Catholics are not big on evangelization. When I speak to groups I work with about this topic, even in passing, they are uncomfortable.
The word is too close to “evangelical,” I am told. Sounds like we are going to go out and work on people to convert them to Catholicism.
I have a suggestion to make this all slightly more palatable to the common Catholic.
Why not switch the word “evangelization” to “action”? Why not think of evangelization less in terms of converting people and more in terms of being an authentic Christian witness to the Gospel?
It is our lives, our demeanor, and our actions which attract people to us or repel them from us, not our beliefs.
Our beliefs are what compel us to action. So the question to ask ourselves as we live our day to day life is, “Are my actions congruent with my beliefs?”
For example, if we drive a car with a respect life bumper sticker but drive as if we are the only person on the road, what does the action say? If we wear a medal or crucifix and are rude to salespeople or use foul language, what will a person think about us based on our behavior?
I thought about this the other night at a local sports bar. There were about twelve of us; we had just come from a gathering at our parish and went out to socialize. Most of us ordered beer or wine along with our food. When the food came, we held hands and said grace. Aside from that, we acted like most of the other tables, laughing, poking fun at each other, having a good time on a Friday night. What did our waiters think? I have no idea, especially after I admired one’s tattoo. I would guess some of the people who work there are Christians and/or Catholics. It makes no difference. We were acting out of our belief system that says we thank God for what he has given us, in public as well as in private.
We were, dare I say it, evangelizing. And it didn’t hurt one bit!
Copyright © 2013, Deanna Bartalini
Deanna Bartalini
Deanna G. Bartalini, is a Catholic writer, speaker, and educator. She serves on the retreat team at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center. Deanna loves teaching about Catholicism and how it fits into our daily lives. She writes at DeannaBartalini.com, serves as the editor of the NewEvangelizers.com blog, and is a contributor there as well as at AmazingCatechists.com. Deanna contributed to A Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion published by Ave Maris Press. She is the author of “Invite the Holy Spirit into Your Life: Growing in Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control” published by Our Sunday Visitor. Deanna is available to lead retreats and speak at catechist and ministry events.
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