I often go to a bible study with Protestant women. I also attend Catholic Mass, of course, and am a parishioner of the nearby Catholic Church and go to Scripture/bible study with Catholic women, who do a great job as well. But I also find Protestant women extremely supportive, knowledgable about the Bible and welcoming to me as a Catholic woman. Also, I can learn a lot from them and like to learn from different perspectives. As you might have guessed some of the Protestant women were baptized Catholic and were members of the Catholic Church until they left. Why did they leave the Catholic Church? Reasons we have all heard before......... not enough emphasis on Bible Study, not enough emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, scandals, etc. So here I am in the midst of them, listening, learning and trying to share my perspective in a gentle way.
In the book we are presently reading and discussing, NT Commentary on St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians, some ideas for evangelization come across very clearly...Christians (whether they be Catholic or Protestant) must be bold, courageous and persevere, if they want to be successful evangelizers. We must have attitudes similar to St. Paul who remained focused on Christ, even in the midst of trials and imprisonment. Paul remains joyful, even in difficult situations and proclaims, "Christ is proclaimed. And in this I rejoice (Phil. 1:18).
Remaining joyful, even in the midst of trials is not easy. But always staying focused on Jesus and His valuable and important message for humankind is the way to proclaim the gospel message in good times and bad, in this extremely challenging modern time, with boldness, perserverence and courage.
NJA
