SLS Reflection

An aspect of my life that was under lots of stress before entering SLS (a large conference run by FOCUS for Catholic college students) was evangelization. I felt I was well equipped to defend my faith and explain the reasoning behind our doctrine. But, for some reason, I was unable to spread the faith outside of Catholic Hoos.

Lots of times I felt I was properly defending the faith and being logical, but the person I was talking to was not opening their mind. In my Bible Study, I was able to share my past experiences along with the bits and pieces I had gained through my various books about Catholicism. It was always well received and made me think that my actions could possibly contribute to our mutual strive for holiness.

However, in my other friendships, I was beginning to find myself drifting further and further away from my other friends. With God slowly becoming the center of my life, I could sense an odd tension between myself and my non-Christian friends. Going into SLS, I knew that evangelization would be a major topic, so I took the opportunity to dwell on the points they offered me. 

At SLS, we broke up into small groups to share what we had learned each day. One thing we touched on in our small group discussion was how everyone truly desires a genuine friendship, whether they are Christian or not. This seemed simple enough, but adding Biblical justification made me apply it to my other relationships. Before Jesus called Peter to put down his nets and follow him, he spent a significant amount of time with Peter, building a strong fraternal relationship. When Peter was finally called to follow Christ, he immediately dropped his obligations and obeyed the Lord.

This idea reminded me of my own search for the truth. I had been exposed to aspects of the Church many times throughout high school and early college but found reasons to reject them. I had not properly prepared myself to receive God’s love. I had not made a habit of going to Mass every Sunday and I had not been to confession in years, so how could I expect to obey the God that I had neglected for so long?

Until recently, I thought my spiritual journey started with the Catholic Theology that I had stumbled upon while on my computer or in my first real Christianity class at UVA. I thought merely exposing myself to the truth through non-sacramental means was what it took to desire God once again. Not even close! It was making the sacramental encounters with God, whether I was aware of it or not, a regular part of my life. When I had spent enough time with God and improved my relationship with Him (like Christ had done with Peter), His call was easy to hear. This is what I needed to bring to my friends.

The two things I could do to lead them into the Church would be to encourage them to receive (or understand) the sacraments as much as they could and to be the friend Christ needs me to be. One of the first steps I took in my journey back to the faith was going to confession on a random Friday morning last March. Making that strive on my own volition gave the Holy Spirit the opportunity to guide me closer and closer to accepting the truths that I would eventually stumble upon.

Getting my friends to mass is tough, but encountering God is truly what they need most, whether the impact is felt or not. A smaller thing that helps is dedicating prayers to them. Truly desiring the good for my friends is best understood when making God a part of the conversation. As for the friendship aspect, being there for when they need advice, playing the N64 we found in our house, and eating meals with them hopefully reminds them that I care about them despite our difference in lifestyles. I have to be a living vessel for the Holy Spirit, as we are all called to do.

Overall, SLS was a fantastic week with lots of insights gained on evangelization. In addition to learning about the proper way to evangelize, I greatly strengthened my relationships with the friends I traveled with. Also, going to daily mass and getting reconciliation is always nice when you are surrounded by thousands of Catholic college students in a strange city.