Let me share with you a couple statistics that illustrate the direction our Church has been headed in.

The results of a new survey by the Pew Research Center came out not too long ago. Here’s a few of the lowlights:
For every one person that joins the Catholic Church, 8 people leave
Only 29% of U.S. Catholics go to Mass on a weekly basis
And 59% of Catholics now say that abortion should be legal in most or all cases

The question is - Why?
It’s because the full Gospel message isn’t being proclaimed enough.

Most evangelization efforts today focus more on encouragement and self-improvement rather than on the deeper truths of the gospel, such as hell, the need for repentance and the transformative power of grace.

If what we proclaim fails to address these aspects, it may not resonate as something essential to people's lives, leading many to drift away.

And I realize that it’s no fun to talk about hell. But the reason the Good News is so Good is because the bad news of hell is so bad. And so we have to talk about hell when the situation calls for it.

So, if the Gospel doesn’t come across as something essential to our lives, then why bother to learn our faith, and that’s why belief in the Eucharist is dwindling.

So that’s the most important - getting the Gospel right. If we do that, it will have a domino effect, and these other problems will go away.

St. Paul in his letter to the Romans says this:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith… 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed… 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth.

In other words, the Gospel has power that leads unto salvation because the justice and righteousness and wrath of God is revealed in its proclamation.

So how is God's Justice and Righteousness revealed in the Gospel? St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that the Justice of God is primarily that he keeps his promises in a twofold way. First, he promises reward for the righteous. And second, he promises his wrath for the wicked.

The next question is - How does this proclamation gain its power? Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit which act upon the listener. What are these gifts?

Now let's talk about the normal process of conversion.

The Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches that conversion and repentance usually unfold as a process.

It begins with God's grace. Grace always comes first. We seek God only because He first seeks us.

His grace leads to faith—a belief that God exists, that He rewards those who seek Him, and that He punishes sin.

That faith gives rise to what's called servile fear: a healthy awareness that we're not right with God and that, if we remain in our sins, we deserve God's judgment and eternal separation from Him in Hell.

That fear moves us to repentance—to turn away from sin and place our hope in God's mercy.

Then, as God's grace continues to work within us, our hearts are gradually filled with charity. Our fear begins to change. It matures into filial fear—not primarily a fear of punishment, but a fear of offending the God we have come to know and love. And that love continues to grow until it reaches its fulfillment in union with Him.

So the ordinary pattern of conversion looks like this:

God's grace.
Faith.
Servile fear—a healthy fear of God's judgment and eternal separation from God in Hell.
Repentance and hope in God's mercy.
And finally, charity, giving rise to filial fear—a fear of offending God because we love Him.

Now, this process can take a long time. For many of us, a lifetime. We may not even be where we need to be when we die. Thank God for Purgatory. But none of this process can even begin until someone first hears the Gospel.

When the Gospel is proclaimed, people are confronted with the reality of God—His holiness, His justice, and His mercy. They are invited to repent, place their trust in Christ, and begin the lifelong journey of conversion that leads to salvation.

The Book of Romans, chapter 10 says:

For, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Okay, great but there’s a problem.

"But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?
Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.”

Remember that - faith comes by hearing - not from what is read or what is seen, not by seeing someone live a good Catholic life, but through hearing the word of Christ. That means we have to be bold, and open our mouths and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and his Church.

In Isaiah 55, God tells us through the prophet, Isaiah,
11 my word that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

What’s His Word? Jesus, the story of Jesus.

So, again, the most important skill for the evangelist is the ability to proclaim and explain the Good News of Jesus Christ and His Church.

Because the road to salvation doesn’t start by telling people what they must do. It starts by telling people what God has done for them in the person of Jesus.

So, it’s Kerygma before Catechesis, the story of Jesus first, so people can respond with love and gratitude, and follow Him, and then later on we teach them how to live life in a way that brings joy and peace, and gives glory to God.

So kerygma before catechesis, heart before the head, love before law.

THE POWER OF GOD
And we all know how powerful stories can be! Think of your favorite movie, or your favorite book. Great stories have a way of drawing us into some drama. They can capture our imagination, invoke our emotions, and move us to action.

And if our stories can do that, what about the story of God?

Jesus became man, did battle with the evil one, someone we’re powerless against, and saved us from not only from certain death, but from certain eternal death. (mind blown)

If Jesus never came, our stories would be far different. They would be nightmares. They’d be all about death, despair and being slaves of the devil.

Some people think that if they don’t have Jesus, then they’re on their own. No, they’re not, if they don’t have Jesus, they’re in the hands of the devil, and that’s as bad as things can get.

The kerygma is the greatest weapon of the evangelist because it awakens faith. We can't move into discipleship until we've heard the good news.

Pope Benedict 16 says that the Gospel is not only informative, it's performative. Something happens when the Gospel is proclaimed. Something supernatural. It's like the Holy Spirit swoops down out of the sky when the Gospel message is proclaimed And He stirs the heart of the person hearing it.

Romans 1:16 calls the Gospel the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

So we don’t have the pressure of bringing about conversions, that’s God’s job. He doesn’t need us for that. Our job is to show up, and prepare the way for God to convert hearts by sharing the Good News.

Remember, it bears repeating - every proclamation of the Gospel is a supernatural event - it's not just words, it's not just a transfer of information, it's an event in which the power of the kingdom of God is unleashed into the world..

So, what exactly is the Gospel message? What do people need to hear?
There are the 4 parts to it:
1 God’s Original Plan
2 The Bad News of Sin
3 What Jesus did to save us
4 What We Must do to be Saved

So, here’s what it might sound like in a conversation:

Evangelist: Hi, would you like a free Rosary?
passerby: Sure.
Evangelist: Great! Did you know that the rosary is a prayer?
passerby: No.
Evangelist: Yeah, it’s a powerful meditation on the life of Jesus. Are you a Christian?
passerby: No, I didn’t grow up with any religion.
Evangelist: Can I share with you the story of Jesus?
passerby: Sure.

Evangelist: Well, God created you. He loves you. He wants to be in a relationship with you now and forever in Heaven. He’s also a God of justice who rewards the righteous and punishes sinners.
The bad news is that we’ve sinned. It started with our first parents, Adam and Eve. The devil lied to them and encouraged them to disobey God, and they fell for it. This killed them spiritually, along with all their descendants - that’s us - So now, we all come into the world separated from God and on the road to hell, which is a permanent exclusion from the God who loves us, and is the source of everything good.
The good news is that God, in the person of Jesus, became a man to pay the debt we owed for sin by dying on the cross. And then he destroyed death by rising from the dead.
We can be brought into a saving relationship with God when we put our faith in Jesus, repent of our sins, and get baptized into the Catholic Church that Jesus established to save us.

And then we can ask them what they think…
We can lead them in a prayer…
We can encourage them to pray themselves.
We can share our contact info and invite them to continue the conversation.
We can tell them about OCIA… whatever the situation and the Holy Spirit dictate.

Below is an example of a prayer you can lead them in:
God our Father, I believe that out of Your infinite love You have created us. In many ways we have sinned against you. Please forgive us.
Thank you for sending your Son to die for us, to save us from eternal death. We choose today to begin to follow you and place Jesus at the center of our lives.
I ask you now to flood this person's soul with the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that he may be transformed. Give him the grace and courage to live as a disciple in your Church for the rest of his days. Amen.