RCIA: Understanding Catholicism - Evangelization

Understanding Catholicism Evangelization:

Understanding Catholicism Evangelization

Catholicism: Comprehensive & Holistic :

Catholicism: Comprehensive & Holistic Mt 22:37 “Love your neighbor as yourself” ~The missionary spirit~

God, the Evangelist :

God, the Evangelist The Son was sent to give re-birth to the relationship of God with humanity Icon; image; face of the invisible God Jesus did this primarily through his incarnation, death and resurrection, but also through the way he lived (preaching, teaching, healing, disciples, Apostles)

Mystical Body at Work :

Mystical Body at Work Fellowship of believers, the Magisterium, the Sacraments – all are God continuing His missionary work in the world To be good teachers, we must know Jesus with our heart and mind and we must have a missionary spirit To be good missionaries, we must be willing to be martyrs Acts 1:8 “be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth”

Confidence, Courage & Conviction :

Confidence, Courage & Conviction Confidence (knowing), Courage (willing) & Conviction (doing) Interior conversion precedes proclamation - Know and Love Christ and His Church Know and Love your audience - all religious worldviews contain a shadow of Christ and the Catholic Church

Evangelization in Action :

“A Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and when it is better to say nothing and to let love alone speak.” ~Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est Evangelization in Action Dialogue of Life Dialogue of Action Dialogue of Theology Dialogue of Experience

Inter-Confessional Evangelization :

Inter-Confessional Evangelization Groups: Ecumenism (w/ Christians generally) Inter-religious dialogue (w/ non-Christians) The New Evangelization (w/ Catholics); JPII: re-catechize Individuals: Intellectual Emotional Physical Moral

Evangelization in the Early Church:

Evangelization in the Early Church What induces conversion?…Acts 3:39 The apostles devoted themselves to prayer…Acts 1:14 Communion with the Father They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak…Acts 2:4 Communion with the Holy Spirit “Hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth”…Acts 2:22 Communion with Jesus Christ

Communion with the Father:

Communion with the Father Prayer- in Acts the first novena Beauty- the great transcendental Mary, the women, fellowship, upper room of memory Today fill your mind with good things, partially subjective, partially objective know and remain aware of God as primary actor leads to thinking outside of yourself; inspires a missionary spirit

Communion with the Holy Spirit:

Communion with the Holy Spirit Action- in Acts the tongues of fire gave them utterance Good- the great transcendental Speaking of the good works of God, the courage of the will Today Act in a way that begs the question (Acts 2:12 What does this mean?) Be docile to the Spirit and His movements within you and others Leads to evangelistic opportunities, willingness to be a martyr

Communion with Jesus Christ:

Communion with Jesus Christ Narratio- in Acts the story of Jesus of Nazareth Truth -- the great transcendental -- signs, wonders, passion, death and resurrection; eyewitness testimony; personal responsibility Today -- know the stories of interest: Jesus, your story, their story, current controversies five questions before a response will lead to a teaching moment, which received in humility leads to conversion

Unity:

Unity “God wills the Church, because he wills unity, and unity is an expression of the whole depth of his agape .” Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint Thousand Years 33 – 1000 Unity 1000 – 2000 Disunity 2000 – 3000 Re-unity??? “…if every human being lived a thousand years, every human would end up either in utter pessimistic skepticism or in the Catholic religion.” – G. K. Chesterton

Impediments to Unity Personal & Collective:

Impediments to Unity Personal & Collective Painful past Scandal Ignorance Doctrinal differences Pride Indifference Fear Convenience Religious experience

Unity: Inadequate Attempts:

Unity: Inadequate Attempts Compromise Understanding/Education Mystical Experience Subjectivism Tolerance Skepticism Rational Argumentation Vague Optimism Temporary union to fight common enemy

Golden Key:

Golden Key Jesus Christ The Alpha and Omega of kinship unity Three stories of evangelization Others may have to concede, but we more urgently need to live

Not our work… but don’t relax:

Not our work… but don’t relax “The Lord Jesus, when he prayed to the Father 'that all may be one ... as we are one ' ( Jn 17: 21-22), opened up vistas closed to human reason, by implying a certain likeness between the union of the Divine Persons, and the union of God's children in truth and charity.” – Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes “The change of heart which is the essential condition for every authentic search for unity flows from prayer and its realization is guided by prayer.” - Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint