The really important thing now is to get out there and do something!

But what?

Evangelising is not some "hard sell". It is primarily a matter of being a witness just in the ordinary comings and goings of one's life to the presence of God as the motivation in our life. One is not trying to prove some argument to others. Evangelising is not some business of going out "doorknocking" and trying to convince other people by various arguments that we have greater access to some truths than they do or that our church is better than their church as we might argue that our footy team or political party is better than the opposing footy team or political party.

In evangelising one is principally trying to demonstrate by one's own life that God is central in our life and that we access God through the word, and example, of Jesus Christ.

We are endeavouring to demonstrate that our own lives are filled with joy and peace – that we can handle all the ups and downs of life with gladness and peace radiating out of us. It is not some false mask we put on though. The source of our radiance is God himself.

In other words, evangelising is simply getting out there and really living and witnessing to what God promises us when we take Him into our hearts, minds, bodies and souls.

We don't go out to "buttonhole" people and argue to them why they should change their lifestyle. If we are true witnesses to the real presence of Christ in our lives, they will soon work out that we exude a certain charm – this sense of gladness, joy and peace no matter what vicissitudes we happen to be travelling through.

It is when people notice that charm and ask us the question: "why are you such a charming, balanced person?" that the task of evangelising has been accomplished. Then we can join in the conversation and explain "the presence" in our lives that gives us so much peace of heart and emotional balance.

The resources we are providing here might be useful if you are talking to groups of people about the business of evangelising. For example, if you decide to run a discussion group in your parish, school or apostolate on the process of evangelisation, you might like to play them a short segment from Fr Henriques' talks. Or you might like to print out and leave them with a copy of the summary he has provided for us.

There are plenty of discussions to be had though within the Church as to ways that are successful evangelising techniques and those that turn people away from the Church. We would urge you to become involved in those discussions through Catholic discussions boards on the net, such as www.cathnews.com/discuss, and articles and letters in the Catholic print media.

If you know of other good resources you might let us know so that we can add them to this resource page. Send such information to Brian Coyne – viastuas@bigpond.net.au – or to the Archdiocesan Evangelisation Committee.

RESOURCES TO PURCHASE

THE VIDEO TAPES:

There are two 180m videotapes containing almost the complete content of Fr Henriques talks. They have not been edited so do not expect a slick production – and don't even contemplate trying to subject anyone to five hours of a "talking head" on a television set.

These video tapes will be most useful for leaders running evangelising programs in parishes, schools and lay apostolates. Use the tapes to play short sequences that will provide "light and shade" to your own talk – or to illustrate specific points you might be trying to get across.

CASSETTES AND CDs:

The cassettes and cds are of much higher quality than the sound on the videotape. In total there are six tapes or five CDs in normal audio format. We can also provide the complete series of talks on a single CD in Mp3 format but you should check that you have a computer or CD player capable of playing Mp3 format CD's before choosing that option.

To order the CD's, Cassettes or Videotapes contact: Maree McGuckin St Joseph Communications PO Box 110 CHIDLOW WA 6556 tel: 9572 4343  fax: 9572 4440 stjoecom@bigpond.com

FREE RESOURCES

THE ILLUSTRATED SUMMARY:

Through this website you can access a pdf copy of the illustrated summary provided by Fr Gino Henriques.

Print it out onto normal A4 pages in landscape format and then photocopy for distribution. To access the pdf file click HERE.

Click HERE for an article that may be of interest for those wishing to explore the difficulties being faced today in communicating to young people.

The book was published in 1999 by the National Catholic Education Commission on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference Education Committee. Your local school probably has a copy. The text was written by Fr Gerard Holohan when he was Director of Religious Education in WA. (He's now Bishop of Bunbury).

The book is described as "a discussion on evangelisation, catechesis and religious education questions raised for parishes and Catholic schools by the General Directory for Catechesis". The article, entitled "New Evangelisation", we have extracted raises some of the issues that face the Church in evangelising in the relatively affluent, well-educated and socially sophisticated sort of community we have in Australia today.