Saturday, June 23, 2018

Comeback attempt

Our parish evangelization effort continues.  We held our second meeting this week.  Several contacts had been made with fallen-away Catholics since our last meeting, but no one has as yet come home.  We also made a few contacts at our festival booth this past weekend and gave away several copies of Trent Horn’s book, Why We're Catholic.  Seeds planted, still waiting for any to sprout. 

I was listening to a Catholic Answers Live podcast today while mowing the grass.  The guest was Lisa Cooper speaking on the Prosperity Gospel.  Someone mentioned Joel Osteen and how he has such a tremendously large following.  Lisa Cooper said he comes across as a very gentle Christian man which most people find appealing.    Even Catholics who may not be firmly grounded in their faith may find themselves attracted to his personality.  People can be easily swayed by good looks, a nice suit and a pleasant disposition.  The doctrinal accuracy of the message may not always hold up to scrutiny, but that matters little when the listener enjoys the experience. 

Conversely, Catholic truth can fall on deaf ears when the presentation is less than appealing.  The Catholic not firmly grounded in the faith can be turned off by a poorly executed homily.  Like it or not, the experience of the listener is paramount to how the message is received.  This is a concern for those of us trying to get fallen-away Catholics to return to the faith.  The person who has not set foot in church for many years will be affected more by the experience than the message during that first time back.  A priest or single member of the parish can determine whether a second or third attendance occurs.  Given time, it may be possible to keep them returning for the right reasons. 

During our town’s annual festival parade last weekend, I drove a truck behind an elaborate float representing a Protestant church nearby.  They had probably twenty youngsters dressed in matching tee shirts, handing out candy and pamphlets along the parade route.  They reached many more souls than we Catholics did with our rather passive tactic of setting up a booth and waiting for festival-goers to approach us.  Even more discouraging is the fact that we do not have twenty young people active in our parish anymore.  While the Catholic Church will be here until the end of time, there is no guarantee that our particular parish will survive.  Our work is cut out for us.  Time to get busy!

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