[Dennis Le Lacheur]

Hi Jane,
I’ve also made similar experiences moving to a new area and saw that evangelization was not a priority in the parish. It was a bit shocking and rather difficult to comprehend. I’ve noticed that some parish communities get overly focused on parish finances/politics which can distract parishioners. I’m curious if SPSE has a course (or materials) to help parishes become more actively involved in evangelizing their communities (i.e., evangelizing parishioners to evangelize).
– Dennis

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

During and after the novena, I gradually noticed a deeper longing for more time in prayer. In my mind I describe it as a thirst for time with God, whether it be in reading scripture prayerfully or simply praying in silence. I often now repeat this prayer from the novena on a regular basis based on what our Blessed Lord said:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” It also serves as a reminder that as a baptized and confirmed Christian, it is my duty to go out and share the gospel.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

Thank you, Mark!
I came into full communion with the Church in 2022.
– Dennis

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

Hi Jake, it’s awesome to see how the Holy Spirit works. I enjoyed reading your experience with the chapel at your workplace. It’s such a blessing that you can work in a place where our Lord is powerfully present.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

For this practical exercise, I experienced God’s guiding hand in a very special way. After reading the goals of the exercise, I said to my wife “I need to go to adoration for a few hours.” She smiled and responded, “Our parish is having a special adoration… this evening!” (Our parish rarely has adoration.) We both laughed and discussed that I was meant to go that evening. My wife said she’d look after our three young children (God bless her) so that I could go. I was able to attend adoration for the first time in my life as a relatively new convert to the Catholic Church. I’m so thankful I was able to spend some very special time with our Lord.

Together with my family, we try to pray a morning offering and the Our Father in the evening on a daily basis. Recently, I’ve been trying to commit to more regular personal prayer (especially extended mental prayer in my own words) a few times a day. I also find doing Lectio Divina on the daily Gospel readings to be very spiritually helpful; I would like to commit to doing Lectio Divina on a more regular basis.

During the various moments of prayer, I’ll include prayers for the salvation of my family’s souls and anyone I may be actively evangelizing. I’ve been praying for one man named David. He is a Jehovah’s Witness that I have connected with recently. Please pray for David, so he may discover the Truth in our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

Hi Mark,
Yes, I think this is an excellent opportunity to be a witness of Jesus and our Catholic faith. And yes, I do have some knowledge of their teachings and the issues. In my correspondence thus far I’ve emphasized Jesus’ unconditional love in addition to sharing the kerygma. As I understand it, JWs believe that only the 144,000 will be able to go to heaven and the remaining JWs must remain on a paradise Earth. By emphasizing Jesus’ unconditional love, it shows that there is still hope for them to be with Jesus in heaven and that they are not condemned to Earth because they did not become believers before a specific year. Also, I understand that the JWs do not believe in the divinity of Christ, so I’m assuming that topic will eventually come up.
– Dennis

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

Hi Damaris,
Thank you for sharing this beautiful experience. It’s a good reminder about how the Holy Spirit works and it makes me realize that I need to be more open and receptive to his prompts.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

I must admit that this was one of the more challenging exercises in terms of receiving an opportunity to evangelize a stranger. One day I was approached on the street by a young Morman man inviting me to his church. In hindsight I completely missed this opportunity for evangelization and/or prayer; I was unfortunately too preoccupied and in the moment simply mentioned I was Catholic and said “God bless you” and went on my way. I would’ve liked to pray together with him but it didn’t even come to my mind in the moment. I prayed for another opportunity and this time I received a letter from a Jehovah’s Witness sharing his faith. I saw this as my prayer being answered and I wrote a letter in response by thanking him for his charity in sharing his faith with me. I also shared with him my testimonial about coming closer to Jesus Christ and his Church through the Catholic faith. He mentioned in an email now that he is open to further discussions about faith. I pray that our correspondence will be fruitful.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

Hi Ms. Gootherts,
It’s wonderful that you’re sharing the good news of Jesus’ real presence in the tabernacles of Catholic churches; especially during this time of the National Eucharistic Revival! As a former Protestant, the real presence is one of the things that drew me into the Church.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

For this practical exercise I was able to practice sharing my story with two Catholic Christians, one woman I encountered at a neighborhood park and one family friend. I was wearing my rosary at the time and a woman at the park approached me and asked if I was Catholic. I said yes and she said she was a Catholic originally from India. I mentioned I was a recent convert to Catholicism and told her my story. And now I will tell you my story:

I was baptized as an infant in the United Church of Canada (the largest Protestant domination in Canada). Growing up I attended multiple churches: United Church, Anglican and Baptist. I had a very basic understanding of the faith but was drawn toward private prayer and reading of scripture. (To note, my father became a “born again” Baptist when I was a teenager and I became more involved with the Baptist church; playing in the worship team, etc.) In my 20s I drifted away from God yet I still semi-regularly attended Evangelical Lutheran, Baptist and non-denominational services when I lived in Austria and Germany. However, my real priority in life was pleasure. I worshipped good food and entertainment; I was lukewarm and lost. I drifted from church to church, never feeling truly “at home.” I asked “What’s the deal with doing communion once every three months? Why do some churches reject me as a Christian because my whole body wasn’t submerged during baptism? Why do these churches oddly never talk about obvious teachings from Jesus about marriage and divorce.” Many things coming from these churches didn’t add up, were shallow and sometimes contradictory. In early 2020 my worldview fell apart when I witnessed some unbelievable acts of evil being committed to “flatten the curve”. Where I lived, fear and hatred thrived while “God died.” I then realized I had foolishly put my trust in the world and not God. Through these events I started my journey back to God. One day I watched Jordan Peterson interview Bishop Barron. The Holy Spirit was working through those two men that day and I ended up going down a rabbit hole and discovered the true (Catholic) Church. My prejudices and ignorance quickly melted away and many of my questions were answered. I said to myself, “I know too much now, I can’t go back… I must become Catholic.” God has blessed me so abundantly in my new life as a Catholic Christian. I feel truly free and at peace by attending Mass and partaking in the Lord’s holy sacraments. Jesus is king of my life now. I am his and I feel his love and mercy like never before. God saved me from my idol of pleasure and continues to show me how to truly love God and neighbour. I am much bolder in my faith now; this has enabled me to start training to become a street evangelist so I can help save souls like me from the “coma of pleasure.”

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

This is great advice! I’ve run into a similar interpretation of the word “Catholic” in the past, so your advice will definitely come in handy whenever I face a similar situation in the future.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

For this practical exercise, I wrote out the Kerygma in my own words:

1. God loves you and has a special plan for your life. He wants to give you eternal life full of peace, joy and love.
2. Sin has lead you away from this plan. Sin is ultimately anything that leads you away from God. In other words, sin is evil and leads to death.
3. God loves you so much that he sent his only son to Earth, Jesus Christ, to save you from sin by sacrificing his life for you. Jesus’ sacrifice was made out of self-sacrificial love for you; a gift of love so powerful that it outweighs all sin.
4. Jesus invites you to radically change your life by following him and listening to him so you may receive God’s gift of eternal life.
5. Become an adopted son of God through baptism. Baptism washes away your sin and allows you to receive the Holy Spirit which puts you on the path to eternal life.
6. As an adopted son/daughter of God, participate in God’s family (his Church) by doing acts of worship and love.
7. Go out and tell others about God’s special plan for them. In other words, go out and make disciples!

I practiced it recently with my Catholic wife, my Protestant father and my young Catholic daughter. In most cases, I deliver parts 1 through 4. My wife noted that my delivery was on the long side; my father offered no comments and my daughter responded with numerous “why” questions. In each instance, I tailored my delivery of the Kerygma differently especially in the case of my young daughter (using the aforementioned memorized prepared version of the Kerygma as a base).

I’ve come to realize that some key terminology (such as repent, sin, heaven, hell, etc.) mentioned in the Kerygma, may not be fully understood by people who have not been exposed to religion. In Canada, our society has been aggressively secularized during the past 50 years; therefore, many people are not especially familiar with these terms. In my wording of the Kerygma, I try to use simple English (without dumbing down the meaning) to express the terms clearly. For example, “repent” translates to “radically reorient your life” or “radically change your life.” Also, I try to emphasize the term “eternal life” since in our society many people are afraid of dying (as clearly demonstrated during these past three years). It helps frame the good news in a very pragmatic, relatable way.

In my daytime occupation as a technical writer, our target audience (even in the medical industry) has a Grade 7-8 reading/comprehension level. I try to keep this in mind when evangelizing, because sometimes when we think something is easy to understand, it may completely fly over the head of the person we are trying to evangelize.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

Thank you very much for the tip! I haven’t had many opportunities to talk to my brother and/or nephew about their faith again. However, I will keep praying for an ideal time and place.

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

Hi Ms. Cable,
I will pray for your brother-in-law, Michael D, to come back to Jesus and his Church. God bless you and take care.
In Christ,
Dennis

[Dennis Le Lacheur]

After reflection during prayer, my brother (baptized in the Protestant tradition but not practicing his faith) and his son (my unbaptized nephew [almost 10 years old] ) came to mind. I felt compelled to pray for them so that they may both come to truly know and love Jesus Christ. I’m especially drawn to evangelize my nephew as he likely doesn’t even know the good news. I’ve spoken to my brother in the past about taking my nephew to Mass. My brother reacted negatively; dismissing religion by saying he is spiritual but not religious. Thankfully our Lord granted me an opportunity to take them both to the Palm Sunday Mass during a family trip to visit our grandmother last weekend. The homily was beautiful and was a message tailored for my brother’s ears. I plan to invite them both to the upcoming Easter Vigil and/or Easter Sunday Mass as I hope they come to stay with us this weekend to celebrate Easter. Please pray with me that their hearts may open and be ready to receive Jesus’ healing love.

[Author]

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