This week in our continuing series on evangelization tips, we’re talking about evangelizing Protestants with One Good Reason. While we certainly have a lot in common with our separated brethren, there’s a lot that makes us different too. We need to strive for genuine Catholic ecumenism … promoting unity among the world's Christian Churches. Here’s a quote from a document of the Second Vatican Council that helps describe how we should practically approach this ecumenism: “Catholics, in their ecumenical work, must assuredly be concerned for their separated brethren, praying for them, keeping them informed about the Church, making the first approaches toward them … But their primary duty is to make a careful and honest appraisal of whatever needs to be done in order that its life may bear witness more clearly and faithfully to the teachings and institutions which have come to it from Christ through the Apostles.” (Unitatis Redintegratio, Ch. 1, Par. 4) You might still be wondering, what does this ecuminism look like in everyday life, applying the One Good Reason technique? Here are two examples: Maybe you’d like to focus on the beauty, truth, and mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist. You could say something like, “One good reason I’m Catholic is that we have the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. During the words of consecration, we believe that He becomes present under the appearances of bread and wine. We then consume Him, which means His divine presence lives inside of us. Having Jesus in me keeps me on the path to heaven.” Or how about the sacrament of penance? Here, you might say something like the following: “One good reason I’m Catholic is that I can go to Confession. Jesus established this sacrament in John 20:23, saying to the apostles, ‘If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ He knew that we’d need to unload our transgressions to another human being, and hear the words of forgiveness … so he allowed the priest to stand in as a representative of Christ.” These are just a couple examples. However you approach it, just make sure to remain charitable without straying from the truth. This evangelization tip was brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. Take our course One Good Reason for Protestants at evangelizationschool.com.

This week in our continuing series on evangelization tips, we’re talking about using the One Good Reason method to evangelize atheists. For our purposes, atheists are people who either say there is no God, or say they don’t know whether or not there’s a God. Here’s a refresher on the One Good Reason method: Listen. Start with questions and not arguments. Befriend. Search for common ground and try to relate to them. Make it personal. Share your struggles and let them know they’re not alone. One Good Reason. When the time is right, share your one good reason for (in this case) believing in God. Invite. Offer them to take the next step, whatever that may be. If they are open to listening to your one good reason for believing in God, let them know that God is the best and simplest explanation for so many things. God is, 1. The best explanation for why anything exists instead of nothing 2. The best explanation for why the universe began to exist 3. The best explanation for the fine-tuning of physics for intelligent life 4. The best explanation for our perception of of objective moral values and duties 5. The best explanation for religious experience, mystical experience, near death experience and miracles 6. The best explanation for why consciousness is not reducible to mere physical processes alone 7. The best explanation for the order and intelligibility of the universe 8. The best explanation for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the rise of Christian belief This is just scratching the surface of the topic, for you will need to study one or more of these areas to get any traction in a conversation. But these should at least get you started. This evangelization tip was brought to you by St. Paul Street Evangelization. For more information, take our course One Good Reason for Atheists at evangelizationschool.com.

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. © Copyright St. Paul Street Evangelization 2024

The upcoming Southwest Wisconsin CEW (Christian Experience Weekend) will be held at Immaculate Conception School in Kieler, WI. The women’s weekend will be February 14-16, 2025. The men’s weekend will be February 21-23, 2025. These weekends begin at 7:00 p.m. Friday and end on Sunday at approximately 4:30 pm. If you want to do something special for yourself, attend a CEW weekend. Application forms are available at www.swwicew.org or in some of the church entrances. For more information on the women’s weekend, call Patti Eggers at 608-574-6665. For the men’s weekend, call Jeff Schaefer at 608-778-9321. Weekends fill up fast. Applications will be taken on a first come first serve basis.

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. © Copyright St. Paul Street Evangelization 2024

The start date is December 27 (start noon on Friday)- 29 (ends 3:30 on Sunday). TEC (Together Encountering Christ) is centered on the Paschal Mystery of Christ. Our Shepherd Bishop Donald Hying has also centered his 'Go Make Disciples' initiative on that same theme. TEC is especially designed to help us grow in our love for Christ and our Holy Catholic Church. It is an amazing experience for any age who are young at heart and at least 15 years of age. Regardless of your present walk in our Catholic Faith, you will be rejuvenated. This is also a 'shout out' to those of you who have already experienced a TEC retreat and would like to help out. Fr. Greg Ihm will be our Spiritual Director. Jeff Jackson is the lay Director and can be reached at 608.778.6027 Or [email protected] More information about TEC can be found at www.MadisonDiocese.org/TEC

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 Adora tion (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 §.upplication (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.

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. We 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!

Please join us for Rosary, Adoration and Benediction at St. Andrew Church every 4th Thursday of the month, to pray for peace from 7-8:00 p.m. It will be the third Thursday in November sue to Thanksgiving.

The St. Clement Adult Faith Formation continues this week on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 9 AM. We will be viewing Part 2 of Bishop Robert Barron’s Pivotal Players episode on G. K. Chesterton. Gilbert Keith Chesterton became a Catholic late in life and is often referred to as, “The Apostle of Common Sense.” Join us as we learn more about the life and wisdom of this remarkable man. All are welcome!