Matthew 28:18-20  "And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.  Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world."

Those words, the final words of St. Matthew's Gospel and known as "The Great Commission," reveal very clearly what the Church is to do. While teaching is one of the three munera, or duties, of our pastors, Pope Leo XIII tells us in paragraphs 15 and 16 of his "Sapientiae Christianae" (1890) that we laymen, too, can -- and should, as our gifts allow -- spread the Faith:

15. ... Now, faith, as a virtue, is a great boon of divine grace and goodness; nevertheless, the objects themselves to which faith is to be applied are scarcely known in any other way than through the hearing. "How shall they believe Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? Faith then cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Since, then, faith is necessary for salvation, it follows that the word of Christ must be preached.

The office, indeed, of preaching, that is, of teaching, lies by divine right in the province of the pastors, namely, of the bishops whom "the Holy Spirit has placed to rule the Church of God." It belongs, above all, to the Roman Pontiff, vicar of Jesus Christ, established as head of the universal Church, teacher of all that pertains to morals and faith.

16. No one, however, must entertain the notion that private individuals are prevented from taking some active part in this duty of teaching, especially those on whom God has bestowed gifts of mind with the strong wish of rendering themselves useful. These, so often as circumstances demand, may take upon themselves, not, indeed, the office of the pastor, but the task of communicating to others what they have themselves received, becoming, as it were, living echoes of their masters in the faith. Such co-operation on the part of the laity has seemed to the Fathers of the Vatican Council so opportune and fruitful of good that they thought well to invite it. "All faithful Christians, but those chiefly who are in a prominent position, or engaged in teaching, we entreat, by the compassion of Jesus Christ, and enjoin by the authority of the same God and Saviour, that they bring aid to ward off and eliminate these errors from holy Church, and contribute their zealous help in spreading abroad the light of undefiled faith."

Let each one, therefore, bear in mind that he both can and should, so far as may be, preach the Catholic faith by the authority of his example, and by open and constant profession of the obligations it imposes. In respect, consequently, to the duties that bind us to God and the Church, it should be borne earnestly in mind that in propagating Christian truth and warding off errors the zeal of the laity should, as far as possible, be brought actively into play.

But note the words "as far as they may" and "as far as possible" in the above passage. We're all called to spread the Gospel by the witness of our lives -- that is, by being virtuous, avoiding sin, etc. But in order to evangelize more formally, we have to have the right attitude, and we have to know what we're talking about.
 


Attitude

The Good News

So many treat the Gospel not as the "Good News," which is the very definition of the word "Gospel," but as "the scary news." I imagine we're all familiar with the stereotypical street preacher who, in essence, tells his audience, "believe as I do or burn in Hellfire forever!!!". But such an approach, generally speaking, is bound to antagonize more than attract. Pope St. Pius X's words, given in his Encyclical E Supremi, should be taken to heart:

Besides, such an approach is based on a lie. You have no idea who is going to Hell and whom God is going to save. God is supreme and can save whom He wants, even outside of the normative means He's given to us through His Church. Approaching others with an attitude of panic or fear typically doesn't work -- and it doesn't reflect that we are sharing the Good News  It must always be kept in mind that while we are bound by His Sacraments; He isn't. He knows who is inculpably ignorant and who isn't, who is good-willed and who isn't. He can read hearts and souls; we can't, barring extraordinary, supernatural gifts. Those sorts of judgments are for Him alone to make. "Love 'em all; let God sort 'em out!" is a good "meme" to have in mind in order to keep one's attitude in check.

When the idea that we're bound by the Sacraments, but God isn't is brought up, some have asked, "Well then, why spread the Gospel at all? Wouldn't it be better to leave people in their ignorance so they won't have to worry about failing to uphold the precepts of the Church and stuff like that?" The answer to that last is a resounding no! By receiving the Sacraments, they are given the normative means of receiving sanctifying grace! By accepting the Faith, people are able to live lives that are filled with beauty and meaning! And when people convert to the Faith and affect how their societies are run, it results in more just and fair social orders. Besides which, we must spread the Gospel because we are commanded to, which should be enough reason for any Catholic!

Above all, it must always be remembered that faith is a supernatural gift -- that is, a gift that is infused into us by God Himself. The intellect most definitely has its place, but it can only go so far on its own. We can use reason alone to accept that there is a God, but knowing that He is Triune, that He took on flesh and became man, that He rose again, etc. -- these things are matters of divine revelation which are accepted by a supernatural faith when one is divinely illuminated by God. It is God Himself Who gives us this sort of knowledge! This is why our goal in evangelizing isn't to "convince," but to invite others to invite God to do the convincing.

We must defend the Faith when lies are told about it. We must set the record straight when it comes to nonsense told about what the Church teaches, the Church's History, and other such things. But, in the end, it isn't we who bring people to God; it is God Himself. We can only set an example, defend the Faith, and spread the Gospel; after that, we have to leave it up to Him. After making any needed defenses against lies or errors, the best and most effective thing you can do is to challenge any interlocutor to do one simple thing: ask God -- even if he perceives Him only as the "If-You-Are-There-God" -- to reveal to him what is true. I can't emphasize this enough!

Now, a more zealous approach might sometimes be necessary when dealing with the utterly recalcitrant. If we can't help people attain a state of contrition (sorrow for offending God, born of a love of God), attrition (fear of Hell) is better than nothing. But knowing one's audience is absolutely imperative in determining the approach to take, and it is undoubtedly very rare that a "fire and brimstome" sort of approach is prudent. We must meet people "where they are," knowing how they understand the words we use and see the world, having a sense of what their lives are like, etc. Some people are simply better at having that sort of intuition than others. Know your limits. Know what gifts you have, and what gifts you haven't been given, and proceed accordingly.



Example, Rather Than Words, is Supreme

There's a saying attributed, falsely, to St. Francis: "Spread the Gospel; use words if necessary." This illustrates the importance of witness by example, by leading a life that others will look at and wonder "Hmm, what's his secret? Why is he so content, so filled with hope?"

But many treat the Faith merely as the object of intellectual exercise, a matter of philosophy, rather than as God's gift to us, a gift we should want to share because it is good and beautiful. Picture a big jerk arrogantly pontificating about how wrong a good-willed, virtuous Protestant is, using words he bets the Protestant isn't familiar with just to show off, coming off as if he has the authority to judge that Protestant's soul, and so forth. The jerk may well be correct in his assertions, but he's not doing anyone any good. Pope St. Pius X, again in E Supremi, intimates at how much more effective the jerk would be if he'd shut his yap and live a life of holiness: 

I very much encourage those who are wanting to more formally spread the Gospel to read the pages on "Conversion of the Heart" and Judging Others before even thinking about going into the world and preaching in a way that goes beyond witnessing by example. Until your heart is aligned with His, you can do a lot more evil than good when trying to teach others about the beauty of the Faith. You can do a lot of damage as well by setting a bad example. I've seen or heard about manifestations of this many, many times -- people who've encountered "evangelists" such as "the jerk" I've just described, or who've witnessed the sorts of lives lived by those who haven't had a true conversion of the heart, and, who because of their experiences, became not just uninterested or a little "put off," but disgusted and totally turned off. I hate to have to say it, but a certain sub-set of traditional Catholics -- those I call "toxic trads," who are, thankfully, a very, very small sub-set of traditional Catholics -- can be very strange and quite effective in turning away seekers.

Of course, there are those will be turned off from the Gospel message because there are pet sins they refuse to give up. That is their problem, an issue between them and God. It's an issue that can be raised with them, but no whiff of judgmentalism should accompany such a discussion. And no matter what, no one should be turned away from Christ and His Church simply by how the Gospel is revealed to him.

And then there are the "professional atheist" types, the arrogant, judgmental, Christian-bashing haters who think followers of Christ are stupid and illogical. I have a page I wrote especially for them, but it's one I had never linked to from this site because it's brutal and frank, including a few "F-bombs." But I decided to link to it here because such types need to hear what it says. Use that URL with care; it's for that "certain type" of atheist who goes beyond mere disbelief and into nastiness.

Finally, consider your image, how you come off to others. All I'll say is this: Which group of these modestly-dressed women would your typical Millennial, New Age believer, Wiccan, or atheist be more likely to actually listen to and take seriously: group A or group B?:
 

Group A



Group B

 
Yes, in the ideal world, people would ignore such things as image and would just be blinded by our amazing arguments. But we don't live in the ideal world; we live in this one.

 
When Using Words

There's a concept known in linguistics as "the Russell Conjugation" (or “emotive conjugation”). It refers to how our minds often ignore the factual content contained in language, favoring its emotional content instead. For example, calling a woman "overweight," "fat," "plump," or "zaftig" all mean the same thing in terms of their dictionary definitions. That is, they all indicate that she weighs more than she "should." But they all have different connotations, are emotionally experienced differently. Now, consider that, thanks to the media and popular culture, Christianity, at least in the United States, has gotten a bad reputation. It's associated with "hicks" and the uneducated. Because evangelical Protestantism or bland "Novus Ordoism" are the only forms of Christianity most people know of, they think that the sort of "Christianity" related by televangelists or the altar-girl employing "Father Bob" is what actual (i.e., traditional) Christianity is like. They're wrong, of course, but we have to understand this about how they think, and then work around it.

Consider that even the most Holy Name of Jesus is heard in many Americans' minds as "Jay-sus" or, even more hideously, "Cheez-uz." His beautiful Name is typically heard as a swear word or a joke. How many times have you heard something like "Well, sweet Baby Jesus, I didn't know that!" His image is now even used on sex toys!

I propose getting around this problem and mentally shaking people out of their pre-conscious assumptions and complacency by using language in a way that surprises them. For example, use enchanting titles such as "the Ancient of Days" (Daniel 7:9-22), "the Master of Love," "Lord Christ," etc., when referring to the Second Person of the Trinity. Or use the Latin form of His Name: Iesus. Use "Holy Ghost" instead of "Holy Spirit." Use "Messias" instead of "Messiah." In other words, use language that evokes the ancient History of the Church, that evokes poetry and Mystery and gets people's attention, waking them up and preventing them from automatically making emotion-based associations derived from popular culture.

We must present Christianity as what it actually is: a religion that is filled with beauty, rich with folk traditions and seasonal customs, and shaped by profoundly deep thinkers. Ours is the religion that gave birth to science, the religion that has no fear whatsoever of reason.

Controversial words must be defined for any conversation to be fruitful. For example, "evolution" is a loaded word. Does it refer to the idea that all of the creatures on earth evolved from a single primordial organism or a few different such organisms that each arose spontaneously and ultimately from nothing, an idea which Catholicism rejects (and real science does as well) -- or does it simply refer to the mechanisms of evolution which no educated Christian disagrees with (e.g., genetic drift, genetic draft, genetic mutations, natural selection, sexual selection, and gene flow)? If you are arguing about "evolution," know these terms, know what you're talking about, and make clear what you accept and reject rather than rejecting "evolution" out of hand, with no qualifiers. Failure to do this sort of thing is why some people think Christians are "stupid" or that "Christians hate science" (even though we, with the Greeks, invented it! It was a Franciscan friar who came up with the scientific method itself!).

Homosexuality is another matter that must be spoken of while being very careful with language. Please read the just linked to page to get very clear about Church teaching on this subject.



Know What You're Talking About

One must first know the Faith in order to spread it. Know what you're talking about. Arm yourself with Catechisms, especially those written before Vatican II, recommended because of their clarity and succinctness.

When dealing with Protestants, know their premises and their misunderstandings of the Catholic Faith. Read through the "For Protestants" section of this site to arm yourself with defenses against Protestant errors.  Using a copy of their most beloved version of Sacred Scipture -- the King James Bible -- could go far since many will not trust at all the Catholic version of the Bible which includes Books that Protestant Bibles don't have. Download a copy of a "cheat sheet" that will point you toward Bible verses that support the Truth against Protestant errors. Send to your Protestant friends the FishEaters's "Challenge to All Non-Catholic Christians" and ask them to go through it while using their own copy of the King James Bible.

If you're asked something you don't have an answer for, don't wing it; admit you'll have look a few things up and get back with your interluctor.

Americans, Hungary's Viktor Orban has said that Mexican immigrants to our country might be a boon in the end (put aside the fact of the illegality of it, or the prudence of it given the state of our economy, etc.). He believes this because the Mexican people, as a group, tend to be conservative and family-centric, less prone to put up with "wokeism." I think he may have a point, and think outreach to Spanish-speaking Americans is crucial. Mexican American Catholics need to be embraced, and to be taught about what's gone wrong in the Church since Vatican II. Google Translate allows entire websites to be translated, so here is the URL to FishEaters in Spanish. Use it!

Evangelizing Offline

Keep that cheat sheet linked just above on you, along with a King James Version of the Bible. Be ready!

You can incite conversation by little things -- such as through bumper stickers, wearing a T-shirt or piece of jewelry that invites questions or comments -- and by big things, such as praying in restaurants, complete with the Sign of the Cross, bowing the head when passing a church, etc.

You can make up business cards with URLs to websites that defend the Faith or encourage Catholics to embrace Tradition.

If your knowledge of Scripture is solid, host a Bible Study, trad-style, and invite Protesants.

Meet your neighbors through these websites: NextDoor.com and MeetUp (both will open in new browser windows).

Use whatever gifts you've been given to spread the word! If you're a playwright, write a play! If you're a painter, use your art to bring people to Christ! Make Youtube videos, write blogs, engage in street theater and flash mobs!



Evangelizing Online

If you wish to labor with fruit in the conversion of souls, you must pour the balsam of sweetness upon the wine of your zeal, that it may not be too fiery, but mild, soothing, patient, and full of compassion. For the human soul is so constituted that by rigor it becomes harder, but mildness completely softens it. Besides, we ought to remember that Jesus Christ came to bless good intentions, and if we leave them to His control, little by little He will make them fruitful.

Let the true peace of Christ be reflected in you.

If you don't know something, say you don't know and don't pretend you do. Keep your ego chained up in the basement, and just tell the person you will do your best to find an answer for them.

Define terms that are "iffy" before trying to come to an understanding. Words and phrases like "born again," "Bible-believing," and "Tradition"  have to be defined before anything good can come from using them with various groups.

Define their premises before trying to build your argument. What do they accept as true? Is that premise true or false? If it's false, disavow them of it; if it's true, build on it.

Finally, keep a sense of humor!

As to specifics: comment, with links to website, underneath relevant videos at Youtube and other video hosting sites. If you have a Twitter account, do a search for words like "Catholic" or "Catholicism" and respond to those tweets, including URLs for further reading. Don't just "preach to the choir"; use social media to spread the Good News! (Note: at Youtube, write links as, for ex., "Fisheaters DOT com," or encourage people to search the FishEaters website for a given topic.)

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that is, theoretically, at least, written by visitors to the Wikipedia website, and is a much-used source of information, especially for students, because of its very high-ranking returns at places like Google. For ex., as of this writing, if you type "Catholicism" into Google's search engine, Wikipedia's entry on the topic is the seventh return. This means that if someone goes to Google to do a little research about "Catholicism," chances are good that what he will learn is what appears at Wikipedia.

What this means is that we have an opportunity here to try to ensure that the accurate information about traditional Catholic practices are available. When all these high school students and college kids cramming to get papers done use Google to learn about "Catholicism" or "Vatican II" or "Traditional Catholics," we can possibly have some input into what they learn to ensure a semblance of balance.

If you have the time and patience to deal with Wiki (and you will need a lot of it), make sure any writing you do there is fair, reasonable, balanced, organized, well-written, and that it reflects well on the honesty, integrity and intelligence of Catholics. Read Wikipedia's Policy and Guidelines, and their basic instructions.

Use of Social Media, Message Boards, Chat Software, Etc.

Use Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to evangelize, if you have accounts. Use message boards, focusing on popular, high-traffic ones that center on religion, especially ones set up for Catholics, or for Catholic-Protestant dialogue. I beg all to remain charitable above all, to lose the ego, and avoid name-calling and flame wars. If you're prone to that sort of thing, sometimes you just might want to post information, leave, and let others hash it all out. Use URLs to great traditional Catholic websites in your sig lines, and remember that for every person you might "talk" to one-on-one, there might be hundreds reading your posts.

Use "Comments" Feature at Popular Blogs, Newspapers, and Magazines

If you don't want to start your own blog, visit high-traffic blogs that allow visitors to post comments, and speak your mind. When you do, include URLs to traditional Catholic sites, if and only if applicable to your comments and truly helfpul to readers, so people can find more information about Catholicism.

Don't just "preach to the choir" (that's not "evangelizing")! Visit the comments section of sites that publish articles you disagree with as well!

Write Reviews

Let the Catholic voice be heard over the din of the culturally Marxist critics paid by the owners of the media conglomerates. Traditional Catholics go to movies, we read books, we hear music -- what do we have to say about what's coming through the channels of culture? Make yourself heard, especially at websites like the Internet Movie Database and Amazon.