Should Catholics do more evangelizing like Protestants?

[KnightofChrist]

[quote name='Lahecil' post='1019313' date='Jul 7 2006, 12:10 PM']
That's true. Still doesn't upset me any less when others from my faith are called demon-whores and teenage girls are driven to suicide when she is constantly mocked by her classmates for being Wiccan (true story, her name was Tempest Smith). Even if it's not actually evangelizing, it's trying to show someone the light, and hurts them in the process. But at the same time, I won't deny it didn't bring a big smile to my face when my friends and I were approached by a girl our age from a local church in a parking lot and offered us prayer cards, said a prayer with us, and told us that her church was always open. That I have no problem with, and actually enjoy the unity in love of whatever gods we believe in between myself and a complete stranger for those few moments.
[/quote]


I had a friend once too that was wiccan she too killed herself, Jessica Trent, she was a bright catholic girl untill she became wiccan then she turned into this depressed person. I nor anyone that I know of ever called her a demon-whore... in fact I knew of no one that ever even put her down at all for it, she told me everything and I her... her death had a great effect on me... she called me the night she killed herself leaving a message begging me to come over, but I was gone and the next morning I returned her call only to find out she was already gone... she had cut her wrist, and her mother said she had tried to cut out the pentagram out of her left hand. I had tried to bring her to Christ before she left me and back then I did not understand who wicca was... after her death I read many things from wiccan documents themselfs that lead me to believe that infact wicca is satan, wicca has many of the same names as satan, and there are even storys in wiccan books of wicca are very similar to that of satan in the bible. Ehh.... every time I hear about wicca I think of Jessica and how he destroyed her life... and so now when I think of her I pray for all wiccans who are lead astray... come to Christ I beg of you, wicca will not save your soul.

Peace be with you...

Edited July 9, 2006 by KnightofChrist

[KnightofChrist]

[quote name='Budge' post='1019422' date='Jul 7 2006, 02:58 PM']
The Catholic church believes in DIALOGUE, everyone have a happy rap session and learn about false religions rather then evangelization.

What is the [u]good news[/u] in Catholicism?

You MAYBE get to go to PURGATORY....
[/quote]


The Holy Catholic Church teaches that Christ is the savoir of us all, teaches every thing that Christ taught is true and must be believe by all Catholics, that is a fact. But if what you've been trying to say that Catholics instead work for Satan, how can Satan cast out Satan, he would be divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

[God Conquers]

[quote name='rkwright' post='1019227' date='Jul 7 2006, 10:17 AM']
Since I've been in school I've been handed 2 tracts, approached by 4-5 people, all evangelizing to me. They don't really get too far before I tell them that I'm a Christian Catholic. Yet I wonder if we should be doing more of the same stuff. If we really cared about bringing people to the fullness of the Christ, converting the 'heretics', should we also be using similar tactics?
[/quote]


I've handed out tracts, gone door-to-door and done dramas downtown on busy days with a bunch of Catholics.

So.. I agree we should be doing more of this stuff.

[Lahecil]

KnightofChrist, I will reply to your post in a private message, as it would be considered spam in this thread.

[pyranima]

[quote name='KnightofChrist' post='1020182' date='Jul 8 2006, 05:02 PM']
I had a friend once too that was wiccan she too killed herself, Jessica Trent, she was a bright catholic girl untill she became wiccan then she turned into this depressed person. I nor anyone that I know of ever called her a demon-whore... in fact I knew of no one that ever even put her down at all for it, she told me everything and I her... her death had a great effect on me... she called me the night she killed herself leaving a message begging me to come over, but I was gone and the next morning I returned her call only to find out she was already gone... she had cut her wrist, and her mother said she had tried to cut out the pentagram out of her left hand. I had tried to bring her to Christ before she left me and back then I did not understand who wicca was... after her death I read many things from wiccan documents themselfs that lead me to believe that infact wicca is satan, wicca has many of the same names as satan, and there are even storys in wiccan books of wicca are very similar to that of satan in the bible. Ehh.... every time I hear about wicca I think of Jessica and how he destroyed her life... and so now when I think of her I pray for all wiccans who are lead astray... come to Christ I beg of you, wicca will not save your soul.

Peace be with you...
[/quote]
as a religion student i know alot about wicca, wicca is based on Paganism its only about 100 years old, it is very popular among young teens and eventually leads them into main stream lavey satanism. Wicca is actually not satanic though it does have alot in common with paganism and satanism from my experience with it (which is quite a bit) Satan really has no interest in it. he does not bother with those who seek him out they are already damned.

even as an atheist i found wicca stupid, not because i didnt believe in magic but rather because its only 100 years old.

I am told that i am a good speaker, and i learn things very quickly so i find it fun to on a friday saturday or sunday to do the whole "soapbox" and go to a public park and preach to all there. i dont get the chance to go to the park that much but i do go into Mc. Donalds or things like that and i will start to talk to one person and the next thing i know i am talking to 15 or 20 people. its fun because i get a banter going where i will speak for a while and get 5 or 6 questions and then i will respond in detail to the questions.

[Socrates]

[quote name='pyranima' post='1023223' date='Jul 12 2006, 06:14 PM']
as a religion student i know alot about wicca, wicca is based on Paganism its only about 100 years old, it is very popular among young teens and eventually leads them into main stream lavey satanism. Wicca is actually not satanic though it does have alot in common with paganism and satanism from my experience with it (which is quite a bit) Satan really has no interest in it. he does not bother with those who seek him out they are already damned.

even as an atheist i found wicca stupid, not because i didnt believe in magic but rather because its only 100 years old.

I am told that i am a good speaker, and i learn things very quickly so i find it fun to on a friday saturday or sunday to do the whole "soapbox" and go to a public park and preach to all there. i dont get the chance to go to the park that much but i do go into Mc. Donalds or things like that and i will start to talk to one person and the next thing i know i am talking to 15 or 20 people. its fun because i get a banter going where i will speak for a while and get 5 or 6 questions and then i will respond in detail to the questions.
[/quote]
Actually, Wicca is only 52 years old, being founded by Gerald Gardner in England in 1954. It borrows from various older occult ideas though, including those of Alister Crowley. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca"](Wikipedia article here)[/url]
It is essentially a made-up religion. Though it may not be directly Satan-worship, it is definitely something Satan can use draw people astray. The Bible and the Church clearly condemn all forms of magic and sorcery.

And, on the main topic, I do think Catholics should do more to publicly evangelize. Some methods may be more effective than others, and not every method is for everyone, but we shouldn't be afraid to spread the faith publicly.

[pyranima]

Wicca became offical in the 50's but it started in the 1920's, the title came along later though. you are right to say that it stems from crowley. Wicca came about because Crowley was TOO Pagan (he believed in human {infant} sacrafice), i have a spell of his for asteral projection that includes parts of an infant(no i never tried it). those who chose wicca thought crowley was too brutal. Lavey as a reaction to Crowleys form of magic founded the Satanic Church in 1966, while Crowley believed in human sacrafice Laveys source of magic Relied on Sex and Orgasms. Masturbation is a common theme at Laveyist black masses, normally the "alter" consists of a naked woman who symbolizes lilith Queen of Hell the Satanic Priest Fornicates with her to complete the petition to the four Princes of hell (Leviathan Beliel Lucifer and Satan {also the names of the four books in the Satanic bible}) along with whatever other specific Demons he has petitioned.

Lavey Hijacked many of his ideas from Freud Nietzsche Bertrand, and Crowley. His believed very much in applied pyscology.

well that is just a little intersting tid bit.

[Like a Child]

[quote name='rkwright' post='1019337' date='Jul 7 2006, 11:42 AM']
See now the prayer idea would be a cool thing. Maybe a divine chaplet 'tract' or something? Like Raphael was saying, why not attach them to free water at some event or something. My Parish could easily hand out free water with a prayer card attached type deal on big weekends, football games, any event really.

Era is kinda hitting on another point, that our actions do speak greatly. But sometimes in this day I wonder how often people equate living out the Gospel to being a Catholic Christian and not just a Christian.
[/quote]

In this day and age we do need more positive exposure for the Catholic Church, and maybe you're right that just by living Gospel lives it might not be obvious to very many people that we are Catholics. But as far as "active" evangelization is concerned, don't you think that an evangelizing attempt by a Catholic Christian and a Protestant should be fairly similar. . .at least initially? I usually tell folks I'm a Catholic at the beginning of a conversation, but I don't always bring up doctrine that is strictly Catholic.

For most non-believers, accepting that a guy who lived on this Earth 2,000 years ago somehow saved us all and taught us a profoundly new way of living, is the hardest part, the toughest hurdle. I try to get folks over that hurdle before I get anywhere near the part about how I think my Church is "where it's at".

Also, one easy thing we as Catholics can do to better evangelize is to get better at welcoming visitors to our parishes. I was a Protestant who converted to Catholicism in 2003. I did not get much of a welcome. For several weeks before I started RCIA, I had NO idea what was going on during the service. I was totally lost and no one even spoke to me to ask me who I was. All I really wanted was for someone to say, "Hi, welcome. Do you need some help following along with the Mass? (Do you even know what the Mass is?) Are you interested in joining our church?"

I'm sure some parishes are better at welcoming folks than others. . .but I bet we're nowhere near as good as the Protestants are. At most Protestant services, visitors receive a flower during the "greeting" and are usually approached by several people after the service at "coffee hour" and are warmly welcomed.

[journeyman]

One doesn't need to "evangelize" in the same manner as Protestants
Nor does evangelization need to be limited to non-Catholics

I've only just started reading this, but the US Bishops Letter "Our Hearts Were Burning" (while primarily directed at adult catechesis) incorporates the idea of evangelization as a fruit of the transformation experience (there seems to be a sense that catechesis is not "just" teaching the theology (sort of the apologetics approach) but teaching by doing (living the fruits of the Holy Spirit, if I'm reading it right)

[url="http://www.nccbuscc.org/education/ourhearts.htm"]http://www.nccbuscc.org/education/ourhearts.htm[/url]





and the ballot leaves off the option of

yes, and . . . do something else

[cathoholic_anonymous]

It takes an extremely gifted evangelist to pass out tracts on the street. So far I have not met one person who possesses that gift. All the people who have stopped me have left me feeling violated in some way - be they the Muslim religious police in Saudi Arabia (grim and forceful), members of a fundamentalist church in London (hysterical and forceful, shrieking to passersby with the aid of a megaphone), Jehovah's Witnesses (using sweet-looking little children to pass out pamphlets), Hare Krishnas (balding, middle-aged white men with cheap and cheesy scripted lines) or evangelical Christians from charismatic churches (making friends with me purely for the sake of 'witness', and not because they actually had any regard for me as a person). Each approach felt like spiritual rape.

As a Catholic, I have no desire to get involved with that kind of thing. I believe that you can only evangelise to someone if you first connect with them on an individual level. I have a form of autism that makes me very uncomfortable around strangers. The people who try and engage me in religious talk on the street have actually caused me to have panic attacks before now - I am not good at speaking to people whom I don't know. If I weren't a 'cradle Catholic', their approaches would probably have turned me right away from Christianity. That is how stranger-wary I am. It is only when you know a person that you can understand how best to present the Gospel. It may be a universal message, but it can't be offered in a universal way.

[CrossCuT]

[size=1][color="FF6699"]I never liked those door to door people.
They always carried this desperate air to them.
Like, "We need more people in our religion and since it smells of elderberries this is the only way we can get people!!"

I kinda think that whole door to door thing is low...
Religion isnt something you can buy in a catalogue.

Just my opinion.
[/color][/size]

[Selah]

Yeah, I am familiar with the door to door people. Our neighborhood is predominatly Baptist, (with some Jehovah's Witnesses) and we get a lot of different people from time to time. Honestly, I find it bothersome that a person actually thinks it's okay to knock on a person's door, when those people could be busy on the phone, etc. and ask them if they were to die today would they go to heaven or hell. It can also be dangerous, cuz you never know who's door you are knocking on...

Edited June 1, 2008 by Selah

[fides quarens intellectum]

One of my favorite things to do while i was in the Bronx was a Catholic version of street-evangelization. i handed out Divine Mercy Chaplet cards while asking people, "Hi, would you like a picture of Jesus?"

[kujo]

I enjoy being "the Catholic guy" in my group of friends, most of whom are varying degrees of non-religious. It gives me the opportunity to be Christ to them and do so at their level, without throwing verses or tracts or anything else at them.

[White Knight]

Evangelizing is always wonderful way of informing people about the Faith, however you dont want to turn people off to the faith, but rather attract them to it.

More people have been won over in the past by the living examples of faithful devout Catholics, than have been won by just preaching the word by it self, and not living it.

Evangelizing is very important yes, but if we preach the Gospel by our every day living, the way we conduct ourselves in public and private, the way we live in general, that will do a lot more effect in the end run. The Holy Spirit works on the hearts and minds of everyone, and sometimes the most silent forms of evangelizing can be the most effective in reaching people, because then the people begin to ask themselves about the faith and it appeals to them and attracts them to our wonderful Faith.

The Fact is Our Actions always speak louder than our words, and if we as Catholics, preach one thing and live another according to the opposite, we are doing ourselves and Our Lord a great diservice. Our Blessed Lord called these types of people "The Pharisees" "Hypocrites" Like with what Jesus says [b][color="#FF0000"]"You honor me with yours lips but your hearts are far from me."[/color][/b]

I believe it was spoken at one time, [u][b]"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."- Saint Francis of Assisi[/u][/b] these words are really true, and imitate Our Lord I believe 110%.

Our Lord in Sacred Scripture all throughout the gospels was a promoter in [u]"dont just be hearers of The Word, but Be Doers of the Word"[/u]

Like in todays (6/1/08); Mass reading of the gospel according to Saint Matthew Our Blessed Lord Addresses....

Matthew 7
[color="#FF0000"][b]21 "Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
23 And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'
24 [u]"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them" will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock;[/u]
25 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
26 [u]And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand;[/u]
27 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it." [/b][/color]


I believe preaching works, however I have found more success in living it personally rather than just preaching the word, from personal experince.

White Knight
May the Most Blessed Holy Trinity, be with us.

Edited June 2, 2008 by White Knight