Tunes From the BCCT on Evangelization

There are a lot of members of the Broad Chorus of Catholic Thinkers posting articles, videos and podcasts online. So much in fact that one really doesn’t have the time, energy or computer bandwidth to read all the good things being written up and slapped on a web page. And so I decided to bring examples of a 132 of them together in one post. It consists of bits of Orthodox Catholic thoughts from the Catholic Rigorous Vortex and the Liberal Hippie Catholics and everyone else in-between.

WRN # 18 Cool Tunes From the Broad Chorus of Catholic Thinkers
Easy Access to Tunes and Tweets from the BCCT JULY 29, 2022

The diversity of thought within Catholic teaching, like variety within the strictures of sonnets, is one of its most beautiful features. It is nevertheless important to listen, as much as we can, to a broad chorus of Catholic thinkers. I have found great consolation in the fact that someone holier and smarter than myself has likely asked my questions already; my job is to find them and to listen, and then to make as many people as possible read block quotations about it.
Sharon Kabel , OSB vs. UFO: Stanley Jaki and the Theology of Aliens (June 16, 2021)- OnePeterFive

But of course with so many samples of things to look at in one semi-long post, several nifty, pithy and unique writings and more can get lost in the shuffle. So I decided to take what I gathered and break it up into smaller posts based on themes instead of particular individual Catholic websites. I even added a few other things not found in the larger collage of writings.

In this issue I present to you tunes from the BCCT on…

Evangelization

Simple Evangelization | Mark Wilson (patheos.com)

Evangelization: What is Evangelization?

Evangelization: Radio: The Catholic Channel

Evangelization: Being Normal

While sanctity is a must, Christians also need to be genuine, which goes hand in hand with being fun and interesting. And, note well, when those latter ingredients are missing, normal people jump ship — taking their talents and charm with them. The result is a stilted, maladroit Church full of doughy men and frumpy women.

I’m not advocating ditching holiness and virtue to be cool. What I’m saying is put down the theology books once in a while and learn to recreate like normal people. For the sake of all that’s good and holy, pick up an issue of Sports Illustrated. Perhaps — gasp — play some video games. Maybe, God forbid, lift a weight (something heavier than the Summa Theologiae).
Joseph Enders  Make Catholicism Cool Again  (March 10, 2022)(churchmilitant.com)

Evangelization: Actions Towards Others

In God’s Divine Providence, we can just never know how our actions or interactions might affect another. Everyone is created by God and loved infinitely by Him, and we are called to be examples of His love in the world—even to the tattooed skinheads of the world, even when they look to be hostile to the true, the good, and the beautiful. This I have learned and I encourage my children to look past some of the outlandish antics of people and to judge them for who they are—children of God who are in need of our prayers and good example.
Tom McFadden Skinheads, Nose Rings, and Tattoos, Oh My! (JANUARY 20, 2022) (crisismagazine.com)

Evangelization: Being Creative in Evangelization

St. Ignatius was a competent soldier who only picked up the Lives of the Saints when his romances of chivalry reading were not available as he lay convalescing in bed after being struck by a cannonball. It was a fertile ground for conversion because he had nothing else to turn to at that moment.

It’s ok to be creative as Catholics, to seize upon little opportunities to share Christ with someone with your lips, to be Christ to someone with your kindness. Especially when the forgotten, the lost, the dejected, and the hurting who have no one else to turn to present themselves. As one example, St. Francis de Sales used to write his sermons on pieces of paper and slide them under the doors where Calvinists lived.
ROB MARCO The Fix –(MAY 29, 2022) SpiritualDirection.com

Evangelization: Catholics Come Home

Inviting Catholics and non-Catholics home to the Catholic Faith using TV commercials and the Internet

Evangelization: Coming Home Network

Evangelization: Getting People to Listen

One of the great tasks and challenges of being a Catholic minister or faith-sharer of any sort is to help one’s listener understand the timelessness of this body of faith and practice. The importance of that timelessness is not to “prove” anything but, more than anything else, to give hope. You, there – you are not alone in your weakness, pain, suffering and fears. It’s called being human and in Christ, no matter who you are, when or where you live or what the specifics of your situation are, in him and his Body, the Church, you will find comfort, healing, hope and answers.

In other painfully well-worn words, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every generation. We have the spiritual resources, if we understand them properly and at a deep level, to point the suffering, questioning soul in the right direction, to open their hearts so they can hear Him.
Amy Welborn St. Cyril and OLPH |(June 27, 2022 ) Charlotte was Both (wordpress.com)

Evangelization: Fallen Away Catholics

When a beloved son or daughter, brother, sister, friend, parent or even spouse has fallen away from Christ and the Church, we obviously still love them, and just as obviously we cannot be haranguing them constantly when we have such ample evidence that they are not open to our pleading or our logic. I would argue that we should try to be sensitive to fresh opportunities, but in my own experience, these are very few and far between. It is precisely here that we must realize that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit love our family member or friend far more than we do, and so we are wise to trust in the workings of Divine grace and to seek to maximize the operations of that grace. Our Lord has given us the power to do this through prayer and sacrifice. And yet it has always astonished me how few people seem to have recourse to constant prayer, let alone sacrifice, when they are in one of these situations which makes it difficult to speak effectively.
Dr. Jeff Mirus  For the fallen away: The line between charity and cowardice (Jun 21, 2022) Catholic Culture

Evangelization: Franciscan Mission

The Franciscan worldview is that the Christ is everywhere. In fact, this was my Bachelor of Arts thesis in college. I wrote it on the quote from Francis where he says, “Don’t speak to me of Benedict; don’t speak to me of Augustine! The Lord called me to a different way.”

Francis didn’t need to create a monastery, as the Benedictines and Augustinians had done. He didn’t want us to be enclosed monks. He wanted us to be friars, living in the middle of the people. To this day, Franciscan friaries are in the heart of most major European cities.
Fr. Richard Rohr A Ministry of Action and Contemplation (June 12th, 2022) Center for Action and Contemplation (cac.org)

Evangelization: Hell

The position of preachers, teachers, and believers regarding the risk of hell varies considerably. For instance, Pew Research noted that 50 percent of college-educated Catholics do not believe hell exists. Another popular position is that hell exists, but that it’s reasonable to hope that no one is in it. To the average listener in the pews, who is not used to theological musing and nuance, this is tantamount to saying it doesn’t exist.

A similar position refrains from discussing hell except as a topic for advanced Catholics. Within this position are two camps. The first, like the latter, believes very few people are in hell. This would explain, for instance, why sin and judgment are rarely discussed and why Confession is so infrequent. In other words, why arouse negative feelings in people and spend more time in the confessional, if everyone eventually goes to heaven? The crux of our problem, and the reason our Church is in such decline, is we have lost sight of the daily drama for eternal salvation. Without people’s need to be saved, the Church is just another feel-good club competing against all the others.

You might wonder why I “imply” the risk of hell instead of directly threatening people with it (another common tactic). We live in a free world where people will not tolerate being threatened; it will push them away. Moreover, if we were to succeed at terrorizing people, how could they ever freely come to know God as their loving Father, as in the story of the Prodigal Son? That said, on occasion, its shock value might be warranted.
Deacon John Beagan Does Hell Play a Role in Evangelization?(NOVEMBER 23, 2018) (crisismagazine.com)

Evangelization: Jesus is Calling You to Evangelize

Evangelization: Listening Helps

Learning how to listen is one of the most crucial things. Part of building trust is lowering defenses so people feel like, “I can talk to Dad, even though I know he disagrees with me. I can trust him to honor me, to not run over me.” Really listening — asking good questions that evoke issues, and then listening without judgment — that is when people’s defenses drop.

I used to think that if I let people talk error, and I didn’t correct them right away, I was hardening them in their error. And, boy, was I wrong. Because what enables them to open the door to new input is you listening, asking the questions that probably no one has ever asked them before. Maybe they’ve never tried to put their ideas into words; they themselves don’t know what they actually think.

By listening, you’re opening the door not just to conversations with you, but to conversations with a lot of people. Studies indicate that nonbelievers and nonpracticing Christians are much more likely to talk about faith with someone if they’ve had a positive faith conversation in the last year.

Just one positive faith conversation in a whole year can double their openness.
The Path of Discipleship  An interview with author Sherry Weddell about becoming intentional followers of Christ and building up his Church (11/1/2021) KofC.org

Evangelization: Practical Strategies

Over the years, I have been laying out what I take to be the basics of evangelization. Proclaiming the Good News has to do with announcing the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, declaring that Jesus is divine, celebrating the deep humanism of Christianity, and finally, insisting on the indispensability of the church as the mystical body of the Lord. In this column, I would like to reflect, however briefly, on some simple practical strategies for evangelization, things that you can do to make this message public.

First, deepen your knowledge of the Catholic tradition.
Second, invite someone you know to come back to church.
Third, let the language of the faith be naturally on your lips.
Fourth, don’t be afraid to pray in public.

Jesus told his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. This call went out, not simply to the leaders of the church then and now, but to all of us, to all the baptized, to every one of the people of God. Don’t miss the opportunity to be an angel of God, a bearer of the impossibly good news.
Bishop Robert Barron, Practical Strategies of Evangelization (JULY 5, 2022) Word on Fire

Evangelization: Salvation for Non-Catholics?

Of course, we acknowledge that this grace might be operative outside the Church; but are the chances of this grace being accepted particularly high? Ultimately, only God knows. This is why we put our trust in him and do not judge the souls of anyone, living or dead. But taking our Lord’s words at face value, as the Church Fathers and past ecumenical councils have seen it from the Council of Florence to the Second Vatican Council, it may be the case that the probability is not high.

There is the example of trying to cross through a foggy marsh or forest. You can’t see very well, and there are many traps that you cannot see on your own — pitfalls, wild beasts, not to mention starvation if you keep wandering aimlessly.

But say someone gives you a compass and tells you that they know the way out. They’ve come to lead you out of the forest. They also warn that there are other people traveling in the forest that are confused about the proper way to get out, or even have their own motives for keeping you in the forest, leading to your destruction. Do you follow them or reject them?

Evangelization: Reaching out to the Poor

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Evangelization: Reaching Out to the Young

FOCUS is a #Catholic collegiate outreach whose mission is
to share the hope and joy of the Gospel with college students

Experience begets the best knowledge. I wanted to evangelize LA, but I didn’t have the skills to do so. I didn’t have the hours of leading a Bible study under my belt. I didn’t have the courage needed to reach out to strangers that only fortifies as a campus missionary who faces rejection after rejection. I didn’t have the method modeled by the Master. FOCUS equipped me. FOCUS gave me the tools to concretely live out my faith. Again, this isn’t a “FOCUS is the best!” plug. My time with FOCUS wasn’t perfect. The organization is imperfect and has certain ways it can definitely improve. But it’s still true. Serving on a campus for even just two years has radically transformed my life.

TANNER KALINA Becoming a FOCUS Missionary: Was It Worth It? (JUNE 14, 2022) – FOCUS (focusequip.org)

LifeTeen

A Catholic Movement Leading Teens Closer to Christ.

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Evangelization: Read and Get to Know Others

Now is the time, as Eugene McCarraher notes, for a “Saint Francis Option”. And what that means is we hurl ourselves into the world no matter the risks, no matter the cost, in a great act of self-dispossession for the sake of the world.  And what that means concretely is that where the world destroys beauty and replaces it with ugliness, we replace that ugliness with beauty.  And where the world disparages truth and replaces it with clever lies and illusions, we cling to truth, promote truth, and that includes truths we find outside of our own tradition that are strewn all about the world like little golden nuggets of sanity from God. And where the world tramples over goodness, both moral and spiritual, we remain steadfast in the good and do not capitulate in our own lives to its attenuation through a million bourgeois paper cuts. It means a simplicity of life, and the living out of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.  It means, as Dorothy Day taught, that we live out with earnest seriousness, The Sermon on the Mount

But there is also something else, something critical, something absolutely indispensable.  We must be educated and intelligent.  Learn things damn it.  Become voraciously interested in all kinds of things.  Read.  Converse with others outside of your balkanized box of discourse.  Pray.  Meditate.  Contemplate. Read some more. Read still more.  Be brutally honest with yourself in an act of prayerful contemplation over your own intellect and its ideas.  Think deeply about why it is you most truly think as you do and not about what it is you are “supposed” to think.  And do not submerge doubts but entertain them. Not in the sense of allowing them to destroy your faith. But in the sense that you take those doubts to dinner with you and plumb their depths.  Do not hide. Seek.  Think doubts through to the other end until the doubt becomes a catalyst for an even deeper faith.  Think deeply about why other people think as they do.  And listen to them first, talk to them second.  And when they speak do not be thinking about how to respond to them before they have even finished speaking. Nobody is ever wholly evil and nobody is ever wholly our enemy.  There is a freshness deep down things and that includes everyone we meet.  Love the people you meet.  Know them.  Because the greatest apologia of all is friendship.
Larry Chapp,Flipping the Script: The False Immanence of Modernity |(June 29, 2022) Gaudium et Spes 22

Evangelization: Through Sports

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