rhenquist is a fellow alum, as is William Randolf Hearst, III. But to make that happen, these schools and their curricula were designed so that any student who got a B+ average could apply to Harvard or Oxford with a reasonable chance of getting in.

This isn’t the whole picture, of course, but it’s a slice of life in the “old” Church as it really was, modern apologetic idealism notwithstanding.

 

[St_Francis]

I was considering this as I was reading the responses, and I realized that what happens to me is that the Protestants fade as soon as they realize that I know what I’m talking about!* There is one Baptist preacher down here who invites me to his church–I always tell him he has to talk me into it and he rarely brings up anything religious.

Additionally, I was raised that one does not discuss politics, money, or religion. Well, I don’t discuss money (See, Mom! I am doing one thing right!), but most of the people I know don’t discuss the other two either.

*I mean, I can defend the basics, not that I know as much as some of the people here!

 

[Apologia100]

I think it is a strong combination of articles #1 and # 3. Many people of other cultures just accept Catholicism at face value. They don’t question every little aspect of their faith like a bunch of grubby lawyers. As a result, they don’t need to know WHY you have a Sunday obligation, they just know that the Church says “Go to Mass every Sunday” and so they go. They is a simplistic beauty in unquestioning obedience. Many many laypeople, having experienced tremendous material success, retire to a cloistered life to give up their egoism and learn simple obedience. Unfortunately, it is a idea that seems somewhat unpatriotic in our country. Couple this “blind” devotion with a immigration environment that was until fairly recently, incredibly hostile to Catholics. Indeed, many of our founding fathers rejoiced in their English predecessors who “throw off the shackles of popery.” and indeed equated our political revolution against England much in the same manner as the English did in separating from the Church of Rome. So when Catholics came to this country, still fresh from the wounds of the Revolutionary War and worse yet, the war of 1812, Catholics were not having the red carpet rolled out to them.

 

[Robert_in_SD]

Apologia100:

… Many people of other cultures just accept Catholicism at face value. They don’t question every little aspect of their faith like a bunch of grubby lawyers…

Speaking as both a Catholic and a “grubby lawyer” I think it’s important to have a strong knowledge and understanding of the factual and historical basis for my faith. Blind faith can be beautiful, but it can also be misguided.

I think that the two most likely reasons for a lack of evangenlizing are: (1) lack of education; and (2) reliance upon priests, deacons, nuns, sisters, brothers, etcetera. It is a blessing to have such people, but I think the laity tend to let them shoulder too much of the burden when it comes to spreading the Gospel.

 

[quintessential5]

Mijoy2:

Why wasn’t “no reasonable opportunity” one of the options?

So often, here in these forums, I read posts refering to discusions / disagreements etc, that Catholics have had with non-Catholics. I am always left wondering, how do these discussions originate??

It simply NEVER comes up in either, my family, amongst my friends or at work. In fact, discussing the faith doesn’t even seem to come up when I meet people from the church. It simply seems that discussiing the Faith, outside the realm of a Bible study, is not a topic of discussion.

Some of y ou may say, “well bring it up”. It just never seems appropriate. It would be out-of-context and simply odd.

Why are you gonna vote for Bush?
Well you see as a Catholic I believe in five non-negotiable issues…

What are your hobbies?
Reading for sure!
O? What are you reading right now?
Orthodoxy by Chesterton.
What’s that about?
Well…

How was your weekend?
Good.
What went down?
O I just went to this Marian Eucharistic Conference in Oxnard where this one cool homie named Fr. Corapi spoke.
What does that mean?
Well…

This marriage amendment that Bush is pushing is so dumb. Why the heck would he think marriage between a man and a woman is so important anyway?
Well…

Why did you decide to become a math teacher?
So this one day I was trying to comprehend what God wanted with my life…

Penny for your thoughts.
I was just thinking how I should really go to confession this week…

Is this whole terrorism thing worrying you?
Psch…no.
Wow…how are you so calm about it?
Well…

What’s your favorite holiday?
Easter because…

 

[carol_marie]

:clapping: Good Job!

 

[mayra_hart]

iam was born and raised in puerto rico where the majority are catholics, so there is no need to talk about your faith or defend it. you just basically go to church an in most cases go to a catholic school were religion is part of your curriculum. in occassions you even become rebellious against the church,an i know what i mean because for awhile i was one. then suddenly i find myself in texas in a place where fundamentalist are everywhere ,an your neighbor from the baptist church invitate you to a bible study an then bang you are attack by question about your faith,so what happen suddenly i find myself in the internet finding answers. and as a result know i find myself reading the bible an listening to everything apologetics i can find. know i can say i know more about been catholic than i ever did. bless you all

 

[twf]

Steven Merten: * You start talking about Jesus to a nonbeliever and they automatically associate you with the evangelical Protestants who are mainly looking to put another knotch on their belt.* You shouldn’t generalize. I’m a former Evangelical Protestant myself, and I don’t believe this was my approach, nor, in my experience, the attitude of many Evangelicals out there. Those like that I would probably name “fundamentalists” rather than Evangelicals.

 

[burnside]

This hesitation about saying our piece is not restricted to religion.
People do the same thing in the workplace,unless they have been there for umpteen years and know practically everything there is to know about the industry.Who likes to look an idiot by giving out wrong information?
During my life,i have noticed how people can waffle and it was
only as my own knowledge increased that i spotted their flaws.
That applied whether the subject was politics,business or scripture being quoted to me by people who were not as well-versed as i originally thought.
The word “Discussion” is used often when it is really a case of,
“i make statements,you listen and accept”.I tend nowadays to
withdraw before things get too heated.Minor differences i can tolerate.If major differences are not going to be resolved,i head somewhere else.

 

[pipoluojo]

If sharing one’s faith aims at evangelising, then we must admit the fact that it is not the only - probably not the best - way to evangelise.
I grew up to appreciate the superiority of action over words in effecting profound and lasting change in man. St. Paul began his narrative of the life of Jesus (Acts 1:1) with what He DID (first)and (then) TAUGHT.
The missionaries who brought the faith to my country evangelised by raising schools and hospitals to educate the people and heal them. These acts of charity were enough to convince the people about the faith which they accepted with deep conviction even though their understanding was shallow. The fervor of the early Church shone more through what they did than discussed (Acts 2:42-47)
In view of the massive distortion of the Truth and the attendant fragmentation of Christ’s Body that we are witnessing now as a result of what I call the “chewing -gum-Jesus” syndrome, a malady whereby Jesus is only chewed and blown in the mouth and never swallowed, I’d rather do apostolate through what I do than what I tell people about my faith.
I however agree that Catholics should be more knowledgeable about the faith in order to practise it better and as St. Peter says “be ready always with an answer to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in you” (1Pet.3:15).
Conversions taking place outside the Catholic church today are based on an invitation to a life of miracle and instantaneous prosperity. Those we are admiring as sharers of faith do not dwell on salvation of the soul as on lasting pleasure and fun. That is inaccurate evengelisation. And that is why prople who stray away never remain with one group for they soon discover the fraud and move on. That is why we pray the Lord to bring back those who have gone astray lest they die of spiritual thirst.
I wouldn"t answer “Hail Mary” to a “Good morning” but would not hesitate to make the sign of the cross as I say the grace before meal no matter where.

 

[sparkle]

WhiteDove:

Why are Catholics generally shy and not on fire about evangelizing or speaking of their faith???

I once asked a young girl about her Catholic faith in a jewelry store----she said “We have faith, not religion”.

Hummmmm. Good point. We need to be living our faith, not only studying about it, talking about it, analyzing it, etc. dissecting it, contrasting and comparing it. I often think we all should be spending more time LIVING our faith than talking about it on these boards!!!

 

[jrabs]

MariaG:

I totally agree with this! God throws so many non-practicing Catholics in my path it is sometimes scary! Almost everyone is in a fundamentlist church, the kind of church I came from. If we have good intentions, the Holy Spirit can take even muddled thinking and plant a seed.

I find this to be true also. I am a re-vert and I can tell you that before incidents in my life rekindled my flame, opportunities rarely came up to discus religion or evangelize. If they did, they were moments that I did not seize for fear of being labled as a religious nut.

Now my life and focus has changed and the Holy Spirit does grab me constantly for an opportunity to talk about Him.

I am surprised often at the number of people who I come across and discus religion with. My friends do call me a religious wacko at times, but it does not bother me like it used to. Tis the grace of the Holy Spirit.

My 2 boys and I also discus God openly at home. My goal is to make them comfortable and knowledgable about the faith so they can discus it with others when the time comes.

 

[SocaliCatholic]

csr:

This point of view demeans our holy religion, and exalts the erroneous book learning of the Protestant heresy. “Little Jimmy et al.” get a sermon, and all the sacraments of the Church (that are applicable to them). They did receive additional education in their faith. They know why they do what they do: we are not called to be Scripture scholars. Meanwhile, Protestants deny the monarchical and hierarchical character of the Church, and make up their own meanings and beliefs. It is a mark of the heresy that a person goes about advocating this or that explanation of verses in Holy Scripture.

It is not true that Catholics learned liturgy, while Protestants learned deeper comprehension. Catholics have more than liturgy: we have all the sacraments, all of Holy Scripture, and sound instruction. We have piety. Protestants have brittle and highly diverse views of a subset of the Scriptures, and lack much more besides. They are quick with verse quotations, but this is a false participation: God makes wise the simple. Catholicism still bears within itself the noble sensus fidelium which permits us to reject error without necessarily knowing exactly how to refute it: and yet so often the refutations are so much more simple than the errors. This is yet another reason why Catholics do not always explain their faith: it is so obvious that the person in error really enjoys his error, and that the truth would be almost a disappointment for him. Gone would be the lengthy disquisitions and bizarre theories. To replace that would be praying the psalms, and contemplating Our Lord’s Passion and our sins. It is my observation that incoming Protestants have to be careful to avoid bringing with them their prior anti-Catholic bias, which manifests itself in so many ways. Scott Hahn, for example, can’t resist inventing strange theories. He is so accustomed to delving into Holy Scripture and seeing what he can make of it.

---

et curabant contritionem filiæ populi mei cum ignominia dicentes
pax pax et non erat pax Jer 6:14

Good Insight.

Based on what you said, it appears that the reason love is so important in sharing the Truth with people who believe in things founded on errors such as Sola Scriptura is love tends to “catch” or “accept” that person once they are confronted with their fallacious thinking, rather than “push” or alienate them farther away - becuase to confront our errors is fearful.

 

[shannin]

RobedWithLight:

I believe it may be due to the fact that many Catholics, who are themselves the product of inadequate/poor catechesis, honestly feel that they may be incapable of defending Catholic beliefs adequately when challenged by intelligent or knowledgeable non-Catholics. It may thus be a form of “playing it safe”, which can be summed up as the principle of** the less you talk, the less mistakes you make; no talk, therefore no mistake**.

Gerry

I totally agree with Gerry. When I try to explain my faith to Protestants and they start quoting the Bible, I am lost. I agree, this is sad.

Shannin

Shannin

 

[Terry_from_Ypsi]

To take the approach of St Francis of Assisi:

“Preach the gospel and sometimes add words.”

Also such passages as “You are the light of the world”

“You are the salt of the earth.”

“They will know you are Christians by your love.”

The impact of a un-disputable witness of deeds and the importance of them such as the "sheep and goats judgement narrative in Mathew’s gospel and the witness of “the fruits of the Holy Spirit” in our lives, which does not require an indepth knowledge or preaching of the gospel or the Church’s teachbings.

I believe that for most of us, this is the most fundamental approach we ought to prayerfully seek after.

Regards,

 

[francisca]

Steven Merten:

Parables Painting Pictures of Paradise

NAB LUKE 12:31"Instead, seek his kingdom, and these other things will be given you besides. Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be."

NAB MATTHEW 21:43

"Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

NAB MATTHEW 13:44"The reign of God is like a buried treasure which a man found in a field. He hid it again, and rejoicing at his find went and sold all he had and bought that field. Or again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant’s search for fine pearls. When he found one really valuable pearl, he went back and put up for sale all that he had and bought it."

Peace in Christ,
Steven Merten
www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com

I understand about the necessity of “good works”.

I would like you opinion, Steve, on this :

Paul wrote about the fruits :

Galatians 5
18 But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 14 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions,
21 occasions of envy, 15 drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ (Jesus) have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.

I would like you opinion : if we want to preserve catholic values : no abortions, no fornications, no homosexuality, no divorce…

Shouldn’t the answer to all of these is “to live in the Spirit” ?

Do you agree that we are saved by Grace through Faith and that we can’t earn Grace but we can confess our faith ?

Do we agree on this ?

God bless you Steve.