A Southern-Style Reversion: Evangelization in the Deep South
Editor’s note: Today we welcome Jennifer Fitz to the New Evangelizers blogging team! Inspired by an article in the National Catholic Register, on the growing Catholic presence in the South, I wanted to...
View ArticleStaying Catholic: Jack T. Chick and the New Evangelization
The moment I returned to the Catholic Church, Jack T. Chick, the infamous anti-Catholic cartoonist, entered my life. Well-meaning friends from my evangelical congregation took me aside. They were...
View ArticleNow and at the Hour of Our Death: Agony, Holy Water, Consolation
The elderly next door neighbor was in the hospital, dying, and my friend Janine had volunteered to babysit the great-grandson. “I’ve never seen anything so terrible,” the boy’s mom, Kara, had confided,...
View ArticleOther People’s Vocations
“I don’t love it!” That’s what our then-four-year-old used to say whenever she didn’t care for something. Time to turn off the TV? Clean-up? Go to bed? I don’t love it. When I tell people I enjoy...
View ArticleEvangelizing in the Face of Dissent
“I’m hesitant to evangelize, because I know that I’ll have to steer new Catholics so carefully, just to keep them away from the all the dissent within the Church.” That’s what one faithful Catholic...
View Article10 Ways to Support Evangelization Even When Your Parish Is Falling Apart
Last month I opened a thorny topic that had been posed to me by a fellow Catholic: How do I evangelize when my local parish is mired in dissent or disorder? My answer was built around how to think...
View ArticleMillstones and Mitres: Recovering the Lamb by Forgiving the Wolf
As I write this a week before it goes live, Cardinal Mahoney is slated to attend the upcoming papal conclave. There are numerous calls for him to respectfully decline to attend. I don’t usually go in...
View ArticleOn Modesty and Evangelization: 5 Lies We Tell Our Daughters
If we’re going to evangelize, we need to live our faith fully, and we need to teach that faith in our parishes and at home. This includes aspects of the Christian life that might not come naturally to...
View ArticleBody + Soul = A Theology of Discipleship
I was minding my own business, researching an article on Catholic Sex Ed, and next thing I knew, I was re-learning Evangelization 101. You know, the part where they drill into your head the ol’ maxim...
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Time to Take Action: Lawn Chair Catechism Coming Your Way
You’re all fired up, Jennifer, but what are you planning to do about this? I love to read Catholic stuff. It makes me happy and warm inside, the way some people get a kick out of greeting cards or...
View ArticleLearning from the Experts: Read the Lives of Saints
This past week I gave a talk on teaching children the Beatitudes, and I mentioned a few of my favorite go-to sources for studying the lives of saints. The next day I discovered a new favorite, just...
View ArticleDeath by Liturgy
In chapter 9 of Forming Intentional Disciples, Sherry Weddell teaches the would-be evangelist about an essential skill: listening. Grab a drink, get comfortable, and take a few minutes to practice that...
View ArticleEvangelization and the Case for Catholic Fiction
Why bother with Catholic fiction? As I write this, I’ve just returned from the Catholic Writers Guild’s annual live conference (our online conference is held in early spring), and once again I’ve met...
View ArticleRepentance, Mercy, and Prudence
As I write this column, the Church is once again dealing with a personnel problem. A Catholic priest who was found in a highly suspect personal situation has just been put back to work. Some are...
View ArticleLiturgy & Evangelization: Lessons from a Church Bulletin
I recently had a chance to attend Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s in Greenville, SC. The parish is often mentioned in the context of the New Evangelization, and I thought I’d take a look and see what the...
View ArticleIs the Mass Just Like Everywhere Else?
As a girl, one of my quirks was a fondness for wearing hats. Another quirk: I liked to read old etiquette books. I was not so much interested in having good manners as in reading about them, and...
View ArticleAction, Intention, and the Incarnation
Does what I do matter? We are now celebrating the Feast of the Incarnation. It is the mystery of God become Man – Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. This mystery is so immense that it took several...
View ArticleI Can’t Do This Without You: The Case for Christian Community
In the evangelical circles where I first cut my teeth as a Christian, hit-and-run evangelism was a sore topic. A mission team might swarm into town, preach the Gospel, hand out tracts, and pray with...
View ArticleLousy Parents and the Case for Unkempt Souls
Around St. Blog’s recently, we’ve looking at the “What’s wrong with catechesis?” problem, and the refrain that is not news to anyone is, “What do we do with these parents?” You know the ones . . ....
View ArticleFive Steps to Helping Your Pewmates Improve Their Spiritual Fitness
If Jesus were on Facebook, he’d be the guy who sends friend requests to everybody. This creates a thorny problem, because you end up with a Church full of horrid slackers. Weak, pathetic,...
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