6/14/2012

On Catholic Evangelism

Baptism does not start conversion. Conversion begins with the work of the Holy Spirit and His gift of faith. Baptism is the logical and scriptural step in response to that gift, whether to an adult convert or the parents of a newborn blessed enough to be born into a Catholic family.

As a Catholic I am always involved in evangelism. I use a wide variety of means to communicate the Gospel and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I seek to call them to a deep conversion and right relationship with God through the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I endeavor to carry out the mandate of Matthew 28:19-20 which plainly tells us...
[19] 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, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

RCIA, as well as other teaching aids, including both the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other studies such as the Catholic Home Study Service assist in doing precisely that, so that the people get the fulness of the Gospel as found in the New Testament.

In a nutshell the following 2 brief articles on my blog sum up my position.

How Is A Catholic Saved?
Who REALLY Preaches "A Different Gospel"?

BTW, the Church does indeed teach that our first mission field is to those of our own households. IOW we are to seek to train up our children in the way that they should go. (See Proverbs 22:6 to see what we are committing to when we have our children Baptized.) We start there and expand to the whole world around us.