One Good Reason

Intro Tips and Strategies

We’d like to introduce you to a new series of articles that will be appearing in your bulletin in the
coming weeks, focusing on evangelization tips and strategies. This particular topic is critical because
many souls in the world are far from God. Jesus tells us in scripture that his followers need to bring
the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Therefore, we should consider evangelization an act of obedience
to Him.

You’ll be reading brief articles in the coming weeks about how to evangelize your family, how to pray
for others out loud, how to share the Gospel story, blessing your children daily, how to reach fallen
away Catholics, how to reach members of other religions, how to give ‘one good reason’ for your faith,
how to be a disciple (tips on the spiritual life), and much more.

At this point, you may be wondering who we are. St. Paul Street Evangelization (SPSE) is a
grassroots, non-profit organization, dedicated to responding to the mandate of Jesus to preach the
Gospel to all nations by taking the Catholic Faith to the streets. We take a non-confrontational
approach, wanting to listen, befriend, proclaim, and invite rather than engage in heated arguments.

This evangelization tip was brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. To learn more or to
enroll in our online classes, make sure to visit St. Paul School of Evangelization at
evangelizationschool.com.

Pray for Others Out Loud

This week in our continuing series on evangelization tips we’re talking about the importance of praying
out loud with others. While it may seem daunting at first, this practice can yield abundant fruit. Here’s
a basic “How To” on interceding for someone out loud:

As Catholics we are used to saying “I will pray for you” or “I will offer this up for you.” But it is usually
better to offer to pray out loud for people instead. We can say, “Would it be okay if I said a prayer for
you now?” Or “Do you need prayer for anything? … Can I pray for you now?” That way, the person
knows that you are going to pray out loud and they can simply receive the prayer in their heart.
People are often more open to receiving prayer in the moment when they know they aren’t expected
to say anything.

Before praying, guide them through the process, step by step. If you haven’t already learned their first
name, now would be a good time to ask. As Dale Carnegie said, “a person’s name is the sweetest
sound in any language,” so using someone’s name in prayer is powerful. If you feel led to put your
hand on their arm or shoulder, ask for permission first. Human touch can be therapeutic.

Then lead them in a basic prayer, mentioning their intentions. You can use something like “A.C.T.S.”
A.C.T.S. stands for Adoration (giving God praise and glory), Contrition (asking for forgiveness for
the things they —and we— have done wrong), Thanksgiving (giving God thanks for the good things
in the person’s life), and Supplication (praying for their specific needs). For example, “Almighty God
and Father, we praise you and glorify your holy name. We are sorry for the things we have done
wrong and the ways we have failed you. Thank you for my new friend, Joe, for his family, for his
friendship, and for the gifts he brings to his community. Lord Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, please
help Joe find a new job so he can provide for his family and fulfill his duties in this life. Amen.”

Whether praying for a physical, emotional, or spiritual healing, at the end remind them that God loves
them and has a good plan for their life! Encourage them to pray about the problem too, and
emphasize that God wants all of His children to be healed.

This evangelization tip was brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. Take our course on
Healing in Evangelization and prayer ministry at evangelizationschool.com.

Your Testimony

One of the most powerful tools that an evangelist has in her toolbelt is her own prepared and
practiced testimony of how she came to know the Lord. This is for several reasons. First, no one can
refute someone else’s personal experience. Second, people tend to be more open to personal,
authentic stories than to cold hard facts. As St. Paul VI once wrote, “Modern man listens more
willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are
witnesses.” Third, authorities like St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John used their conversion stories in
their writings.

How does one craft a quality testimony? It has to be short and to the point, perhaps 1-2 minutes in
length. After all, you may not have a lot of time to convey it as the person before you may be in a
hurry (or you might be!). It should consist of three distinct parts: your life before Jesus, your life when
you had your conversion, and your life after conversion. How did it change you? What are some of the
deep and powerful experiences that you went through? It also should be free of any unnecessary
details regarding sins from your past life. Just be specific enough that your hearers understand
generally the main kinds of sin you struggled with. This will help avoid focusing too much on the past.
You want to focus mostly on Jesus and what He’s done for you.

Also, give enough details about people, places, and things so that your testimony has specificity.
Make your story real. A story that is too generic will not engage the person enough and they’ll likely
stop listening. Details are a big part of what makes a story interesting and memorable. Make sure to
avoid words that people are unlikely to understand … unless you clearly define them.

Before we go any further, let’s take a moment to address those who may not have a conversion story
to tell. Perhaps you’ve been following the Lord your entire life. Well, if you’ve ever chosen to put Jesus
at the center of your life, to commit to Him, then you have an authentic story. St. Therese of Lisieux
didn’t have a dramatic conversion either, as she (according to her spiritual director) never committed
any mortal sin. But she DID have many transforming encounters with Jesus that strengthened her
relationship with Him. Whatever your story may be, just remember that it’s YOURS and no one can
take it from you. What’s more, someone out there needs to hear your story; it will be a stepping stone
towards his or her own personal conversion. Your story is important. Share it.

This message is brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. If you’d like more information on
SPSE, please visit us at streetevangelization.com.

One Good Reason

How to Evangelize Family

This week in our continuing series on evangelization tips, we’ll be talking about how to evangelize
your family. They say that the hardest people to share the Gospel with are members of your own
family. For those of you who have tried, you likely know it’s all too true. Remember how Jesus’ own
townsfolk treated him when He told them He was the son of God? They were the people that knew
Him best, and they tried to throw Him off of a cliff!

How do we approach this seemingly monumental task? Well-known Catholic apologist and pilgrimage
guide Steve Ray has lots of experience with this topic. Over the years, he’s formulated seven rules to
follow:

1. Don’t argue. Family members can get defensive very easily, and will only wind up putting up a
wall. (If you do get into an argument or come across too strongly, make sure to apologize.)
2. Love them more than ever. As he puts it, “Love is an argument you can’t argue with.” When you
love people, it disarms them. People will listen and engage with you because you love them.
3. Show the joy of the Lord. People are attracted to joyfulness. They often wonder “what do they
have that I don’t have?” And that opens the door to sharing the faith.
4. Pray and make sacrifices. Nothing is more powerful than when we pray and fast. It will get God’s
attention. When we pray with expectant faith, wonderful things will happen.
5. Study. Do your homework and be prepared for any objections that people may have to the Catholic
faith. As scripture says, “Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope
you have” (1 Pet. 3:15).
6. Patience. This can be a hard one for most of us. We must be patient and let God work. He is
outside of time and works in the absolute best way possible, so we need to trust Him.
7. Ask God to Bring Someone Else into Their Life. This helps us admit that our family member(s)
probably won’t listen to us.

Use these common sense rules and God will help you, in one way or another, to bring your family
back into the fold.

This evangelization tip was brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. Take our course on 7
Ways for Relating to Non-Catholic Family & Friends on evangelizationschool.com.

One Good Reason

Listen, Befriend, Proclaim, and Invite

This week in our continuing series on evangelization tips we’re talking about the method of Listen,
Befriend, Proclaim, and Invite. Evangelization is an important responsibility of all Catholics.
However, many of us Catholics can be a little intimidated by the idea that we might openly share the
saving story of Jesus Christ with others. It’s not that we don’t find it important or desire the salvation of
our brothers and sisters who don’t know Him. On the contrary. We simply get nervous when we have
to share something as personal and demanding as the Gospel. e don’t know how people will react.

But what if we had a template that we could use for sharing the Gospel? What if we had a
predetermined method that removes a lot of our own stumbling and guesswork, so that there’s a
defined beginning, middle, and end? SPSE has created a model called Listen, Befriend, Proclaim,
and Invite. And it’s as easy as it sounds. First, you simply listen to a person to show them that you
care about what they have to say. As they say, “nobody cares what you know, until they know that
you care.” And that’s what listening accomplishes. Next, befriend by making conversation and finding
a shared interest or common ground on a topic. After that, it’s your turn to talk. This is where you
proclaim the Gospel. Briefly tell them about Jesus, what He’s done out of love for us (the kerygma),
and what our response should be. (Don’t focus too much on the negative/sin aspect, as this may be
their first encounter with Jesus in a long time or ever.) Finally, invite them to take a step towards
Jesus, either by encouraging them to pray, or perhaps to do some reading based on
recommendations you’ve given them about Jesus. Or who knows … maybe they’re ready for
confession! As long as they are taking a step, no matter how small, in the direction of Our Lord, then
it’s a successful mission.

One final thing to remember—what they do with the information you’ve given is up to them. All we do
is plant seeds — it is God’s job to make them grow.

So your next step is to practice. Run through this method with a few friends or family members, and
then ask God to put someone in your path who needs to hear it. Don’t be surprised when He does!

This message is brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. Take our course on Basic
Evangelization Strategies at evangelizationschool.com.

One Good Reason

How to Share the Gospel Message

This week in our continuing series on evangelization tips, we’re talking about how to share the
Gospel message. To do so, you need to know and be able to verbalize the kerygma, which simply
means “proclamation” in Greek. The kerygma can be divided into four-parts: God’s loving plan for our
lives, the problem of sin, the saving work of Jesus, and the invitation to repent and embrace Jesus by
faith. It can sound something like this:

God created everything, but made humanity special. That’s because he gave us free will to choose
whether or not we want to live in relationship with Him. Unfortunately, man fell because of the original
sin of Adam and Eve, and now we try to live without God. Everything that separates us from God is
what we call “sin.” The consequences of sin are death and ultimately eternal separation from God. But
thankfully His love for us is so great that God sent His only Son Jesus. Jesus became a man, died as
payment for our sins, and rose from the dead to give us eternal life. God invites us to repent of our
sins, to believe in salvation through Jesus, and to reform our lives by obeying His commandments and
living according to Jesus’s loving example instead of following our own selfish desires. We are invited
to live in a loving and joyful relationship with God now and forever in heaven. The choice is ours.
Which path will you choose?

This is just one example. Make sure to put it in your own words, and be authentic. But the kerygma
has power not because of our words, but because God puts His grace behind it and makes us His
instruments for salvation. We share the kerygma to help save people from eternal death, for eternal
life with God. Many who hear it will be “cut to the heart” because the kerygma speaks to the desires of
the human heart, uncovers hidden guilt for sin, and gives hope for forgiveness and salvation.

This message is brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. Take our course on Intro to the
Kerygma at evangelizationschool.com.

Bless Your Children Everyday

Every parent has the serious responsibility of raising their children to love the Lord, and of making
sure they do everything in their power to get them to heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
says, “Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and
privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the
mysteries of the faith of which they are the ‘first heralds’ for their children” (CCC 2225). A simple, but
profound daily practice that parents can utilize is the daily blessing. You have spiritual authority over
your children, and can call down God’s blessing on them as often as you wish. This will leave them
feeling safe, protected and loved.

A parent can say one of the following brief blessings at basically any time, such as when a child is
going to play or to school, or when the child is going to bed each night. The parent makes the sign of
the cross on the child’s forehead or heart and can say one of the following blessing options offered by
the USCCB:

May God bless you.
May God keep you safe.
God be with you.
God be in your heart.
May God bless and protect you.

Or you can offer your own personally worded blessing. One of our staff members likes to say “May
God bless you and keep you today and every day of your life.” Either way, this practice will likely help
your child live in peace, and may help ensure their practice of the faith down the road.

One Good Reason

Fallen-Away Catholics

This week in our continuing series on evangelization tips, we’re talking about how to evangelize
Catholics that have fallen away from the faith. Many Catholics have fallen away completely from the
practice of their faith, and a large number of them have done so primarily because of the recent clergy
sex abuse scandals. How are we to handle such a difficult situation?

We must remind them that from the days of the Apostles to present day, the church has faced
scandals. While it is normal and reasonable to be outraged, what ultimately is the proper response to
these scandals? The answer is to stay in the Church and fight. Why? Because the Church is the one
true church established by God for our salvation. Also, because scandal doesn’t change the Church’s
authority. The personal lives of the clergy and hierarchy might be scandalous, but that doesn’t affect
the divine calling and authority of the Church herself. Think of democracy. Just because America has
had some corrupt presidents and politicians doesn’t mean we should throw out the democratic
process.

We must gently remind the person we’re evangelizing that we’re not Catholic because of the current
leadership, or lack thereof, but because Jesus established the Catholic Church. It may help to also
add that when we love something, we don’t abandon it or desire to change it, but strive to help it.

This evangelization tip was brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. Take our course
entitled One Good Reason for Catholics at evangelizationschool.com.

Evangelization Tips

One Good Reason

Intro Tips and Strategies

Pray for Others Out Loud

Your Testimony

One Good Reason

How to Evangelize Family

One Good Reason

Listen, Befriend, Proclaim, and Invite

One Good Reason

How to Share the Gospel Message

Bless Your Children Everyday

One Good Reason

Fallen-Away Catholics