Should Catholics do more evangelizing like Protestants?

[fides quarens intellectum]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1555997' date='Jun 3 2008, 10:59 AM']My Catholic aunt once prayed in tongues against some JWs who came to her door. That sure got rid of 'em![/quote]


Just curious - how do you pray in tongues [i]against[/i] someone?

[Madtown Sem.]

[quote name='kujo' post='1553917' date='Jun 1 2008, 10:24 PM']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.[/quote]

This is the ticket! I think too often evangelization is done outside of the love of a virtuous friendship. I went on spring break with campus crusade during college, and they were all about the beach evangelizing. It seemed a bit off to me. You give them a taste of what Jesus is about and then it's, "See ya", not cool in my book.

Edited June 6, 2008 by Madtown Sem.

[Lil Red]

+J.M.J.+
one thing i have learned is that the 'actions are louder than words' thing is not enough - people will just think we are 'good people'. we need to talk with coworkers and family and friends about our relationship with Christ and His Church.

easier said than done, i know

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='fides quarens intellectum' post='1560602' date='Jun 6 2008, 12:19 AM']Just curious - how do you pray in tongues [i]against[/i] someone?[/quote]

I'm not really sure... my mom told me about it and I never asked her exactly what happened. But it's pretty funny to imagine anyway

[quote name='Lil Red' post='1560659' date='Jun 6 2008, 12:51 AM']+J.M.J.+
one thing i have learned is that the 'actions are louder than words' thing is not enough - people will just think we are 'good people'. we need to talk with coworkers and family and friends about our relationship with Christ and His Church.

easier said than done, i know[/quote]

Indeed. The popular St. Francis quote says "[i]when[/i] necessary, use words," not [i]if[/i] necessary.

[Vincent Vega]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1560882' date='Jun 6 2008, 08:47 AM']Indeed. The popular St. Francis quote says "[i]when[/i] necessary, use words," not [i]if[/i] necessary.[/quote]
Yes, but a good strategy I've found is to follow the command of ol' San Frankie, and introduce the person who've you become friends with to the Lord at a point in their life where you can see they need Him. It seems to work pretty well, and of course, it's win-win.

[Farsight one]

*haven't read the rest of the topic*

Should we do more evangelizing? Yes
Should we do it like protestants? No

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Farsight one' post='1596359' date='Jul 9 2008, 03:10 PM']*haven't read the rest of the topic*

Should we do more evangelizing? Yes
Should we do it like protestants? No[/quote]
+J.M.J.+
totally agreed.

[Apotheoun]

A better formulation of the poll question would be:

Should Catholics do more evangelizing of Protestants?

[Barbarus]

[quote name='Apotheoun' post='1596368' date='Jul 9 2008, 05:18 PM']A better formulation of the poll question would be:

Should Catholics do more evangelizing of Protestants?[/quote]
This I totally agree with.

First, though, Catholics need to be much more knowledgeable about their faith, so maybe we need to evangelize ourselves first.

We should do better than protestants with it though. Tracts are a ridiculous way to educate people about faith.

[HisChildForever]

[quote]We should do better than protestants with it though. Tracts are a ridiculous way to educate people about faith.[/quote]

What exactly are tracts? I've heard of "chick tracts" too and I have no idea what this is. edit: (I didn't read this entire thread, sorry if I'm repeating anything!)

Edited July 10, 2008 by HisChildForever

[Barbarus]

[quote name='HisChildForever' post='1596676' date='Jul 10 2008, 12:14 AM']What exactly are tracts? I've heard of "chick tracts" too and I have no idea what this is. edit: (I didn't read this entire thread, sorry if I'm repeating anything!)[/quote]
Almost all the tracts I've seen are small, illustrated booklets that explain some aspect of faith and salvation in a comic-book form. I've gotten them from protestants even after I've said I'm Catholic, because they don't think Catholic is good enough.

I think items such as these should have a limited applicability in evangelization, and should never involve stupid cartoon drawings. St. Francis de Sales used leaflets very effectively as a means of communicating the truth of Catholicism to a bunch of people who had fallen prey to John Calvin's twisted presentation of faith. Something like 40,000 people converted back to the church after 3 years of patient, persistent presentation of the truth.

When done in this type of context, evangelization by pamphlet can be good, but it needs to be part of an overall relationship, and should be tied in with an overall program of guiding people through learning about and growing in the faith.

[Deb]

I think it is critical that Catholics evangelize. We are called to do this when we are confirmed in Christ and when we are released at the end of every Mass.

I love to evangelize. I love to discuss my faith with anyone, anytime. My faith is my life so there are very few conversations I have with anyone where some aspect of it does not come up. That leads others to ask me questions and there I go!

I would love to do street evangelizing. Maybe in time I can work up to that. Would be a great way to spend my lunch breaks when I am working downtown.

One cool thing I like to do, is I order Jesus Cards. They have a prayer to Jesus on the. They are the business card size. Then, I just leave them places. In a waiting room, on a table in a restaurant, anywhere I remember. Can't hurt cuz you never know who will pick it up.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Farsight one' post='1596359' date='Jul 9 2008, 06:10 PM']*haven't read the rest of the topic*

Should we do more evangelizing? Yes
Should we do it like protestants? No[/quote]

Depends on what you mean by "like Protestants." I have many Protestant friends who do a very good job at evengelizing and I see no problem with emulating their methods. A lot of Protestants also have an idea in their head of what it means to envangelize "like Catholics," which usually follows a joke about military intelligence.

Edited July 10, 2008 by LouisvilleFan

[Deb]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1596858' date='Jul 10 2008, 09:51 AM']Depends on what you mean by "like Protestants." I have many Protestant friends who do a very good job at evengelizing and I see no problem with emulating their methods. A lot of Protestants also have an idea in their head of what it means to envangelize "like Catholics," which usually follows a joke about military intelligence.[/quote]


Have there ever been protestants in the military?

[rhetoricfemme]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1019231' date='Jul 7 2006, 11:29 AM']I went to see fireworks on the 4th of July in Pittsburgh and there were people passing out free ice-cold water and Chick tracts. If only Catholics could do things like that...it wasn't invasive, people wanted the water and got the tract with it. Of course, we wouldn't pass out Chick tracts.[/quote]

Yeah, I was at a Christmas parade once, and a local church was passing out hot chocolate and tracts.

I think it'd be neat to have prayer cards to give out with the drink; events like the 4th of July or parades would be wonderful opportunities for that.


I kind of feel that it depends on what kind of evangelizing people are doing. I don't want someone telling me that I need Jesus or I'm going to hell, or someone giving me the, "Do You Think You're a Good Person?" test. Most people don't want go anywhere near that person.

But to have a chance to have a conversation about faith over that free cup of water, that is just great.

Sometimes I feel like it's the more subtle approaches that catch peoples' attention in a positive way. Like a casual conversation or random act of kindness, then they notice a Crucifix or medal around the neck, maybe a Catholic school uniform or school logo, or even a stranger's positive attitude.

Personally, I've lived in California for about a year now, and I've made a pretty diverse group of friends. There's just always a chance to learn something new about someone, and I've managed to work my faith into that in a non-obtrusive but still informative way. Especially working in a bookstore, it's like the one place that people don't mind my babbling about books or movies. So it's often that I can say something like, "I'm so excited for this new book!" And at the moment, that new book is [i]Saint Peter Lives in Rome[/i].