The joy of conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith
You may have more than one God-moment, as you will later see that I did. Begin with the first encounter with Jesus that began your personal relationship with him, the moment you knew he was real and loved you personally. Fill in as much detail as you feel necessary to recreate it for sharing. Continue writing what you remember about subsequent faith events, as I do in describing my dive into Catholicism.
During this pandemic, we’ve not been able to gather with many others. But whether we converse with our friends and family, neighbors and business associates from six feet away or on Zoom, are they so impressed with what we say and do that they want what we have? Perhaps they haven’t seen us recently and sense a change in our priorities, the delightful presence of something holy, a pervading peacefulness. They want to know the secret of our inner peace in a chaotic situation, our commitment to God and family when it’s inconvenient, and why we build our schedules around Mass and ministries. They may not recognize at first that they are seeking the same close relationship with Jesus that transforms all our relationships.
You need not be a public speaker or author to share your Catholic faith story with the world, and Nancy Ward has proven that in her new book, Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story: Tools, Tips & Testimonies, published by The Word Works. In her book, Ward shows just how easy it can be to simply and spontaneously share with others how the Catholic faith has changed your life.
Stop and think for a moment. There are a zillion more lay Catholics in the world than there are priests and religious. It is we lay people who hold the key to the evangelization of the world. This is one of the most overlooked exhortations of Vatican II. Instead of rushing to fill “quasi liturgical roles,” we lay folk were challenged to evangelize the environments which are unique to us (and not readily accessible to our priests and religious) – our homes and extended family, our businesses and work environments (including our employees and co-workers) and the various athletic, charitable, entertainment, fraternal, political, professional and social organizations in which we participate.
Who should share their faith story? Everyone! It doesn’t matter if you are outgoing or shy. Ms. Ward encourages her readers by sharing her own initial reticence and explains how the Holy Spirit helped her to move past those feelings. We all need to spread the good news. We live in a very hungry world. Sharing Your Faith Story makes it easy. In the first half of the book, Ms. Ward provides all the tips and tools you need to realize and share your own story.
“Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story” by Brian H. Gill Nancy H. C. Ward’s “Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story” has been in print and available on Amazon.com since April, 2019. Back cover blurbs include Lisa Hendey’s “an enjoyable template for the challenge of evangelization” and Gary Zimak’s “a book that needed to be written.” “Sharing Your...
