National Center of No. 4F The Confraternity ·of Christian Doctrine ~~~~~~ N.C. W. C., 1312 Massachusetts Ave., N. W. Washington, D. C. ··"'- - SUGGESTIONS FOR THE APOSTOLATE TO NON-CATBOLICS The apostolate to non-Catholics in the United States is a parish responsibility. This responsibility rests first upon the local visible representative of the Good Shep- herd. It is he who must first -take to himself the words of Jesus Christ: "Other sheep I have that are not. of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one Fold and one Shepherd" (John 10:16). To meet this responsibility, a pastor needs the devoted collaboration of ·an his Catholic parishioners. Iri inviting his flock to share this responsibility the pastor is calling them to take part in Catholic Action, "the participation of the laity in the apostolate of the hierarchy"; he is inviting them to share the mission of Jesus Christ, given to the Apostles on the day of His Ascension: "Teach ye all nations" (Matt. 28:19) ; "Preach the Gospel to every crea- ture'' (Mark 16:15) . · PRAYER Is FIRST N ECESSITY A first step is to enlist the faithful in a campaign of prayer for the . conversion of their non-Catholic fellow- parishioners. There· might be a public novena for this purpose· from Ascension Thursday .to Pentecost Sunday. Mission Sunday, the Church Unity · Octave, the feasts ·of the Apostles, or the principal feasts of the Confraternity, offer other occasions for promoting- this crusade of prayer. 1 at~ ' - .~ . ... . : -, Confessors might instruct their penitents to say their pen- ance "for the conversion of the non-Catholics of the par- ish." Prayer for conversions fosters a missionary mentality among Catholics and prayer will obtain the grace of God without which all activity is vain. CoNTACT EssENTIAL FOR CoNVERSION The next step is to bring the "other sheep" into con- tact with the Shepherd and the True Fold of Christ. Only the exceptional non-Catholic comes to the Catholic Church for services or to the Catholic rectory for instructions. To reach the average non-Catholic, one must go in search of him. Street preaching is a simple, easy and effective.means of doing this, and there are many things for the laity to do in a campaign of street preaching. REQUISITES FOR STREET PREACHING Three things are necessary ·for successful street preach- ing: a crowd (large or small), a speaker and a speech. The crowd is first in importance; the speaker must never think that he or his sermon are more important than his audience. Crowds will not gather to listen to a speaker on any street corner, so some discretion must be exercised in choosing the location for one's "pitch" or "stand;" The civil authorities should be consulted in this matter. There must be adequate advertising to insure a crowd. This will vary according to local needs and possibilities. Newspaper stories with a picture of the speaker or speak- ers, display signs, handbills, "general rings" on rural tele- phone lines, postcards to postoffice boxholders, all serve the purpose in some measure. Also successful in small communities is the utilization of local gossip-mongers. This preliminary work can all be done by laymen. The leader in any campaign of street preaching must be the pastor. His responsibility cannot be delegated, nor can it be fulfilled by the engagement of professional mis- sionaries. The pastor need not do all the preaching him- 2 self. He need not even give the principal sermons. But he must head the campaign. QUALIFICATIONS OF SPEAKERS One need not be a St. Augustine to preach on the street nor a St. Thomas Aquinas to answer the questions asked on the street. Any priest who is competent to preach to the faithful can also prepare himself to preach to those not of the fold. Laymen and laywomen can prepare them- selves to give simple expositions of Catholic doctrine and practice on the street corner. Even boys and girls can master short speeches, prepared by themselves under -com- petent supervision, or prepared for them, and deliver them as a prelude to the principal talk of the meeting. In this sort of work one learns best by doing, and it is a mistake to insist that special qualifications are necessary at the start. Speakers should remember that they represent Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, Who laid down His life for His flock. Pride, aggressive manners, an attitude of supe- riority, argumentativeness, should have no place in their make-up. Their task is to teach and instruct; not to pick a quarrel. SUBJECTS FOR OUTDOOR TALKS Talks may be given on any point of Catholic faith and practice. In preparing one's sermon it is useful to remem- ber that the best apologetic(!.! method is not to defend the Church against the attacks of her enemies, nor to over- emphasize the proof for the Catholic Church and her teachings, but simply to present Christ, to lift Him up before a Christ-hungry world. When people come in con- tact with Jesus Christ under Catholic auspices, they soon come to recognize Christ in the Church which is His Body. For a series of seven meetings (in smaller communi- ties it is not advisable to compete with the Sunday evening services in Protestant churches) the following subjects are suggested for the principal talks: 3 The- Good· Shepherd and -His Plock (in which the establishment of the Catholic Chuith js •'shown). Jesus and His Mother (showing that we cannot love Jesus and neglect Mary nor hope to please Jesus by be- littling His Mother) . J _ • The Mecming and Pu~·pose of Baptism (which ,treats of Grace ai1d the Supernatural ' Life beginning with the story of Christ's conversation with Nicodemus in Jolin 3) . . Jesus Christ Our Redeemer (in which 1t is shown that Jesus· gave the priests of His Church the power to li forgive sJns, which is ~xercised in the ~ J;earing _ oJ ~on- l_j . fessions and the gr_anting of .absoluti?n). . , , J The Meaning of the .Mass (which b __ egins with :, the narration of the promise of the Holy Eucharist in JoHn, 6) . What Happens after Death (principally the -Cath- olic doctrine of PurgatoryJ . . The _Seven Lasr W 9.rds of. Christ on the Cross (a simple narration of th~ Passion and D <&th of Our Lord). I . How TO CONDUCT A MEETiNG - ... ... .. Every meeting should be opened with the Sign of the Cross and a prayer, preferabJy t~e "Come, Holy Ghost." One or two verses of the hymn "Come, Holy Ghost" or some other hymn may then be sung. In some · places the Catholic choir sings ' the hymns. In other places a choir of non-Catholics is formed. Sometimes the speaker does the singing himself. There may be several short talks before the principal discourse of the meeting. T~enty or thirty minutes should be sufficient for the principal sermon. The answering of questions is a most important . part of every meeting, and a half-hour or forty-five min- utes should ·be given to this. (Some speakers take-· only i oral questions directly from the audiences during the meet-~~: ing. Others place question boxes in the postoffice and . drug Jstores .in the town where the meetings are -held. These question boxes are -good advertisements for the 4 meetings.) A hymn may be sung at the close. It is recom- mended, that the audience be asked to stand and recite the Lord~s Prayer with the speaker, and the meeting may close with a "Thank you, good night, and God bless you," followed by the Sign of the Cross. Outdoor meetings are best held on summer evenings. The use of public school buildings can sometimes be ob- tained for similar indoor meetings during the winter months. This depends on the local school board. After a summer of intensive street preaching, some pastors ar- range a weekly indoor meeting during the winter 'months in the communities where they have preached on the street. Stereopticon lectures and religious movies as well as Christian Doctrine classes prove interesting and in- structive to non-Catholics. THE HARvEsT Is IN THE FoLLow-UP PRoGRAM - - Street preaching alone does not give the convert suffi- cient instruction to prepare him for Baptism. An organ- ized follow-up program is needed. There is much for the laity to do in such a program. Catholic literature should be distributed free .of charge during the quiz period of every outdoor meeting. Just before the close of · every meeting the speaker should invite those who wish to in- vestigate the Catholic religion more fully to give their names and addresses so that they may be contacted for future instructions and for the forni.atio'n of religious dis- cussion clubs. Catholic literature • should then be mailed to them at regular intervals. By way of general follow-up, _the Catholic Information Society'~ (Narberth Movement) articles should be · inserted in the secular newspapers of the parish. Non-Catholics can be indtKed to become members of Catholic religious discussion clubs. In some parishes a special effort is made to enrol two or three non-Catholics ·in every club. .. 5 HoME-STUDY SERVICE Some non-Catholics will be willing to receive fuller explanation of Catholic faith and practice by mail, and for adults the instruction offered by the Confraternity Home-Study Service free of charge is recommended. This instruction, especially designed for non-Catholics who can --receive their instruction in no other way, is based on Bishop Noll's book Father Smith Instructs Jackson. It is written in an attractive conversational style and treats of the principal truths of faith and morals - God, Redemp- tion, the Church, the Commandments of God and the Church, the Sacraments, common prayers and devotions, etc. This book is covered thoroughly by a series of eight tests whi<;h involve a minimum of writing. The book and tests are sent to an applicant, and when the tests are re- turned, they are analyzed and corrected for the benefit of one taking the course. Any questions are answered in the letter of explanation which accompanies the corrected test sent back to the student. Numerous seminaries are asso- ciated in conducting these instructions by maiL Applica- tions for distribution among non-Catholics may be had by writip.g to the Confraternity Home~Study Service, 1405 South Ninth Street, St. Louis, Missouri. Zealous laypeople will find that non-Catholics respond well to -the in;vitati~n, properly pr,esented, to send their children to the Catholic religious vacation school. In some places Catholic religious vacation schools for non-Catholics only have been y ery. w~ll attended by adults as well as children. Many non-Catholic parents welcome assistance in teaching their childr~n religion in the home and regu- larly make use of the Parent-Educator leaflets published by the Paulist Press. DISTRIBUTION OF CATHOLIC LITERATURE The re-distribution among non-Catholics of Catholic magazines and newspapers is an important feature of this section of the Confraternity. Not every piece of Catholic 6 literature is appropriate for this purpose, however, so dis- cretion should be used in the selection of what is to be distributed in this way. It is well to appoint a special sub- chairman of helpers to take care of this activity. When a sufficient number of magazines, newspapers and pamphlets is assembled, the pastor or one of the curates should be asked to go through the materials -to see that only thqse are distributed which are creditable. Persons saving such materials should be asked to see that they are kept clean and properly folded. Soiled and torn newspapers and magazines are poor apostles. It is not difficult to obtain permission to set up racks for the distribution of Catholic literature in bus stations, hotel lobbies and even on street cars and buses. Some persons make a practice of reading their Catholic papers on public carriers and leaving th_em behind when tqey arrive at their destination. INQUIRY CLASSES There should be a regular program of inquiry classes conducted by the priests of the parish or by competent nuns or laypeople. The work of competent lay instructors is especially helpful where there are many to be in- structed, or where those who desire instruction .find it difficult to come together with the priest for all of their instructions. The inquiry classes should be adequately publicized in secular newspapers as well as from the pulpit. A regular Catholic Hour on the local radio sta- tions is an effective means of advertising_. Whenever possible, the reception of converts should be a public ceremony. The Ritual suggests that when possible the Ordinary of the diocese be invited to pre- side at the Baptism of converts. ATTENDANCE AT MASS It goes without saying that non-Catholics should be urged to assist at the Mass wh~never possible. The ushers 7 should be supplied with Leaflet Missals or small Missals to place in the hands of such persons. They should also tell non-Catholics that they may either sit all through the Mass or follow the example of Catholics in standing, sitting and kneeling. An occasional instruction on the prayers and ceremonies of the Mass, in which the priest says all the prayers in English while going through the ceremonies (explaining, of course, that this is not the real Mass and that there is no transubstantiation), is very helpful in bringing an increase in the attendance of non- Catholics at Mass. This instruction shoul-d not be given in Church. Since the Apostolate to non-Catholics is a section of the parish Confraternity, a lay chairman should be ap- pointed to head the section under the guidance of the spiritual director. The chairman should enlist some . lay persons especially interested in the spread of Christian Doctrine among non-Catholics. The Apostolate to non- Catholics utilizes every other division of the Confraternity. Teachers, fishers, helpers, discussion club leaders and parent-educators should all be apostles to non-Catholics, to bring the knowledge of Christ and His teaching to the "other sheep" for whom Jesus Christ laid down His life as truly as for the sheep in His Fold. This and other literature issued by the National Center of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, N. C. W. C., 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C., may be ordered direct from the publisher, St. Anthony's Guild, Franciscan Monastery, Paterson, N. J. The cost of this leaflet is $2.00 per 100. In ordering, designate form No. 4F. 8 883396-001 883396-002 883396-003 883396-004 883396-005 883396-006 883396-007 883396-008