Ask your average Catholic about evangelization and you get a mumble and a shrug. Evangelization? That’s what evangelicals do, isn’t it?

It’s not that Catholics think it’s bad. Rather, it is that most Catholics simply have no idea what to do. So we console ourselves with that saying of St. Francis that he never actually said: “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words when necessary.”

Here’s the thing: While it’s perfectly true that a faith which is all talk is a shallow faith, a faith that we cannot articulate if our lives depended on it is not an improvement. St. Peter tells us to “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Peter 3:15)

St. Paul understood this. So the church, following him, calls us to take a chance, get off the dime, and tell people about the enormous treasure of the Catholic faith. The church insists that it’s better to try, and fail, than to not try.

Many Catholics wonder if there is some sort of technique they need to master in order to bear witness to their faith. They fear that if they have not taken some sort of course in evangelization, or studied theology for a decade, or otherwise jumped through various hoops, they cannot evangelize. But Pope Benedict XVI said that Paul’s success was due not to some “refined strategy” of salesmanship or philosophical wrangling, but to his extraordinary personal involvement springing from his total dedication to Christ, despite all obstacles.

In short, Paul really believed this stuff. He acted exactly like a man who really had met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and was now perfectly convinced that Jesus had conquered death, forgiven his sins and laid upon him the charge to tell the world. Because he really believed, he was willing to pay personally for his faith in Christ, in every situation.

So Paul bluntly states: “When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Paul no more felt equal to the task of evangelization than you or I do. His secret was not a technique or a philosophy or a theory. It was that Paul believed that if he trusted in the Spirit of Jesus to provide the power and the wisdom, the Spirit would come through.

And he did.

We can do the same. The great thing about being Catholic is that you can plagiarize and call it “being faithful to the Tradition.” Not a theological brainiac when somebody asks you what Catholics believe? You don’t have to be clever. Go find a catechism.

Not confident that your saintliness is such that merely knowing you is to be exposed to the living presence of Christ? Welcome to normal Catholic life. You don’t have to be Mother Teresa. Just ask a friend to Mass. They will, we are solemnly assured by God himself, have a genuine exposure to the actual, spiritual and physical presence of Jesus Christ himself.

Those are but two simple ways you can bear witness. The key is not mastering the techniques of Paul. The key is having the faith of Paul that Christ will keep his promise to us.  

Northwest Catholic - June 2016