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Is it just me, or does the Doctor Seuss story, Green Eggs and Ham, also sound like a good example of how we should promote the Christian faith?

Once again, I will use the Bible as reference.
When ministering to a soul and trying to introduce them to Jesus, I like Christ's approach. I'll refer you to when He went through Samarita. At first Him and His apostles were not welcomed, yet Christ and His apostles did not continue to persuade. Christ simply left knowing that when the season was right, they would come to know Him.
If you have a loved one who is not saved, indeed minister what the Lord will have you say. get in tune with the Holy Spirit, after all, we each have that relationship with the Spirit of God. More importantly, not only should we pray, but we ought to speak that person into the kingdom of God. Talk as if it is done and all is well. For life and death are spoken with the tongue.

God Bless

Sorry Jay, it's sounds like your Protestant Baptist Evengelical roots are showing. I understand the anguish over atheist/agnostic friends who just don't seem to get it, but the Bible thumping, never give up, work it into every conversation approach isn't the way either. It one thing for a mother to pray for and push her son, it quite another thing to alienate friends who might have one day have come to God if we hadn't been so pushy.

I know so many people whose impression of Christians is limited to the kind of scary intense "witnessing" evangelicals who can't carry on a normal conversation without trying to push their religion. I don't want to be known for that, and I don't want the Catholic Church to ever be known for that.

I want my atheist/agnostic friends to know me as a Catholic Christian whom they still feel comfortable being around. I want them to know that if they ever have a question, they can ask me. If they want to hear a Christian opinion on something, they can ask me. They also know that I'm not going to try and push my religion down their throat.

My hope is that they will see the way I live, they will see that I don't have the kinds of problems and issues that they have, such as chronic depression, constant worry, career insecurity, and when I do face problems, I face them and solve them in a different way. Not with feel good prescriptions and chemical crutches, but with faith, hope, love and prayer. My hope is that they will see that I have a different attitude toward the people around me, one that based on love, not fear. My hope is that God will move them to seek a better way to live, and that when they have questions about that way, they will think of me, and then, and only then, I will share my faith in a spirit of truth and understanding.

Too many people just feel plain uncomfortable around people whom they know to be Christian. I've had converstions like this:
"Here comes So-and-so, watch what you say, he's one of those really religious types."
Then I'll say, "Hey I'm one of those religious types too, you know."
"Yeah, but you're cool about it, you know, you don't preach to us all the time."

When Jesus walked the Earth, he dined with sinners. He was a friend to the outcast and fringe elements of society, but more importantly the sinners were comfortable being around Jesus as well. He was a friend to them, not a pushy, judgemental, shiny eyed evangelical. He came to people wherever they were in life, and he still does. We should try to be more like Him. The sinners, atheists, and doubters should not be uncomfortable when we come around.

You said that "True love means not accepting the emptiness and isolation that materialism brings." That is true, in our own lives, but sometimes, no matter how much you love, you have no choice but to watch someone you love suffer through the emptiness and isolation, hoping and praying that God will use you somehow. However, if he doesn't, he doesn't. Trying to force someone to see God the way we see Him can often cause more harm than good. Jesus calls us to serve one another, somtimes that service means teaching, but service never means brow-beating. Trust God, he's been in the soul saving business a long time.

I am also a Baptist convert. In the church of my youth I was taught that if I met a person who did not know God, and I didn't try to "save" them, then the fate of their soul was somehow my responsibility. As if God would somehow hold it against me if a sinner escaped my clutches without my best effort at saving them. After my conversion to Catholicism, I realized that no matter what I do, I cannot save a soul. Only God can do that. I also realized that salvation is more than the Protestant version of a momentary conversion experience, it is a lifelong process of coming to know God more and more. Where any one person is in that process is not for us to judge, lest we risk placing ourselves in a position of spiritual supremacy, which none of us can claim.

All I can really do is be a living example and be open and available as an instrument should He need me. Should He need me, I am here. Again, I just have to trust that God knows what He is doing.

Richard,
You don't have to thump your Bible and work salvation into every conversation in order to show Christ's love to others.
It is not our responsibility to change hearts and save souls - only God can do that. But we do have the responsibility to let others know we have the Truth, should they want to seek it. It is our responsibility to invite others into fellowship. It is our responsibility to never back down - to not laugh off our scapulars and hide them, to mention going to confession (particularly helpful when confronted with gossippy neighbors/parishioners - I'll good naturedly say, "If we don't stop talking about Mrs. Smith, I'm going to wind up in confession!)
To gently remind others of Christ's call of conversion - and how willing He is to take us back.

Read Mother Teresa's book, No Greater Love, and you'll see what I mean. She didn't hit people over the head with the Catechism, she didn't drag them to church, she didn't guilt them into saying prayers they didn't mean. She loved them and changed the world.

Excellent insight! Great story.

Milehimama,
I agree with you. By no means am I saying that we should hide our faith. I am not sure that I could if I wanted to, it's just too much a part of my life. I can think of no better example than Mother Teresa, and I particularly like that phrase: "She loved them and changed the world."

I'm not really sure I know HOW to pray..., which prayers to say and when. Sometimes it feels like I'm talking to myself, and that my prayers are forced, not really sincere.

How do I pray? How do I know God can hear me?

Dee,
Prayer is at once the easiest and most challenging part of trying to live God's will. For starters, realize that God is not too critical, you can fumble around a bit, He doesn't mind. There are no rules, you don't have to say any special prayer at any certain time, unless you are trying to follow a certain spritual excercise, like the Liturgy of the Hours. Don't stress out about it, just talk to God. Talk to him like he's in the room with you, I find it easiest when I can at least whisper out loud, but if you can't try to at least mouth the words at first. There is something about the mental process of transforming thoughts into words that seems to facilitate prayer for most of us. Tell him everything that's on your mind. If you feel silly at first, don't worry about it, tell God you feel silly. If you get angry, tell God. If you are mad at yourself, tell God. If you're happy with something, tell God. At some point, you get past the silly feeling and you'll get past the small talk. Then you'll touch your real heart. You'll discover that somewhere in you there was a hunger to know God that made you want to sit down and try this prayer thing in the first place. When you can uncover that internal longing for God through this sort of internal reflection, that's when things get interesting. I can't tell you how long that will take, but don't give up, maintain that dialog even if it feels one sided.

There are many whole books written on prayer, and there is so much more than I can say in these few lines. Email me directly if you would like to talk. hrichards@comporium.net

hi . i am habib from afghanistan.
i want become christian but i afraid from afghan government.
please help me.

Hi habib

Welcome to the board. The government can't read your heart habib. Pray to Christ, invite Christ to live in your heart. Seek out a Catholic Priest if possible to procede with the calling of your heart.

I will pray for you.

In Love

wwwo

Habib,
Here are two links that you should have in case you are unable to contact a Catholic Priest:

Catechism (or Teaching) of the Catholic Church:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

The Bible:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/bible/index.htm

Please try to contact a Catholic priest, but if you are completely unable to then please read the Bible along with the Catechism to understand the truths revealed by Christ to his people. We are praying for you.
In Christ,
Matthew

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