Faith Sharing Tips

• Don’t be afraid that you can’t quote Scripture or you don’t have the Catechism rememorized in order to share your faith.
• Most people have a wonderful, beautiful story to share about their faith.
• No one knows about your relationship with God better than you.
• Whether you are introverted or extroverted, we all have relationships with people, we all talk to other people. Don’t let being introverted be an excuse for you not to share your faith.
• Remember, Jesus spoke to thousands of people on occasions, He spoke to hundreds of people on more occasions, but the vast majority of His ministry was talking to very small groups or to people one-on- one. We should follow Jesus’ example!
• Jesus said this in the Gospel of Matthew, “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.”

1. Pray
   • Talk and most importantly, listen, to how God is calling you to use your gifts.
   • The emphasis is on listening, not talking.
   • Listening in silence, every day.
   • How else will you know how God wants you to use your gifts unless you seek His counsel and advice every day?
2. Discern What Your Gifts Are
   • When we use our God-given gifts in the way that God intended, God will give us Peace & Joy and not just regular joy, but Supernatural Joy – Joy that is infused by God!
   • When we align our thoughts and actions with God’s plan for us, we are taking an active role in God’s Salvation plan - this brings Joy to God!
   • People are attracted to joyful people.
   • People are attracted to people giving their authentic, joyful witness.
   • To become joyful, use your gifts in the way God planned for you, not necessarily the way you planned for yourself.
   • Discern what your gifts are and use them in the way God intended.
   • Using your gifts in the way God intended is the best way to share your faith and to evangelize.
   • Gift Discernment Tools– Spiritual Gifts Inventory (by Jane Guenther from the Catholic Renewal Center) and the Gallup “Living Your Strengths” Program.

3. Share Your Faith Story
   • Everyone loves a good story.
   • No one knows your faith story, your relationship with God, better than you do.
   • When people ask you about your relationship with God, it’s easy to talk about because it’s the truth; it is something that you are experiencing.
   • By sharing your own story, people can relate to it because we all have similar issues and questions.
   • By sharing your own story, it can “disarm” the hardest critic because it’s your story, you are not debating interpretation on Catholic Church teaching.
   • St. Augustine said, “The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”
   • The truth, this is the power behind your story.
   • Develop a five-minute version of your story in case you are asked to speak to your parish.
   • Also, develop a thirty-second version so that when you are standing in line at the grocery store and the opportunity arises, you are prepared.
4. Start With Those People Closest To You
   • Many people think that to evangelize you have to go out and knock on strangers’ doors.
   • Quite frankly, this is a scary proposition for most people and will scare them away.
   • Instead, start with the people you know.
   • Start with the people registered in your parish that don’t attend Mass.
   • To narrow it down even further, start with your own family and friends.
   • Talk to your spouse, your children, and your neighbors.
   • Start with the people who are closest to you.
   • Start with the people in your circle of influence.
   • Just think if all regular Church-goers could bring just one more person to Mass.
5. Personally Invite People to Participate
   • Don’t assume people don’t want to participate; many times we forget to ask them.
   • A personal, one-on-one invitation is the best way to ask someone to participate; avoid the general announcement “cattle call.”
   • Personally invite people back to Mass, to participate in a parish ministry and to give generously to support the parish mission.
   • We need to change the mind-set for many parish ministry leaders.
   • We need to remind them that their primary role is to bring people to God, regardless of what ministry they are in.
   • We need to train parish ministry leaders to be better at faith-sharing and make this a standard part of ministry meetings.
   • Regardless of what ministry we are involved in, “sharing your faith” is the absolute “best practice” any of us can do.
6. Learn the Catholic Faith
   • Join a prayer group or faith formation group with people that know more than you.
   • Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Holy Bible every day.
   • Read about the lives of saints, they are great examples for us to follow.
   • Learn from someone who knows the social, economic, and physical landscape in the Scripture Readings; it will give you more clarity and understanding of the Bible.
   • As you grow in faith, your desire to learn more about the faith will grow.