A Question for Catholics - Advice please?

I'm Catholic and am involved in InterVarsity which I'd say has an Evangelical vibe to it. The leader suggested that I share something with the group about my faith because it is an expression of Christianity that most of them are unfamiliar with.


Now I was thinking about telling them briefly about what being Catholic means to me but I sort of want to share something else with them. There are a couple of videos on youtube I like that I have been thinking about showing them (I'd only show them one of the two if any). The only thing is that each one of them has some elements to them that they may misunderstand.





Here's one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0nSjxDKJ…


I like the one above a lot but I'm afraid they are going to misunderstand a few things, in particular I don't want them to think that I believe that only Catholics can be saved.





Or : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXNueD_z4…


I like this one but I'm afraid they are going to think we worship ';graven images';.A Question for Catholics - Advice please?
Your a Catholic, you do not need to show some video to represent your belief.


A Catholic has a seal of ';Grace'; that is imprinted on their very soul.


What you need to do first is ';beware';, you appear to be going up against a variety of non-Catholics that more than likely will be waiting for the slightest error.


Furthermore, DO NOT be naive to these individuals, especially the leader who stated he is unfamiliar with the Catholic religion...





Listen, keep your words simple and to the point, do not be mislead by the group in trying to answer an assortment of questions!





Good example to present:





The Bible tells us the best of news: the blessing of God and how God offers us each salvation through Jesus.


The Bible contains poetry, prayers, songs, genealogies, history, prophecies, stories, exhortations and teachings.


The Church views this treasure of God’s Word not as one book, but a collection of books: 46 Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures and 27 New Testament or Christian Scriptures.





During the period from formal determination of the complete Bible at the end of the fourth century until the invention of the printing press, the Scriptures were preserved manually by the painstaking efforts of monks.


They carefully copied by hand these sacred words.





The Church teaches that God is the Bible’s principal author, influencing human authors as they wrote. That belief is the basis for the rich use of biblical texts in public worship, especially at Mass, and the strong encouragement given to Catholics to read personally the Scriptures on a regular basis.





The Church also recognizes that the Word proclaimed is one of the forms of Christ’s real presence among us:


“He is present in His word, since it is he himself who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in Church” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #7).





The Church admonishes all its members with words from St. Jerome, the fifth-century biblical scholar: “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”





Faith and prayer are interconnected. People pray because we believe in a loving God who listens and responds. Faith is therefore the foundation for all prayers.





But people also pray to have their faith strengthened. The apostles once quite simply asked of Jesus, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). Prayer, therefore, presupposes faith but likewise deepens it.





The term “faith,” however, generally conveys two meanings: a body of truths that we accept or a power that enables us to accept those truths.





Throughout Christianity’s history, there has been a need for succinct formulas which clearly summarize the major beliefs of the Church. We call them “creeds” from the Latin word credo, meaning “I believe.” The two most familiar are the Apostles’ Creed, dating back to the first Christian years, and the Nicene Creed said or sung each Sunday at Mass.





Faith, however, can also be considered an inner power which enables us to look beyond and see something more.





In the natural world we look beyond beauty, for example, and discover a wise, powerful and caring God.





In the spiritual world, we look beyond and discover the Risen Christ in the Eucharist, the sacraments, the Scriptures and in people gathered for prayer.





---





Try to avoid anything that opposes their belief unless you are well trained in the Catholic faith.


Otherwise, a myriad of debates will follow which would be very easy for me to resolve but you may have difficulty etc...





Use the above as a good guide, it is simple and will not harm any other religious belief.


Remember keep it very simple and don't step on any toes.





In the event the non-Catholics use the term ';worship graven images';


You reply: We honor Mary and all the Prophets/Saints as visible witnesses that God has appointed.


In the event the individuals start to speak of The Virgin Mary in a decadent manner:


You reply: This subject is very complex, one should read the book ';Hail Holy Queen'; by Scott Hahn, he was a protestant that has now become Catholic.





http://www.chnetwork.org/scotthconv.htm





Finally, In a subtle manner present the Catholic belief, not to answer questions, a few is normal.





God bless'A Question for Catholics - Advice please?
I suggest that you dump the youtube videos, whose sources cannot be vouched for and simply speak from your heart about your faith. You can then open the audience up to questions and answers, but be sure you know what you are talking about, many Catholics, even devout ones need brushing up on the traditions and rites that are practiced.
I think the best thing would be to describe in your own words what your religion means to you. If you can use elements or ideas from the videos to help you, that is great, but it will mean more to everyone to hear it coming out of your mouth than to see a generic presentation on the internet. Best wishes!
The Catholic Answers web site is a good resource. It has a lot of tracts and articles that explain the Catholic faith, and defend it from attacks by fundamentalists and evangelicals.





Non-Catholic Christians will sometimes say that Catholic beliefs and practices, such as belief in Purgatory or praying the Rosary, are un-Scriptural.





The Catholic Answers web site has a lot of great pieces that explain why these things ARE Scriptural.





www.catholic.com


.
OK - I tried but they are both boring in the first 5 seconds. Personally I would tell them it is more about faith. Consider instead that a parable might work. What would they do if they could fly? Where might they go? If they could see their loved ones happy - because of what they believed would they? Catholicism is about faith. By believing in the unbelievable you are happy and comforted even in a time of grief. Good Luck!
I just found this - it's generating a LOT of buzz in the Catholic blogosphere:





http://www.catholicscomehome.org/index.p…





I've only reviewed the 1st 2 clips, but they are great!
Why don't you talk about your faith instad of showing a video? More people will ask questions and show respect if you share with humility. You can expand their understanding and let them look into your faith. Be prepared for their questions because many Christians have misgivings. I ws raised Catholic and gained many wonderful insights from my upbringing that my protestant friends never considered-like the holiness of God. Catholics have this understanding down pat and the idea that we are united into one by our faith. Protestants are more ';me'; oriented and miss the ball completely with the idea of unity. The other thing I notice about Protestant Christians is that they don't have a doctrine of suffering. These are generalizations, of course, but they are the things I notice from being on both sides of the fence. You didn't ask about the Protestant advantage but they have a few also. I think we need to keep respect and love between the denominations. We all have something to offer that others can learn from.
I like the first one better. If they are catholic i do not see why they would misunderstand it. IF you think they would explain it a little before showing it to them.
I'm not a Catholic, so maybe I shouldn't chime in (I haven't watched the videos), but I am an old Inter-Varsity guy so your question intrigued me.





Back in the day my chapter ran into a problem because there was a lot of Catholic bashing going on. Literally driving people away because some in the chapter got off message. Sadly, there was no fix for the problem, and I'm certain it continues throughout the para-church today.





Don't get me wrong, at the time of the Reformation there was one irreconcilable difference between the two sides — and since it is irreconcilable, it remains unresolved.





This is the matter of justification by faith alone vs. justification by faith plus merit.





If it is faith plus merit, then I am utterly lost because I have earned no merit and am completely convinced that any deed I offer is completely unworthy of God's entire perfection.





Many of your Evangelical acquaintances do not understand this difference, and attack your Catholic faith on other grounds (Mary, the Saints, infallable statements, etc.). And many of them are swimming in a confusing malestrom of their own perceived (and, indeed, concocted doctrines of merit).





Take heart, friend! The question is not, ';Do we love Christ completely?'; Of course we don't, because if we loved him completely, we would obey him completely and clearly we do not!





So the real question is, ';Do we love him at all?'; That is the platform upon which he can work out his perfect work in our lives.





Of course, I wouldn't be a Protestant (or a 5-point Calvinist :-) if I didn't leave you with at least just a little piece of Sacred Scripture, from Romans 8:9-11:





';You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.';