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What if evangelization doesn’t begin at church—but around your dinner table? · The Catholic Couple

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: In the last video that I shared was about a weekend that I shared with some friends at our parish that reminded me of something that I think that we have forgotten.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Not what Catholics believe, but what Catholic life is supposed to feel like.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I ended it with this thought.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: What if the biggest problem in the church isn't that Catholics don't know enough?
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: What if it's that we don't have enough people to actually live the faith with?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now, don't misunderstand me.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: We do need great theology.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: We need people who understand the catechism and uh we need scripture, we need great priests and holy books and podcasts and all kinds of teachers.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And believe me, I'm super grateful for all those.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: They have literally changed my life.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: But what I've also learned something after spending a lot of time working in parishes, doing these podcasts, leading Bible studies in men's groups and being in Kinnect groups, is that knowledge may inspire you, but community is what sustains you.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: How many people have gone to an amazing conference?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Bought all the books that they were selling, downloaded the different apps and Hallow and subscribed to all the different podcasts, and hopefully you're subscribed to this podcast.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then you felt in fire, you know, you felt inspired.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: You were on that mountaintop high and that you wanted to bring it.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: But then you quietly started drifting back into the way things were before you went.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Believe me, I know I've done that, have gone to conferences and got all fired up, and then a week later, back to all the same routines.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's describing something that you've gone through too.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because what I found is that inspiration fades.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Habits, well, those remain.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And relationships are so important to help those remain because community, that is where things learn to grow.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus, he could have written a book.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, he built a community.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: He called 12 ordinary men that spent time together, they walked together, they ate together, they prayed together, and I'm sure they argued with one another, but then they also served together.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: They learned by living life with Jesus and with each other.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the early church didn't grow because they had the best marketing strategy.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: It grew because people saw a different way of living.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: They saw families that were taking care of one another, they saw neighbors sharing meals, they saw people sacrificing for each other, joy in the middle of suffering.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Literally, they were singing as they were being fed to lions, and people wondered what is going on with those Christians.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And hope, they they were looking for that hope that literally it couldn't be explained.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: They were looking for how could those people have hope when they were being fed to the lions and they were being persecuted.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the gospel wasn't just preached, it was made visible.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I wonder sometimes if we've accidentally turned Catholicism into something that we just consume instead of something that we actually put into practice.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I know I'm guilty of it.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'll binge watch a bunch of Catholic YouTube, I'll scroll through Catholic Instagram, I'll listen to the podcast while I'm on my way to work, and Bible in the year, and all these other things that are great.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: But none of those things are bad in and of themselves, obviously.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I'm talking to you right now from one of those things.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not saying that they're bad.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: However, here's the question.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: I have to first obviously ask that to myself first because I'm guilty of it too.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: But is this content that I'm consuming, is it helping me become more faithful?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Or is it making me feel like consuming content is the same thing as following Christ?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because if we're honest, they're not the same thing.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Following Jesus happens at the dinner table.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: It happens when you forgive your spouse or when you apologize to your kid for raising your voice.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: It happens, you know, when you pray with your kids, even though they're distracted and making prayer time super difficult.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: It happens when you invite another family over for dinner.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: It happens when someone in your parish loses a loved one and you show up with a meal or you're part of the meal train.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it definitely happens when one of your friends is struggling, and instead of saying, I'll pray for you, you actually call him or on the spot if you're in person that you pray for him or her right then and right there.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now that's what discipleship is all about.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: One of the greatest blessings in our family's life has been discovering that we don't have to live this faith all by ourselves.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have to do it alone.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: We found people who can encourage us, especially when we're weak.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Found people to help challenge us when we feel comfortable.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we found a group of friends to celebrate with us when things are going great, to cry with us when things are going bad, to pray with us because that's part of who we are.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then there is a time for laughing.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, we do a ton of that.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: That is being the church.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just a building, it is the people that make up the church.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I think one of Satan's greatest victories today isn't convincing people to hate God.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's convincing people that they can follow God alone.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just me and Jesus.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: We hear that all the time.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need any religion, I don't need a church, I don't need a parish, and I definitely don't need no friends.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have any need for any accountability or community.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: I got the Bible, it's just Jesus and me.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: But Christianity has never been a solo endeavor.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: We are the body of Christ.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And bodies aren't made up of just one part, they're made up of many parts.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're watching this today and you're thinking, I wish I had a community like that, let me encourage you.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: We went years without having this.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Don't just wait for someone else to create it or just listen to me and say, well, that must be nice for him.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Your parish has that.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: My parish is different.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: If the Holy Spirit is putting this on your heart, maybe he's convicting you to be somebody who's going to take that first step, to be the person who's going to start a group, who's going to invite another family over or to host a bonfire, to start a group.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need the pastor's permission to be a Christian.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need the priest's approval to say, hey, can you come over and we can talk about Jesus?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is just what Christians do.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wait for the priest to organize something through your church to able to live this Catholic life out in full.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can easily invite somebody to dinner.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Don't overcomplicate it.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Some of our deepest friendships in our lives have started with a simple invitation.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, would you want to come over?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then just don't be weird, right?
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to worry about having the perfect house or having the perfect meal or having the perfect family.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: All you need is an open door because hospitality isn't about impressing people.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's about making room for them.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I really believe that's one of the greatest forms of evangelization left in our culture.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And people just don't need another argument.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: We need people to do that, of course, but I think they need another table to sit around, another family to laugh with, and a place where people can just belong and be with other Catholics.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's why Jesus spent so much of his public ministry around dinner tables.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: He knew meals become memories and friendships can become families.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And over those tables, ordinary moments, they can become holy because anytime we put Jesus at the center, that can become holy.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I'm talking about, the Catholic life that I know I'm trying to build and I'm trying to inspire you to just be that person who's gonna live a life of hospitality, to invite other people, not having to have everything together or have some kind of perfect life.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be famous or impressive or anything like that.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: You just need a life where you invite people over and let the kids get together and grow up thinking that it's completely normal to pray before meals, that it's completely normal to invite people into your home for a meal.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it's definitely completely normal to go to mass together with other families.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's completely normal to have fun, live the faith in a way that just seems normal, that there is nothing out of the way, that we're not standing out and being obnoxious, is that we are just being ourselves, but we're just putting Jesus at the center.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And Sundays are always meant to be a celebration, that we can get together to celebrate, we can serve together, but we're people then who also keep Jesus at the center of not just Sundays, but everything that we do.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because if my kids leave home and they come back and they believe that that this is what Catholicism looks like, then they're more than likely gonna want to be Catholic for the rest of their lives.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: But if we just think that church is yelling at them to say their prayers or prayer time is not very nice, or it's just get up and go to mass because I said so and then come home.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not about living out the faith life.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be hard for them to want to be part of that.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if we aren't changed, how can we expect them to want to keep this faith going when they get older?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because if it's not changing us, how can we expect them to want something that doesn't seem to be working?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think that we've given something worth passing on to our kids.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think that a culture of inviting people and living this faith in a community full of joy and happiness and prayer and forgiveness, maybe the future of the church won't be built by bigger stages or louder voices or better algorithms or better invitations or bulletins or anything like that.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe it'll be built the same way that it was in the very beginning.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: One family at a time, one friendship, one shared meal together, one invitation, one generous act of hospitality, and a faithful community that is willing to invite people one family at a time.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then maybe it'll start with you at your table.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it can start with you.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe this Sunday is an opportunity to invite a new family or old friends together to share a meal together, to pray before the meal, to put Jesus at the center and to live the life that Jesus meant us.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus came so that we can have life and have it to the full.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's what Catholic life is supposed to be about.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Lived with each other and full of joy and peace and prayer and a place where we can grow to support each other, encourage each other, have fun, but also remember the purpose with which we were made: to know, love, serve God, serve each other, and to live on fire, to be disciples who make disciples.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: So if you agree with this, I want to hear from you.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: How are you living the Catholic faith?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: What's the easiest way for you to invite people and to live this authentic Catholic life outside the church, outside of Sundays?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: How do you do it?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what's been working for you?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear from you.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And if you love this conversation, I would appreciate it.
• 11:01
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• 11:03
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• 11:04
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• 11:05
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• 11:07
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• 11:09
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• 11:10
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• 11:12
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• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: God bless you and have a beautiful day.