“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit....” (Matthew 28:19)
Shortly before he finished his earthly ministry, Jesus left these instructions to his disciples--and to us. This is the reason Pope Paul VI said that sharing our faith is “the essential mission of the Church,” and the reason for why the Church exists ( On Evangelization In the Modern World, #14).
To share the good news, Pope Paul said, means “to bear witness in a simple and direct way to God revealed by Jesus Christ,” a God who “has given being to all things and called all men and women to eternal life” (#26).
Through Baptism, every Catholic shares in the Church’s mission to share the Good News with the world. Addressing Catholics in the United States, the U.S. bishops wrote: “Whether you were baptized as a child or joined the Church as an adult... whether you sincerely live your faith in quiet or have a great public ministry... whether you have a grade-school knowledge of the Catechism or have a theological degree, you have a story of faith.”
Every baptized Catholic, the bishops wrote, has “an essential role in sharing that faith;” sharing our faith “is what we are all about” (cf. Go and Make Disciples, #6, 8).
Changing times create new challenges
In the past, most Catholics lived in communities or neighborhoods where pretty much everyone they knew was Catholic. They learned their faith almost automatically, as much from habit as from formal instruction. There was never much need for the average Catholic to explain or defend their faith.
But times have changed, and most Catholics today are immersed in a secular, pluralistic society. We live, work and associate with people who are not Catholic, not Christian, and may have no religious tradition at all. Most of us know Catholics who no longer practice their faith, and we realize that even those who do may be at different stages of faith. All of this makes sharing our faith more complicated, more challenging--and more important.
If, in the past, people were interested in what Catholics believe, today they want to know why we believe what we believe. Even more important, they want to know what difference it makes in how we live our lives.
So the challenge then is not only to understand our faith better, but also to become more deliberate, more intentional, about how we live. We have to know how the Eucharist and other sacraments, personal prayer, our spiritual habits and devotions, the Gospel and Church teaching shape our personal relationships, our
family life, our private and public behavior. We have to be able to explain what it means to be Catholic in a highly competitive, overly sexualized, technological and polarized society which values individuality, independence, success, and consumption more than traditional religious values or the common social good.
Catholic ‘evangelization’ is different
Many Catholics cringe when they hear the word evangelization, which is the technical word for sharing our faith. But Catholic evangelization is different from some forms of evangelizing which we have seen or heard on television. • Catholics are a particularly hopeful people, so evangelization is not judgmental. It does not start with the assumption that the next person we meet is going to hell if they died tonight. • Catholics understand conversion as a gradual, life-long process. There may be moments along the way when we are more intentional about growing in our faith, but conversion cannot be reduced to one emotional, once-and-for-all moment. • Catholics accept Jesus as our personal savior, but we see this relationship in a Eucharistic context where Jesus is really present in the Body of Christ. For us, God’s presence and grace are mediated or enfleshed in time and space, in human persons, the human community and in human activity, just as Jesus was. • For Catholics, both the Bible and Tradition help us recognize and appreciate how God’s mercy and love is encountered in human experience. Catholics do not interpret the Bible literally, word for word; with the aid of the Church’s Tradition, Catholics seek the truth revealed in the experience which the words describe. • Catholics also draw an important distinction between proselytizing and evangelizing. Proselytizing attempts to convince–or pressure–another into believing, often compromising the person's freedom; evangelizing attracts or invites the other, always preserving their freedom to choose.
“The Church does not engage in proselytism,” Pope Benedict XVI said in 2007. “Instead, she grows by attraction.” Pope Francis explained it this way in 2013: “I have to live consistent with my faith. And my testimony will awaken the curiosity of the other who says: ‘But why are you doing this?’ And then, yes, I can speak.” In 2019 Pope Francis told Jesuit missionaries in Africa: “Evangelization is essentially witness. Proselytizing is convincing, but it is all about membership and takes freedom away. ...[T]he Church does not grow by proselytism, it grows by attraction, the attraction of witness.”
For Catholics, sharing our faith is always more like an invitation than a threat or a warning. It’s always an invitation to experience the mystery of God’s mercy and love expressed and encountered in a special way through the community of disciples, the Church, and the lives of individual believers.
Tips for Sharing Our Faith
1. Choose the time and circumstances carefully. A good time is when a person has questions or concerns
about important events or circumstances in their life, but not when they are feeling vulnerable or
threatened.
2. Approach another person cautiously and respectfully. You will scare them away if they feel ambushed,
embarrassed or pressured.
3. Invite the other person to share their experience and opinions; listen carefully to what they are saying.
4. Affirm as much as you can about the other person’s opinions or experience; avoid comments which
dismiss or judge their experience or opinion.
5. Don’t get defensive. Remember that the Church and people who represent the Church aren’t perfect.
6. Avoid attitudes or responses which close down conversation, like “because the Bible says…” or “because
the Church teaches.…”
7. Focus on what you believe and how it makes a difference in your life. Remember that what you say will
mean little if there is no evidence that it makes a difference in how you live.
8. Don’t be afraid to share your doubts; remember that faith and some degree of doubt often go hand-in-
hand.
9. Don’t act overly-confident or selfassured. Remember that faith is a decision to believe what we cannot
know for sure--what St. Paul called “the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11).
10. Leave the conversation open-ended. Your job is to plant the seed and extend an invitation, not to close
the deal.
11. Remember that what you say is never as convincing as what you do. How you live is the first and most
powerful example of what you believe.
St. Ignatius of Loyola's Suggestions for Having Faith Conversations
Be slow to speak. We must first listen deeply to what the other person has to say.
Free yourself. When we enter a spiritual conversation, we must be free from our biases, outside attachments, rigidity, or stubbornness. Instead, we should enter the conversation with kindness and humility.
Be open. Let the words of the other person enhance our view of the world and increase our love for one another, even if that other’s perspective is radically different from our own.
Find Out More About Sharing Our Faith
Our Busy Catholic’s Guide to Sharing Our Faith workshop is an opportunity for adults and young adults who want to learn more about how, why and when to share their faith.
These workshops examine:
• why sharing our faith is important
• the challenges of sharing our faith
• the basic content of our faith
• how to respond under various circumstances
• how to address specific issues and questions
The workshops are free and open to the public. No pre-registration is required.
Check our website or contact the Faith Formation Office for a current schedule of workshops.