Where the Rubber Hits the Road: Every Christian must evangelize, Pope emphasizes

16 May, 2011

Every Christian must evangelize, Pope emphasizes

Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Every Christian must evangelize, Pope emphasizes

6 comments:

Lady Janus16 May, 2011
"All Christians, he said, must be involved in some way in the mission ad gentes--the proclamation of the Gospel to the world’s nearly five billion non-Christians."

And some people wonder why anti-Christian sentiment abounds.

Missionaires with the fire of Gipper-pleasing zeal in their bellies have absolutely no idea that they are being viewed much like a muddy puppy bringing his equally mucky ball to entice the sartorially splendid to play fetch. And that's before they even open their mouths. Once they've been told, "No" -- in any tone of voice -- if they persist, why do they always act as if they were the injured party when their aggression is answered with aggression? Do they somehow think that the odor of sanctity in which they bathed that morning can cover them with rejection-proof armor?

I have no problem with Christians. I will not tolerate missionaries -- of any religion or philosophy -- bent on conversion. And I'm only one of some five billion.
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Michael16 May, 2011
Except for the commandment of Jesus, is there any other reason to evangelize? (I'll leave out the crass reason to bring in more donations). Is it the old "save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven" reason?
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Anonymous16 May, 2011
"I have no problem with Christians. I will not tolerate missionaries -- of any religion or philosophy -- bent on conversion. And I'm only one of some five billion."

You seem to be quite the missionary yourself for your religion and philosophy with the regular postings here and your own blog, providing many links to sites that promote YOUR religion and philosophy? I'm not saying your wrong to do so, just hypocritical to criticize Christians for doing what you do yourself.

Cheers
Paul
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Fr. Tim Moyle16 May, 2011
Paul: Actually you are mistaken. Being willing to share one's beliefs is far different from evangelizing. I don't believe that evangelization even requires words. It's best done by the witness to our life... and if needed, with words. Lady Janus shares her beliefs in forums set up to facilitate discussions about just such an essential part of who we are as individuals and as a species - our core beliefs.

She is more than able to defense her own honor but I wanted to point out the mistaken assumption that unlies your last comment.

Micheal: Yes sir. You are entirely correct. Catholics believe that the only certain way to attain salvation is by belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Redeemer and so we are working for the best interests of those whom we share our faith with. Our motives are not selfish. It is an expression of our love of others. The trick is to do as I suggest to Paul: with the witness of our lives and only when needed with words. This is the only respectful way to deal with each other - by respecting that everyone has the right and power to make their own choices as to what they believe. None of us has the authority to make that commitment for anyone but our selves.

Fr. Tim
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Lady Janus16 May, 2011
"You seem to be quite the missionary yourself for your religion and philosophy with the regular postings here and your own blog, providing many links to sites that promote YOUR religion and philosophy?"

So tell me this, then: What IS my religion? What IS my philosophy? Where are those links? And what was the date I last posted to my own blog?

And you ought to have all those answers right at your fingertips if I've been evangelizing them to you...
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Anonymous17 May, 2011
Hi Tim

I always considered being willing to share one's beliefs as a form of evangelization? Its certainly not on par with a knock at the door with a copy of the Watchtower in hand but I think its evangelization none the less. I agree our actions are effective for evangelizing but words have to come into play at some point. Scripture says "Always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within you. " If your just a nice guy but say nothing of the reason for your hope, I don't think you're evangelizing. To the person affected by your actions, they may attribute your goodness to something far from Christ.
Regarding Lady Janus, I think her sharing her philosophies here and on a public blog of her own with multiple links to websites promoting wicca, paganism and views she espouses equates to proselytizing. She's not posting the links for herself, they could easily go on her browser bookmark bar. I would say your blog is a tool of evangelism and I see little difference with hers other than the direction its pointing.

Cheers
Paul
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