Porn. Fornication. Prostitution. Loving and leaving. Creating children and then abandoning them. Is this the greatness of men? The answer is a resounding ‘no’ according to a powerful short film titled “A Call to Battle” which was released yesterday by the Catholic bishop of Phoenix. Read the rest here.
There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of decades of the so-called “new evangelization”. From my perspective, I haven’t seen much evangelization at the local parish or even group level anywhere. There hasn’t been much evangelization, either “new” or old time, for that matter. Lots of talk and no action, for the most part.
And yet, evangelization is one of the main reasons – if not the main reason – that the Catholic Church exists. Today in the West, local parishes are shutting down. In fact, of the ones that trudge along, it’s all about keeping the furnace going or paying the electricity bill. For the Basilicas and Cathedrals, especially in dying areas, it’s all about selling tickets as a tourist attraction. We’ve become a museum piece, as Pope Benedict once quipped. To say that we have lost our way is a major understatement. I told the guys in the Legion at the start of our group that evangelization is not just a pious option, it’s a matter of survival. We simply will not survive as a potent religion if we don’t spread our Faith.
The challenges and opportunities today are vastly different than they were 50 years ago. We are not dealing with anti-Catholic protestants. We are largely dealing with fallen-away Catholics, and people who know little about Christianity or the Catholic Faith. We have a different challenge that, in some ways, is easier than times past. There is a great hunger for spiritual truths, and all of us have to take concerted, specific, and deliberate efforts to make it happen. It’s not good enough to let someone else do it, or have just a good, fuzzy feeling about evangelization. Uh….who’s gonna get in the car and hit the pavement and do it? Warm fuzzies doesn’t do the trick, sorry to say. Nor does sitting behind a computer. That’s not going to cut it either…at least not totally. We need to get personal and press the flesh – in your face with a smile kind of evangelism. Each one of us needs to step out of our comfort zone and get uncomfortable, be vulnerable, and yes, even look like a fool and idiot at times. Step out into the peripheries, as Pope Francis says. That is the cost of furthering the Gospel. We have to start at Square 1 and build from there.
My good friend, Fr. Anthony Hannon, who pastors St. Catherine of Sienna parish in Metcalfe started something rather bold a number of years ago at the rural fair in his Community. He purchased a booth at the Metcalfe Fair, and started doing evangelization. When things didn’t work out the way he had planned along the more conventional approach to evangelization, he rolled with the punches and got smart. He invited the Queenship of Mary and put them as the first point of contact, setup a popcorn machine and started getting different results.
I was impressed with this strategy. Fr. Anthony happened to mention to me that the Sisters needed a popcorn machine maker for this year’s event. So the Legion bought one for them, organized a rotation to help them out, and do some reconnaissance to find out what works and what does not in 
evangelizing people. Catholics don’t do evangelization, do we?. That might have been the reality in the past, but we cannot afford for this to be the reality going forward. We need to learn “real fast”, as the saying goes. In my first encounter this year, I must admit being somewhat awkward, but I brought my wife and kids out to help ease into it. They had some fun on the rides and experienced a rural fair, and they also got a chance to engage and to make evangelization part of normal life. Sometimes, it was a smile and simply passing out popcorn; other times giving out a pamphlet or rosary; 
other times engaging in an invitation to learn more about the Catholic faith in a follow-up session on the following Tuesday at the Church; other times engaging in a more substantive conversation. There weren’t any on-the-spot-conversions, but I noticed that lots of people are attracted to popcorn and religious sisters!
The latter is what fascinated me, in particular. I think it has a lot to do with their habits and their sense of purpose and meaning — something that is sorely lacking in today’s nihilistic culture. One group of teenagers has now been back four years to have a chat with Sr. Philomena. It’s about establishing relationships and building from there. Constancy, consistency, and the joy of Christ are the keys. Young people are looking for a challenge and a way of life that the world does not offer. The Church and her traditions can offer it. We just need to get out there and make it happen, and simply draw back the curtain and say, “Hey! We’ve got a lot to offer in here.” One young man who I had the opportunity to engage in came back a second time. When I asked him what he was looking for, he said he wasn’t sure. After a short conversation, I have him a booklet on how to be a man from a Catholic perspective. Maybe a seed was planted. Who knows? I also remember a group of young children who were all excited about the popcorn. Before giving them their bags, I asked them, “How many of you know that God loves you, raise your hand?” They all raised their hands. Here’s your popcorn, kiddies. Next year, we’ll take it one step further.
There is a risk of just stopping at popcorn evangelization without going further, but there’s a certain prudence in starting out light and soft and then moving in on harder subjects. It all depends on where the individual is at, and your discernment in probing deeper if they will let you. That’s something we will have to work on together as a group. There’s a skill to it and a discipline. It’s not some loosey-goosy exercise. I came away from the experience a bit wiser and with an idea or two of how to entice people into learning about the Faith. Popcorn evangelization is a phrase I like to use to describe an approach that brings down people’s barriers to the Christian Faith and gets them to consider the Catholic Faith in a natural and “safe” context. It works. And we need to grab a clue and work with it as a strategy. The account below is from one of our other Legionnaires who was present at the Fair.
I was at the Metcalfe Fair this afternoon, did some observing and helping. The flow of people was moderate but the free popcorn did help a lot in attracting people to the booth, kids especially. People were friendly and polite. I did try to talk to them but I’m poor at starting a conversation, so mostly it was just a “hi”, do you want some free popcorn. I did talk to a mother who “complained” about a priest who has not yet replied to her daughter’s letter. She said that her daughter wrote a letter to ask the priest something like, why spend thousand of dollars on a gold-plated monstrance? Wouldn’t it be better to spend that money to help the poor as Jesus taught in the Bible. I tried to explain and told her that It is kind of showing respect to God and in Jesus time the Jerusalem temple was also decorated with gold and expensive things but Jesus did not complain about that. Furthermore, the Church is still doing a lot of charity work, it is not like the Church just spend money on expensive stuff and not helping the poor. She seemed to feel better with my explanation and before she left I asked her to bring her daughter to the booth if she has more questions. I also said the priest should respond. Several people, especially kids were looking at the rosary, I tried to tell them what the rosary was about but I didn’t do a good job, I was ignorant and unprepared about the rosary. There were free pamphlets available on the table which talks about the rosary. I should have taken a look at all the pamphlets being displayed at the booth so that I could be more prepared to help when people show an interest in them. One last thing, the popcorn machine works in a cycle, it takes time to produce the popcorn and people are willing to wait and the waiting provide opportunities to engage them. Some people started talking and some looked at what were on display at the table but most of them just looked at the popcorn machine. It would be nice if we can add some slogans or catch-phrases, like “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”, promote some ministries/activities at the local church.
As Thanksgiving approaches, many communities host agricultural fairs to showcase everything from the best potatoes to the best heifers.
At the Metcalfe Fair, in a small rural town in the Ottawa archdiocese, local Catholics decided to showcase their faith Oct. 1-4, putting evangelization into practice by offering free popcorn, rosaries, pamphlets, friendly glances, kind words, and meaningful conversations. One of their big draws is the presence of the Queenship of Mary sisters in their habits.
Fr. Anthony Hannon, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Metcalfe, first attended the fair in 2008 and noticed the Presbyterians and the United Church had booths, so he decided his parish would have one the following year.
But he recalled it was a tough slog. The first year, they handed out literature and found many people would either avoid their booth or politely take the pamphlets only to throw them in the trash can as soon as they were out of sight. He recalled going outdoors and finding one of their pamphlets about Jesus outside in the rain, lying in the mud with a big footprint mark on it.
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While Mother Mary Bernadette, the Queenship of Mary founder kept the popcorn machine going, Sister Teresa Catherine Marie said she toured the barn where there was a display of animals for children, including some baby ducklings. “There’s a very family feeling to the fair,” she said. “Being able to share the hope we have is always a plus.”
“Yesterday, all of us went on the rides,” she said, grinning. “That was a lot of fun. It’s also a way of evangelizing.”
Ottawa father John Pacheco brought his five daughters and some members of the Legionnaires of St. Maurice, a men’s group he leads at his parish, to help out at the booth and to get ideas for their own evangelization projects.
Pacheco said he wanted his kids and the men in his group to see “evangelization is a normal part of life” and not a “hard sell” where someone “presses a button and you put on your evangelization face.”
“Most Catholics have never been involved in evangelization” he said. “We keep talking about the new evangelization, but nobody ever does anything. It’s all talk, talk, talk.”
Helping out at the fair gives the men in his group a chance to see how people react. “It’s all about practice,” he said. Next year they might rent the booth next door and add some other elements, including music and a man dressed as a medieval knight to help spark questions and opportunities to talk about chivalry and Catholic moral teaching.
(Source)
Written By: David Gilbert
Among the most serious crises facing our society today is the lack of true men. Women, children, the Church and the world are yearning for true men to setup and assist God in the mission of saving the world by saving souls.
This is why I am overjoyed to announce the launching of the Band of Christian Brothers fraternity!
It is a fraternity that emboldens men to grow in faith and virtue, and to encourage each other in this pursuit. I encourage you to learn more about us and the Code of Honour and Spirituality that we adhere to.
It is no coincidence that the birth of the Band of Christian Brothers is on October 7th. It is the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary (also known as the feast of Our Lady of Victory), the anniversary of the decisive victory of the combined Catholic forces of the Holy League in 1571 at the Battle of Lepanto, crushing the Ottoman fleet and stopping the further maritime expansion and raiding of the Muslim conquers.
This date holds major significance to the fraternity since it is through Our Lady (who leads us to Christ) that we will be granted victory over our battle with evil and sin. It is also a great reminder that we Catholic Christian men need to unite to fight this common foe.
It has been the work of the Holy Spirit (and some faithful men and priests) that has guided us to create a fraternity to unite the Catholic men’s movement under the banner of Christ through a common code of honour to live by and spirituality (which is Eucharistic and Marian) that we draw our strength and graces from. From this we intend to embolden men to live in faith and virtue while feeding the Church with more men coming to her aid.
We hope in the following months that the fraternity will become a confraternity within the Church.
If you and/or your men’s group are interested in joining the Band of Christian Brothers fraternity (click here) or have some questions about it, click here.
Please pray for me and the Band of Christian Brothers fraternity as we embark on faithfully following God’s Will.
God bless you all!
What’s going on here? The leaders of this emergent movement say the goal of events like this is nothing less than complete restoration of the Catholic man. Think “band of brothers” over pockets of loners; would be-martyrs instead of has-been quitters. Virtue and service over vice, sin, and addiction. Every Catholic Caspar Milquetoast is being called to emulate Don John of Austria, who with the Holy League saved Christendom from the Ottoman Turks. Yesterday’s average Joe is being remolded as priest, prophet, and king—a bold and self-sacrificing leader in the model of Jesus and St. Joseph. The call has gone out: real Catholic men wanted. Rosary-praying, faith-defending spiritual warriors. Education and training will be provided. (Source)
Make no mistake. The Lord is calling.
“Both the castle and clouds make your sight focus on the tower, which instills an impression of extraordinary gallantry, dignity and majesty. One gets the idea that from this hilltop, this tower is facing an enemy that appears in the distance. But it faces that enemy with gallantry, as if looking at him threateningly and saying: “Come near and I will crush you: I fear not!””
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