Evangelism Without getting into one of my long winded explanations... the Catholic way of evangelizing, reaching out... especially ones who dabble. For the common lay person, any comments, thoughts, ideas, etc would be appreciated.
And as I type that listening to EWTN talking about the occult.
--- ...Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Amen
Re: Evangelism OK... been listening to Apologetics for the Scripturally Challenged... which I did feel like for a long time until 2003... I confess on this too... I'm lacking the understanding from the Catholic viewpoint (and typing this w/out my glasses so if the words are fuzzy you know why... haha). And I pray I don't come across as bashing, I seem to stick my foot in mouth too much daily... I"m still in the mode of thinking sinner's prayer and all that and not saying that's bad at all... I had my gripes with Catholicism 20 yrs in the making from thie things I experienced in the 80's which I know now weren't Catholic teaching and it was an off campus non-denominational fellowship in high school which I see now was Protestant centered... I hope and pray... IF it's God's will, to reach out to people stuck in New Age thinking... I was there for a long time sad to say... I assume refer someone interested to the Churh?
Hope fo learn something... I will be ordering the booklets from KoC too... takes me a while to read... I can listen (text to speech reader) easily on the computer... cordless headphones :) ... reading is a challenge at times.
Thanks & hope I made sense
--- ...Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Amen
If asked about why the Gospel of Thomas isn't in the Bible... or one's opinion about it... the Church never included it because it wasn't considered inspired text...
If someone asks why God created evil... the answer would be He didn't, that was the fall of man with Adam & Eve... evil obviously comes from the deceiver.
I'm still getting walked through some things not related to any of this... if someone were to ask questions like the ones I used to in those days... withough falling into my ways last year when I kept saying 'false text' etc (and a lot of other dumb things I said last year)... point them to what the Bible does say about such things like familiar spirits, necromancy, divination... how we're to be seeking God. Maybe I should just refer them to the catechism, where I should have looked 3+ years ago.
I'm stubborn & I'm a fighter. On very rare incidents it's been a good thing, like when I put my foot down about stopping the medication I was on when it affected doing normal things like walking... getting dressed... not even sure fighter is the right word... that want of self-perseverance. I guess there's a fine line between survival and being self-centered.
I guess jut pointing to the catechism is best & to scripture. I may have the chance to something I majorally messed up a little over a year ago but slo praying God's will in this.
Thanks
--- ...Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Amen
Re: Evangelism Person to person and internet... specifically since I've seen so many Churches close in WNY A year or so ago (maybe a bit more) I didn't know that was just here. Back then, didn't care, but I need the Church I'm going to now. It's nice to know I can walk there a short amount of time. I think Cajun Rick was the one posting about greeters, I was thinking maybe if we did the same, had some tracts available in the Church, maybe even to hand out. I do remember going to Catholic Churches the first time and there being pamphlets or tracts that were either free or maybe 10 cents at most. Not all the Churches had displays like that but a lot did. Churches shouldn't be closing. I really don't want to see my new Church close. I posted in prayer requests about it too. I don't know how many have closed already.
And it's not just because of my Church but it is weird seeing a Catholic Church closed. I remember Churches with 3 or 4 morning Masses and some had evening ones, at 5 or 7 pm. I remember last year seeing a Church called St. John the Baptist close and it had a beautiful statue in the front of John baptizing Jesus... then to see a 'for sale' sign on it... just didn't seem right.
Last edited by HasahZ, 12/11/2007, 11:17 pm
--- ...Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Amen
Here are a few ideas based on my own experiences. You have some great ideas . Use them as you see fit, or don't. These first two steps you're probably already doing,
1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you.
2. Spend some time praying before the Holy Eucharist, if your church offers Eucharistic adoration. Surrender yourself to His will. The parishes that I personally see growing are those with regular Eucharistic adoration. Makes sense, since Jesus is the source of our Faith and our Life. We need a stronger connection (relationship) with the Head (Christ) in order for the Body to grow.
3. You can order some tracts or pamphlets from www.catholic.com that might be useful for your church to offer. Check these out: .Mega Tract-Pak Your church can also order the CDs (for a nominal donation) from the MaryFoundation for your church's literature rack (see http://www.catholicity.com/cds/ )
4. Join or start a prayer group with your parish priest's guidance.
5. If by God's grace, you can be his instrument to evangelize your parish first, then your fellow parishioners will become stronger in faith and in the Spirit. That is when they will be able to more effectively reach out beyond your parish family and evangelize non-believers or those who are fallen away. That is how to best keep the churches open, IMHO.
