Stir Up the Flame!
Inspiration for Sharing Our Catholic Faith

We all have—and are—stories of faith. For through the Spirit, the gospel of Jesus Christ takes hold of us in the proclamation of his Word, and Jesus touches us in the celebration of the sacraments.

• Have I told someone about my story of faith?

God has touched our lives in Jesus, bestowed his spirit, given us salvation and hope, and called us to live in witness to his love.

•  Who are you going to witness to this week? In what manner?

"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, teaching them to observe all that I command you." (Mt. 28: 18 - 20)

•  What am I doing to bring this about?*

We have been changed by the power of Christ's Word and sacraments...we have an essential role in sharing that faith through our daily lives as believers.

•  In your life, how have you been changed by the power of the Gospel or the sacraments?

Evangelization is what we are all about! Being involved in the story of salvation is what faith is all about! Evangelization is the essential mission of the Church.

•  If the Church exists to evangelize, how does this impact your life as a Catholic Christian?

Evangelization is the ongoing story of salvation - the process by which Jesus, who brought God's Good News, continues to bring and make good news in our own lives through faith.

•  What stories of faith in the Bible strengthen, teach, comfort, challenge you?

•  Who do you share those stories with?

Evangelizing means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation and seeking to convert individuals and society by the divine power of the Gospel itself.

•  What "human situations" occur in your everyday routine? Where?

•  How do you bring the presence of Jesus into those situations?

Conversion is the change of our lives which comes about through the power of the Holy Spirit... Unless we undergo conversion, we have not truly accepted the Gospel.

•  How have you experienced conversion in your faith life?

This is crucial: we must be converted - and we must continue to be converted! We must let the Holy Spirit change our lives! We must respond to Jesus Christ.

•  What in your life, family, parish, our country needs the Spirit of Jesus?

We must be open to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit who will continue to convert us as we follow Christ.

•  In what ways is Jesus calling you to be more open to the Holy Spirit?

The Gospel must overflow from each heart until the presence of God transforms all human experience.

•  What recent evidence is there that you are growing in your faith?

•  What opportunities do you have TODAY to grow in your relationship with Jesus?

Sometimes...we must confront the world as did the prophets of all, pointing out the claims of God to societies that are blind to God.

•  Think of people, possibly some saints, who have changed society for the better.

•  Find out about a saint you know very little about this week.

More often, we must let our faith shine on the world around us, radiating the love of Jesus by the everyday way we speak, think, and act.

•  How have you radiated the difference Jesus has made in your life? To whom?

The fruit of evangelization is changed lives and a changed world - holiness, justice, spirituality and peace.

•  What "fruit" is evangelization producing in your life?

•  With whom are you sharing this "fruit"?

The validity of our having accepted the Gospel does not only come from what we feel or what we know. It comes from the way we serve others, especially the poorest, the most marginal, the most hurting, and the most defenseless.

•  What groups of people are not being served in your neighborhood or community?

•  How could you respond to their needs?

Evangelization happens when the Word of Jesus speaks to people's minds and hearts. It needs no trickery or manipulation.

•  When have you experienced the Word of Jesus in your mind and heart? How?

Evangelization can happen only when people accept the gospel freely... because of the power of the Gospel message and the accompanying grace of God.

•  What is the "grace of God"? When have you experienced the grace of God this past week?

Our message of faith proclaims an eternally faithful God, creating all in love. A God who sustains all with gracious care. We proclaim a God whose love is unconditional. A God, who offers us divine life, even in the face of our sin, failures and inadequacies.

•  How have you experienced this love in your life?

•  What difference has that made for you?

In our faith, we discover God's eternal plan, from creation's first moment to creation's fulfillment in heaven. This same plan gives meaning to our lives. This vision we share is the power of the Good News.

•  What gives meaning to your life?

•  With whom will you share that this week?

•  When?

Evangelization has both an inward and outward thrust. Inwardly, it nurtures us, makes us grow and renews us in holiness as God's people. Outwardly, evangelization addresses those who have not heard the Gospel, those who do not practice their faith, and those who are Christians also.

•  How comfortable are you in talking about your faith?

•  Can you think of opportunities to talk about your faith?

Evangelization has a basic missionary impulse. Pope John Paul II summed up the three objectives of mission:

•  to proclaim the Gospel to all people;

•  to help bring about the reconversion of those who have received the Gospel but live it nominally;

•  and to deepen the Gospel in the lives of believers.

Think of three people who are described here.

•  How will you share your faith with each of them during the next month?

We are called beyond our Catholic communities to welcome those who have stopped practicing their faith, to invite those who have no church family, and to share faith with other Christians.

•  With whom are you in frequent contact?

•  How are you being invited to grow in sharing your faith?

We, Catholics, use the word "evangelization" because its root meaning is "Gospel" (good news) and because it calls us, even if uncomfortably, to live the faith of our baptism more openly and share it freely.

•  How would you like others' to recognize Jesus' life and light in you?

We evangelize because the Lord Jesus commanded us to. He gave the Church the unending task of evangelizing...until all nations have heard his Good News and until every person has become his disciple.

•  What does Jesus' command mean in your life?

•  How is your parish living out this command?

The Lord commanded us to evangelize because salvation is offered to every person in him. In him and him alone, is the promise of resurrection and new life.

•  If salvation is new life, when have you experienced new life?

We evangelize because Jesus offers wisdom and love that can be found nowhere else. Jesus came to invite us into a personal union with God in the Trinity.

•  Pray each day this week for an individual or group that you "yearn to gather into God's Kingdom".

Without the Holy Spirit, evangelization simply cannot occur. The Spirit brings about evangelization in the life of the Church and in the Church's sharing of the Gospel.

•  This week be aware of how the Holy Spirit is acting in you and through you.

•  Pray to grow in recognizing the Holy Spirit at work in your life.

Individuals evangelize each other by the simple lives of faith they lead. Through the ordinary patterns of our Catholic life, the Holy Spirit brings about conversion and new life in Christ.

•  How have you been evangelized in your life?

•  Who have been the evangelizers?

In living out Catholic life, two elements are at work:

•  witness, which is the simple living of the faith;

•  and sharing, which is spreading the Good News of Jesus in an explicit way.

•  How do people with whom you live and work know you are a Catholic Christian?

The Holy Spirit evangelizes through our attempts to reach those who have given up the practice of their Catholic faith.

•  How is the Holy Spirit asking you to "reach out" today? To whom?

Every Catholic can be a minister of welcome, reconciliation and understanding to those who have stopped practicing their faith.

•  Do you know anyone who has been hurt by the Church?

•  To what social event or parish gathering can you invite this person?

Every Catholic is to reach out to those who do not belong to a faith community. They are to invite them to consider the power of the Gospel of Jesus which the riches of the Catholic Church can bring into their lives.

•  How have I experienced the riches of the Catholic Church in my life?

•  Do I know of anyone who would appreciate those riches also?

The Holy Spirit is calling churches ... into ever deeper communion through dialogue and cooperation.

•  What is the Holy Spirit calling you and your parish to do with other Christian churches in your community?

Those who have not received the Gospel deserve honor and respect for following God as their consciences direct them.

•  What is my basic attitude toward people of other world religions?

•  What kind of language do I use about them when talking with others?

Interreligious dialogue presents an opportunity to learn about other religious traditions and to explain our own.. Such dialogue should be approached with utmost respect and sensitivity.

•  What other world religions do I know little about ...Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism?

•  What can I do to learn and appreciate these world religions?

We pray that the fire of Jesus enkindled in us by God's Spirit may lead more and more people in our land to become disciples, formed in the image of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

•  Where do I need to be "fired up" in my life?

•  Where does my parish need to be "set on fire"?

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