Practical Tips for Evangelizing Atheists

H/T to Patrick Madrid

Witnessing - When Priests Wear Their Clericals

A photo of my friend Lois and Fr. Grace upon arrival at our home.

Father Grace almost always wears his clericals in public. The only exceptions are when playing tennis or surfing. At these recreation times he wears a T-shirt with our Lady of Guadalupe boldly printed on the front. When he goes surfing, he continues to wear his Brown Scapular (tucked of course beneath his swim shirt). He says he can evangelize that way. More on that later.

Father told us two stories that I would like to share with you. I believe I told him I would be sharing these on my blog.

One was when was going to or from the World Youth Day in Toronto. A man dressed in casual wear approached and greeted him. "G'day Father, I'm Archbishop ________". Father responded, "Oh, Your Lord, I didn't recognize you". A little while later, an airport security personnel approached Father Grace and said "Father, you don't have to wait on line, just follow me". The archbishop got the message.

Second incident was when two young surfer dudes approached Father and asked him where they could get vested up. Father retorted "You're priests?" "How did you know I was a priest"? Again, they got the message.

Interestingly, my friend in the photo is on a one woman campaign to tell our priests just how important it is for children to see our priests dressed as priests. What she is doing is talking to them privately and what we should do everyday, , is to pray for our priests.

I remember when my sister was a sister. She belonged to a conservative order of sisters who dressed in full habit. People everywhere would treat her with such respect! They would greet her with such joy. They wouldn't let her pay for anything in stores. They would ask her to pray for them.

It seems an easy way for our religious to evangelize, yet so important! So, how can we help? Again, pray for our priests and religious, and don't criticize.

The World Apostolate of Fatima and Pledge

One of my favorite places when visiting New Jersey is the Blue Army Shrine, located in Washington, New Jersey. The picture below is a statue of Pope John Paul II near the pond area of the shrine.



To learn more of the history of this amazing shrine and apostolate, click HERE

Which brings me to this post. Have you made your pledge yet? The following is taken from the 2006 Issue 3 of Soul Magazine and my pledge card:

What is the Pledge?

The pledge is a positive way for an individual to respond to Our Lady's Fatima Message of prayer and sacrifice. By pledging, a person offers daily to God the sacrifices in fulfilling the duties of their state in life and keeping His law, as acts of reparation for sinners. This is a daily offering, which includes the Rosary and other prayers, and while it is non-binding, it is an offering one promises to renew often, especially in moments of temptation.

What Are the Essential Conditions of the Pledge?

There are four practices that an individual promises to fulfill to the best of their ability:

1. Pray the Rosary daily.

2. Consecrate one's self to God through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of your consecration to Our Blessed Mother.

3. In reparation for sinners, offer to God the sacrifices demanded by your daily duty in keeping His law. This can be fulfilled through recitation of the Morning Offering, or a similar prayer.

4. Accomplish the devotion of the Five First Saturdays of the month, including fifteen minutes of meditation on the Mysteries of the Rosary.

What is the Morning Offering?

This prayer is modeled after the Eucharistic Prayer recited by the Angel of Fatima at his third appearance in 1916.

"O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus present on all the altars of the world, joining with the offering of my every thought, word and action of this day."

"O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can, and I offer them together with myself, to Mary Immaculate --That she may best apply them to the interests of they most Sacred Heart."

Precious Blood of Jesus, save us!
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

What are the Benefits of Making the Pledge?

There are seven benefits:

1. You know you are fulfilling Our Lady's conditions to obtain the conversion and the peace of Christ for the World.

2. You obtain numerous indulgences through the Rosary and the Scapular.

3. You become eligible for the spiritual graces of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. These are graces received in this life, at the hour of death and after death.

4. Your name is sent to Fatima and buried near the apparition site.

5. You share in the prayers of millions of members of the Apostolate.

6. You become a spiritual child of Saint Pio.

7. You participate in the new Evangelization proposed by the Holy Father.

Is Making the Pledge Enough?

All who Pledge are encouraged to help learn, live and spread Our Lady's message of Hope, Peace and Salvation. This can be done by simply leaving Pledge cards in the back of a church. Or, more effectively, by helping others understand the critical need to spiritually nourish the world and this is accomplished by the Pledge developed by Sister Lucia in response to Our Lady's request at Fatima.

How Do I Obtain a Copy of the pledge?

You can visit their website by clicking the title above or by writing them at the following:

The World Apostolate of Fatima, USA
P O BOX 976
Washington, NJ 07882-0976

or email at service@bluearmy.com

or calling 908-689-1700 ext. 18

Latin America Needs Disciples

This article really struck a chord with me because members in of my family in South America, have left the Catholic Church to become evangelical Christians. One reason may be the financial assistance offered by the Protestant churches. It is tragic to learn that these once devout Catholic countries are becoming Protestants.

Latin America Needs Disciples, Pope Says
Continent Has "Urgent Need of a New Evangelization"

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 21, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The message of salvation needs to
permeate the roots of cultures, Benedict XVI says.

He explained this on Saturday to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

"It is necessary to proclaim the message of salvation in full, so that it permeates the roots of cultures and is incarnated in the present Latin American historical moment, to better respond to its needs and legitimate aspirations," the Holy Father said.

The Pope explained that the theme of the meeting -- "The Family and Christian Education in Latin America" -- was chosen thinking of the challenges posed by evangelization, and linked this to the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America, which he will open in Brazil in May.

That conference "is called to be a renewed impulse to evangelization in that vast, eminently Catholic region of the world," the Pontiff added.

Enormous challenges

The present challenges of Latin America "are enormous," Benedict XVI said, mentioning cultural change generated by the media, migratory currents and their familial and religious repercussions, questions on how nations should assume their history and future, secularization, globalization, poverty, violence and drug-trafficking.

"Above all is seen the urgent need of a new evangelization, which will stimulate us to reflect further on the values of our faith, so that they will be sap and configure the identity of these beloved peoples who one day received the light of the Gospel," the Holy Father added.

When "faith is not nourished by prayer and meditation on the divine word, when sacramental life languishes, then sects and new pseudo-religious groups prosper, causing many Catholics to be estranged from the Church," he said.

The Pope explained: "Just by living intensely their love of Jesus Christ and dedicating themselves generously to the service of charity, his disciples will be eloquent and credible witnesses of the immense love of God for every human being.

"For the future of the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean, it is important that Christians deepen and assume the style of life proper to disciples of Jesus Christ: simple and joyful, with a solid faith rooted in the depth of the heart and nourished by prayer and the sacraments."

Family life

It is "in the family, in the parish and diocesan community"
where the true disciple grows, matures and becomes a missionary and "proclaims the person of Christ and his Gospel in all environments," the Pontiff stated.

"The patrimony of the faith is guarded in the family," he said. "In it,
the children receive the gift of life, feel loved just as they are and learn the values that will help them to live as children of God.

"The family, receiving the gift of life, becomes the proper environment to respond to the gift of vocation, especially now in which the need is greatly felt that the Lord send workers into his vineyard."
ZE07012106

Inspirational Stories of Evangelizing

Often as Catholics we feel we lack the fire to evangelize. It is in fact our duty as a Catholic to evangelize in ways we can. Sometimes, it is just by our examples.

The following is an excerpt from Fr. Robert Fox

..."Among the stories I could tell of people who have come into the Catholic Church or reverts who found their way back to the fullness of true faith, by coming to this Shrine - I choose one of the latest
which happened a couple days ago.

As I had completed my usual more than two hours daily at the
Shrine, offering in the large lower church , Christ’s Sacrifice of
the Cross perpetuated, meditation, etc. - I was crossing the the big
piazza in front of the Shrine on my way to the parking lot. A
couple in their 60’s approached me. The man had been a biblical
scholar; he said, “a biblical scholar with a small `s’ “. They had
stopped at the Shrine before, he said, and they had seen me about -
but this was the first time the opportunity presented itself to talk
to me. Strict observance of reverential silence is kept at the
Shrine in the presence of our Eucharistic Lord.

The man who had spent most of his life studying the Bible said: “I entered the Catholic Church two years ago. Your book, “Protestant Fundamentalism and the Born-Again Catholic” got me started. I wanted to thank you. “How did you discover this book?” I asked. I bought it here at the Castle store. The man, aware that the converted scriptural scholar, Scott Hahn, had endorsed the book - had a need to talk, as did his wife who followed him into the Catholic Church. Many other stories could be told about the BORN- AGAIN CATHOLIC BOOK - including a 25 year old man whose Aunt, married to a minister, wanted him out of the Catholic Church - so she gave him my book, thinking it was by a fallen away Catholic. Instead, it set the young man on fire with love for the Catholic faith and the
desire to evangelize others.