25 Ways to Evangelize

Pray every day that God will inspire all members of the Church to proclaim the Gospel in their thoughts, words and deeds wherever they live and work.
Pray for courage, wisdom and opportunities to evangelize.
Pray in public when you are eating at a restaurant. Don’t be shy to let people see you make the Sign of the Cross.
Pray with your children or grandchildren.
Pray for priests, deacons, religious and the lay faithful proclaiming the Gospel in “the missions,” i.e., in lands where the Church does not yet exist.

Ask God to help you accept your daily crosses willingly and with a smile. Approaching our ordinary annoyances in this way may very well make others turn their heads, raise their eyebrows and ask you why you’re different.
Make your home for those who you welcome there a faith-filled place by displaying religious objects (crucifixes, pictures of the saints, etc.) in prominent locations.
Show sincere care for another person.
Be a bearer of Good News.
Do your best, with the grace that God provides, in your vocation and in your career.

Read the Bible every day.
Read the U.S. Catechism for Adults. Better yet, start a study group at your parish.
Learn more about your faith through programs at your parish, books, the Internet and Catholic radio or television.
Renew your faith by getting involved in Cursillo, going on a retreat or experiencing a Christ Renews His Parish weekend in your faith community.
Build up a home library of Catholic pamphlets, books, recordings, videos and DVDs, and share them with people who could benefit from them.

After renewing your faith or learning more about it, be willing to speak about it when faith matters come up in conversations with friends, relatives or co-workers.
When appropriate, tell others a story about how your faith in Christ has made a real and positive difference in your life.
“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pt 3:15).
Listen attentively and compassionately to co-workers who talk with you about personal or family problems. If appropriate, offer to pray for them and/or with them.
If a friend, relative or co-worker tells you about something good that has happened in his or her life, say with simplicity and with a smile on your face, ‘Thanks be to God” or “Praise God.”

Support missionaries with financial contributions.
Help a neighbor in need by bringing them meals when they are sick or are bringing home a new baby and help them with yard work or shoveling sidewalks and driveways.
Volunteer at a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, crisis pregnancy center or local chapter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
Visit the sick or help with a jail ministry, “for I was … ill and you cared for me, a prisoner and you visited me” (Mt 25:36).
“Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Mt 5:16).

The Criterion