Sunday, March 06, 2011

Words and Works

Here is my latest article for Catholic Online. It's on the need for words and works in Evangelization.
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Posted by Fr Longenecker at Sunday, March 06, 2011

2 comments:

Robert H said...

Beautiful article father. First thing that I thought of was Faith without works is dead. I think of this much like you will know the tree by its fruit. If the works are not there then the faith itself is barren. At then same time without faith works are merely a reflection of the self onto another. I think it was CS Lewis who said that asking which blade in a pair of scissors was more important.

Benedict in Spe Salve discusses at length how, in the absence of God, we naturally try to create Heaven on Earth, whether by technical, political, or social means, but we are ultimately doomed to failure. The truth is that they have lost faith, so have become their own god. Whether pagans in British prisons, liturgical innovators or old line protestants.

The last word may belong to St Francis however, preach the Gospel always; use words if necessary.

12:57 AM
Chad said...

Father,

Great article. As someone who recently converted to the Catholic Church, I have brought with me an evangelistic heart. There is such beauty in the Catholic Church, and it is a reflection of the beauty that lies in Christ Himself.

One thing I have learned over the years is that we cannot simply do one form of evangelization or another. When we bring together the 'kergymatic' and 'koinonia' we have a much better form of evangelizing. If we simply preach to people, few will listen. If we simply serve, without serving the Gospel as well, then they will never hear the Truth.

Thank you for the encouragement for the lay people to share the Word. I hope that the Lord can use me in a number of ways.

1:59 AM

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