Telling Your Story

“You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all, shown to be a letter of Christ administered by us, written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh”  

— 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

We, like the members of the parish in Corinth almost 2000 years ago, have the same letter written on our hearts “… by the Spirit of the Living God.”  If we are to evangelize or re-evangelize, we must be able to read that letter to our family, friends, and acquaintances with which we wish to share The Good News.  It is our own personal experiences with God’s saving love that will be the most effective way to draw them back to Jesus and His church.  Jesus himself often used stories to communicate the Good News to his listeners.  It might be wise to follow His example. 

In Henry Libersat’s book, Catholic and Confidant, he offers some general guidelines on how to organize your personal testimony.  It is important to sit down and think of your relationship with Christ and His Church and organize it in your mind (if not also on paper).  Everybody who knows and loves Christ and His Church has a story to tell, a testimony to give. 

Develop and embrace an attitude of “grateful repentance”.  “God has been merciful to you:  You felt unloved or discouraged or fearful and you are perpetually grateful that Jesus died ‘thus and so’ to lift you out of the mud.”

“Continuously grow in your relationship with the Lord.”  Be a disciple.  Pray daily.  Attend mass.  Receive the sacraments.  Live a moral life.  Embrace all the truths the Church teaches.

“Think about how to tell your story.  What was going on in your life before you came to know the Lord?  You don’t have to specify your sins – it’s enough to say you were totally disoriented, unable to make sense out of life, in stressful family relationships, or what have you.  What led you to ask Jesus into your life?”

“Describe how you experienced Christ’s love.  Was it a feeling of great warmth, a sudden sense of well-being, or new hope, peace, joy?”

“Examine how your life has changed.  What has happened in your relationships?  Is your prayer life changed?  Are you truly a happier person?  Do people acknowledge the change in you?”

Finally, share you story conversationally.  Be yourself.  Be sincere.  You are not preaching or teaching.  You are honestly and humbly sharing how Jesus and His body, the Church, helped you break the bonds of sin and walk in the sunlight of glorious freedom.  This telling of your own story, of how you came to know the Lord, is such a powerful way to evangelize because it is unassailable.  No one can argue with your own experience of how Jesus has changed your life.

 

¹Libersat, Henry:  Catholic and Confident, pp 40-43. Everything in quotes comes from this source.

 

 

What Does the Bible Say?

“Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient”

— 2 Timothy 4:2

But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”  

— 1 Peter 2:9

What Do the Saints Say?

“God doesn’t require you to succeed; He only requires that you try.”

 — Blessed Mother Teresa

 

Evangelizing Challenges This Week

1.  Buy a religious ornament for your tree.  The Holy Family, the Star of Bethlehem, the Baby Jesus, a stable, a manger, etc.  Put it in the center of the tree at eye level, just as   Jesus should be plainly visible at the center of our Christmas season.  (Try www.bronners.com or www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com).

2.  So you have a holiday tie.  You can do better.  This Advent, buy a religious Christmas tie and wear it to Church, to work, and everywhere else you go.  Bring Jesus back into the public celebration of Christmas.  (Try www.zazzle.com or www.tieguys.com/Religious_Ties/index.html )

3.  St Augustine is quoted as saying “He who sings prays twice” Fill your home this Advent with a background of sacred Advent music.  Try “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus and “Let All Mortal Flesh”, by Fernando Ortega in his album “Christmas Songs” or “Comfort, Comfort, O My People” by Tony Alonso in his album “And Heaven and Nature Sing” or “Gabriel’s Message” by Sting in the Album “A Very Special Christmas”

4. Shun “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings.” Embrace “Merry Christmas.”

 

 

 

 

A Drama in 9 Acts

“Always be prepared to render an account for the hope that is within you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”  — 1 Peter 3:15

 Many of us know non-practicing Catholics that we would like to help return to the faith.  What is our message to them? Our opening statement in evangelization is - ourselves. We must be first hand witnesses who have met Jesus Christ personally and allowed him to change our lives. The existence of Mother Teresa is a far better argument for conversion than someone trying to out quote Bible verses with their opponent. Our next task is to discover the level of their understanding of the kerygma. The kerygma (Greek:  Proclamation) is the “Great Story” of Jesus. Today, we cannot assume that those around us know the story. Many don’t know the basic facts or perhaps how they fit together to make a whole. They often do not know what it means to them personally, or what it means to the world.

Let’s review the Acts of the kerygma, the “Great Story”.[1]

1.        Jesus of Nazareth, born in the 1st century, begins his earthly ministry proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  We learn that God is love. Our lives have a purpose – to live our life with Him full of love, peace, truth, beauty, goodness, and meaning that begins now, lasts forever, and can’t be taken away.  Kingdom

2.       Jesus is not just the messenger; He is God who became man. Jesus is Lord. God

3.       Jesus reveals the love of God the Father by His words and actions, performing many healings and miracles. He speaks with authority, driving out demons and forgiving sins.  Actions

4.       In obedience to the Father, He is crucified as a means to our salvation and access to God’s life.  Crucifixion

5.       Jesus rose from the dead. Because God assumed our human nature, His voluntary death and resurrection break the bondage of sin and death. He opens the way to our own resurrection and new life.  Resurrection

6.       Jesus asks us to follow Him with all of our heart, mind, and strength.  Follow

7.       We must recognize and acknowledge our personal sins and need for forgiveness.  Sin

8.       We are baptized into Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection or we renew our baptismal grace through confession and return to the regular practice of our faith in the body of Christ the Church.  Baptism

9.       We live the life of a disciple of Jesus, following Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the Church for the sake of the world.  Disciple

Not only must we learn the kerygma in a complete way, we must learn to proclaim it in a compelling way. We need to ask ourselves, does our friend know all the acts of the story? Does he or she know how they are connected? Does our friend know the significance of the story? What has been their response to the story? People do not have to hear the entire story all at once.  They do not need to hear them in this order. But “… in the end, an individual will need to be familiar with all the “Acts” and understand the Kerygma as a whole before he or she can make a deliberate decision to follow Jesus as his Disciple.”[2]

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[1] The separation of the kerygma into 9 distinct Acts is taken from Sherri Weddell’s book “Forming Intentional Disciples”. The summaries of the acts are paraphrased from this and other sources. [2] Ibid

What Does the Bible Say?

 “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ”

— Romans 10:17

“No one can say “Jesus is Lord” expect by the Holy Spirit”                                             — 1 Corinthians 12:3

Evangelizing Tip for This Week

To prepare for helping someone return to the faith, make it a point to learn the basic Acts of the Kerygma. Learn the following sentence by heart: “King of Glory: A Caring Ruler Fights Sin By Disciples”.  The first letter of each word is your clue to remembering the theme of that particular Act. These words are in bold in the previous Evangelization Message.

1. Kingdom   2. God   3. Actions   4. Crucifixion    5. Resurrection   6. Follow   7. Sins   8. Baptism   9. Disciples

 

 

Kerygma

Many years ago, we took our then five-year-old daughter skiing.  The instructor said he would teach the class the basics.  At noon, we picked her up from ski school, and after the ok from him, we took her up the mountain.  There, we asked her what she had learned.  Slowly inching down the slope with her skis in a wide wedge, she yelled out “Pizza”!  Smiling as only a young parent can when she realizes her child is a skiing prodigy, her mother asked “What else did you learn?”  Jumping up and landing with skis parallel, our daughter shouted out “French Fries!”, as she unexpectedly shot straight down the hill way too fast for comfort.

When first evangelizing, not everyone needs an immediate explanation of consubstantiation or transubstantiation, or Mary’s role as Mediatrix.  Many just need the basics.  Kerygma is a Greek word meaning “proclamation”.  This kerygma is what the disciples used initially as a call to conversion.  Once the person had been baptized, there was plenty of time to deepen their understanding and maturity through more thorough instruction (didache in Greek).

Whether skiing or evangelizing, sometimes it is the simple, initial instructions that can move you very quickly in the direction you want to go.

Monsignor Charles Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington does a good job of presenting the content of the basic kerygma: 

Jesus is the chosen Messiah of God, the one who was promised.  And though He was crucified, He rose gloriously from the dead, appearing to His disciples, and having been exulted at the right hand of the Father through His ascension, now summons all to Him, through the ministry of the Church.  This proclamation (kerygma) requires a response from us, that we should repent of our sins accept baptism and live in the new life which Christ is offering.  This alone will prepare us for the coming judgment that is to come upon all humanity.  There is an urgent need to conform ourselves to Christ and be prepared by Him for coming judgment.

If we are to preach the kerygma, we must preach it as first-hand witnesses who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  This is how the apostles were able to convert thousands because they had seen Jesus and had been friends with him.

Some may protest and point out that the apostles were so successful because they were also able to present miracles such as St Peter healing the cripple or the apostles’ gift of tongues such that all heard the apostles speaking in their native language.  But we too can present amazing signs.  We can show others the miracle of a life transformed by a personal relationship with Jesus.  We can show them the “…witness of a transformed human being who shows forth the glory of love, serenity, of the obvious fact of sins having been put to death, and replaced by graceful and godly living.  The greatest miracle to seek is a transformed human being, absent of pride and gluttony, lust and anger, but possessed rather of love, charity, generosity, kindness, self-discipline and authority over their passions.”

Preaching the kerygma cannot be presented as a dry set of facts devoid of any life.  The kerygma must be preached by one who has experienced the relationship and shares it with the joy of a five year old hurtling down a mountain side on skis shouting out “French Fries!”

 

 What Does the Bible Say?

 “What we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked upon, and touched with our own hands… What we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you!”

— 1 John:1-3

“When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

— 1 Corinthians:1-2

Evangelizing Challenge This Week:  Check out these great Catholic Apps 

Universalis – Office of Readings (Morning Prayer, Terce, Sext, None, Evening & Night Prayers), Readings at Mass and About the Day. Very popular app for iOS or Android (including Kindle Fire), and reasonably priced at $13.95. 

Guadalupe Radio Network – Allows you to listen live, not only to our local station (KATH) but to any station in the EWTN network. The app is free. Only for iOS at this time. 

Catholic Calendar – Feasts and celebrations according to the General Calendar. The app is complete in itself. It needs no Internet connection and no downloads. One-month preview of the full Universalis content. Free. 

 

 

 

 

How Shall We Begin to Evangelize Others?

In Ferrol Sam’s poignant book “Christmas Gift”, he invites the reader to share a depression-era Christmas with his family in rural Georgia. “Christmas Gift!” is the cry that is shouted by adults and children alike on Christmas morning as a greeting and as an exclamation of the joy and promise of Christmas.

Wrapped up in this joyous phrase lies layers of deeper meaning to his family – the birth of the Christ-child, presents, the tree, shopping, his aunt’s fruit cake, visitors, relatives, Santa, carols, etc.  All of this will be experienced in time, but for Christmas morning’s ecstasy, one must first simply shout “Christmas Gift”!

Over the last 10 weeks, we have presented the case that it is the duty of all Catholics to evangelize their family, friends, and neighbors, especially reaching out to former Catholics who no longer are practicing their faith.  What is it exactly that we are offering them? What is our message?

As evangelists, our first message is the Kerygma.  This is our first announcement that we deliver to those who have drifted away. It is the Good News, which springs forth from our lips as though it were Christmas morning.  Kerygma is a term that is largely unfamiliar to most Catholics. It is a Greek word meaning “proclamation”. Kerygma refers to the initial and essential proclamation of the gospel message.  It is designed to introduce a person to Christ and to appeal to conversion.  As the apostles began the work of preaching and proclaiming Christ, their message was rather basic and simple.  It was distinct from “didache”, another Greek term referring to teaching, instruction, or doctrine (what we now call catechesis).  This more expansive teaching would come after baptism.  But the initial proclamation of Christ was simple, and to the point.

In 1979, Blessed John Paul II described how catechesis builds upon the Kerygma:  “Thus through catechesis the Gospel Kerygma (the initial ardent proclamation by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith) is gradually deepened, developed in its implicit consequences, explained in language that includes an appeal to reason, and channeled towards Christian practice in the Church and the world”. (Catechesi Tradendae)

Next week, we will present more on the Kerygma, and present it in its basic form, one that can easily be easily committed to memory.

What Does the Bible Say?

“But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent?”  

— Romans 10: 14-15

 

“But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”

— Psalm 73:28

Evangelizing Challenge This Week
Catholic Apps

 
VerseWise Bible Revised Standard Edition (RSV) – The entire Old and New Testament is now available to you at your fingertips while sitting in the doctor’s waiting room. One can easily scroll to the book, chapter, and verse one desires in only seconds. Easy to highlight and / or bookmark favorite passages. Footnotes are easily accessible. Search by word with an interactive concordance. Perhaps the best Bible app available.

 

Word on Fire – This app mirrors the website (www.WorkOnFire.org) of acclaimed author, theologian, and speaker Father Robert Barron. Fr. Barron is the creator and host of the groundbreaking, global ten-part documentary series called “Catholicism”. One can follow Fr Barron’s blog, watch one of his popular youtube videos, and read his homilies. Browse through his videos for commentaries on recent movie releases.

Totally Catholic Trivia, Full Version – This app is just for fun. It follows television’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” format, but all of the questions are related to the faith. You will learn things about your faith without even trying.