Catholic Evangelizer

Ever take a photo without paying attention to what is behind your subject? The picture might include distracting clutter, a house plant growing out of someone’s head, or odd colored walls. It can be the same when you don’t see what influences and surrounds your evangelizing efforts.

Perhaps you would like to engage someone in a spiritual conversation, or offer your extended family a few religious carols at a Christmas meal. Maybe your desire is to pray with someone in need, or to include a brief sharing about Jesus during a parish event. Here are some background beliefs that can give a sharper, uncluttered focus to evangelizing efforts.

1. God is always present to every person and has become incarnate in Jesus Christ who is Emmanuel, God with us. We do not bring Jesus, but join him, where he is already present in another’s live.
2. Every human heart is made with an inner space that only God can fill. Every person is like a sheep who has the potential to recognize the One who holds the key to inner happiness.
3. Focus on God’s unfailing love, even when someone is in trouble or not a regular church-goer. Remember, if he or she has received the sacraments, we can be confident that the Holy Spirit continues to offer opportunities for encounters with Jesus.
4. As humans, we need to see, hear and experience God’s love, especially through another believing person. So, do not deprive others of the flesh and blood encounters they need to grasp God’s presence.
5. The Holy Spirit is the primary agent of evangelization and will intervene, especially as we engage in ongoing prayer for others. So, let the Spirit enkindle an awareness of the call to evangelize with spiritual compassion, and an honesty that reflects the true reality of who God is for us.

Ever wonder how to cross over from concern for another person and into explicit evangelizing? Want to be more effective about witnessing to the love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit? These are burning questions for those who possess a zeal for the Gospel. Here are some beginning steps for connecting concern, holiness, curiosity and proclaiming Jesus.  

1. Human concern, mercy and listening, when coupled with God’s love become holy. This is what is meant by the “witness of life.” Through God’s Holy Spirit, we become empowered as instruments of healing and conversion.
2. We can have confidence that humans have a spiritual Geiger counter for God’s presence through the holiness of another. Even though an initial response can either be attraction or repulsion, we are all made to recognize God.
3. So, it is important to ask God to make us holy, especially our body language. When inattentive or agitated, consider adding ‘blessing’ prayers to your daily spiritual routine. Slowly surrender face, eyes, smile and ordinary actions to Jesus [as we do before the Gospel reading at Mass].

Come Holy Spirit, enlighten my face, my hands, my eyes, my heart with your presence.
Come Holy Spirit, transform the way I listen and the way I respond to those around me.
Come Holy Spirit, bless all the people in my daily life. Awaken them to the ways you want to touch them through me and in spite of me. I ask all this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

4. When a person strives for holiness, her or his witness of life creates an atmosphere of trust. And this trust can awaken spiritual curiosity, that allows for open-ended conversations about the meaning of life. Watch for this curiosity. It can be a signal for stepping into faith sharing. Be ready. As the document, On Evangelization in the Modern World, states, “The Good News proclaimed by the witness of life sooner or later has to be proclaimed by the word of life. There is no true evangelization if the name… and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God are not proclaimed (22).”

A genealogy chart illustrates the bare bones of physical grand-parenting, just two successive acts of procreation that result in live births. I think most of us want more than that. And by virtue of our Baptism, we are empowered to share much more than that. We can share the best news of all, that God’s love lasts beyond just one generation. But how do grandparents, aunts and uncles share this spiritual vision when 90% of children and young adults are not regular church-goers? Here are some suggestions from thirty adults, who remember a grandparent as a person of faith.

1. Have confidence in God, who has created and sustains each family member, no matter what the circumstances. Remember Jesus, redeemer and savior of each child and of each family. God loves us beyond measure. God invites us to enter into that love and become family instruments of spiritual rebirth for our loved ones. So, pray for each one with confidence. Like St. Paul, let us “bow before the Father, from whom every family takes its name”. (Ephesians 3:14-15)
2. Remember, we are on the same journey as our grandchildren, no matter how far we are on the road. Through the centuries, generations of young people have tested and let go of their faith. This is normal. What is new is that the journey of young people towards God and heaven seems to be slower, more arduous and much more complicated. Share encouragement, companionship and the meaning of your life’s journey, even a visit to yesterday’s family parish. Avoid religious jargon or remarks that start with “You should…”
3. Share sacred objects only in the context of your transparent, personal witness, otherwise they are devoid of meaning. One day an old Italian grandmother took a box out from under her bed, and gave young Angela a prayer-book, and the story behind it. Years later, Angela is still praying with her grandmother’s book and watches for ways to share her family’s faith story.
4. Be willing to bridge any gaps through unfamiliar means of communication. God can build on the genuine interest we have in a grandchild’s daily life, his friends, or her dreams, especially through social media. Welcome these experiences. They offer what bridge builders call tensile strength.
5. Be open about the spiritual lives of previous generations through stories of both faith and inner struggles. Such deliberate, well-chosen stories about family members, sacraments and religious traditions recreate the community of family saints. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) So, let us move forward as spiritual companions in faith and love.