Carrie Gress - Nudging Conversions: A Practical Guide to Bringing Those You Love Back to the Church

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PRAISE FOR NUDGING CONVERSIONS

The splendor, beauty, and freedom of the Catholic faith is something our culture longs for. Joy and truth go a long way in a world that has tried everything yet feels empty. Carrie Gress shows us that the beauty of Catholicism often only needs to be nudged for those searching. God works through small and simple things and he wants to work through you to bring others closer to Him. Nudging Conversions is a must read for anyone who wants to joyfully share their Catholic faith in a culture seeking love in all the wrong places.

- Shawn Carney

Co-Founder of 40 Days for Life, and Co-Author of 40 Days for Life: Discover What God Has Done...Imagine What He Can Do

Dr. Gress urges us to realize that evangelization (bringing others to the love of Jesus Christ) doesnt happen in a vacuum. It takes real people of real faith to reach out to that hurting person in the coffee shop, that disenfranchised teenager in our own family. Recognizing the challenges we face today in putting our faith into action, Gress offers a real roadmap to take the reader from inspiration to practical application of the deposit of faith. Nudging Conversions offers suggestions which can make a tangible difference not only for the hopeful evangelist but for those engaged actively in ministry today.

- Dr. Christine A. Mugridge

Author of Called by Name, contributor to Relevant Radio, Immaculate Heart Radio/EWTN, research specialist on St. John Paul IIs theology of communication.

Carrie Gress has written a marvelous book, a book full of practical assistance, of wisdom, of love. No Christian is ever fully fulfilled until she brings others around her back into the arms of Christ. Bringing the gospel to others, especially those near us, is our vocation.... Millions of Catholics at Mass ache with passionate prayers that children, uncles, and close friends of theirs come back home to a loving Father. Prayers storm heaven every day pleading for that to happen. But for God to act, WE have to be his gentle hand upon the back, speaking tongue, embracing arm. We have to give our dear ones a nudge. If each of the 45 million Catholic adults during their allotted years of life nudge even two of their dearest ones back to our Father, that would mean an immense increase in those rejoicing together again in the deepest of all loves. Carrie gives scores of practical tips on how to let the Lord give that nudge through you.

- Michael Novak

Author, philosopher, theologian, diplomat

Rooted in the teachings of Popes Saint John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis and drawing deeply on the riches of Scripture and Tradition, Nudging Conversions is practical and wise. It is also challenging, filled with direct exhortations and bracing insights into the heart of the Christian life and the essential nature of evangelization. This toolbox will help readers break out of the boxes of indifference and pride and build relationships marked by joy and grace.

- Carl E. Olson

Best-selling author and editor of Catholic World Report

For all those who dont feel like theyre equipped for the work of evangelizing, Nudging Conversions proves otherwise, offering practical, accessible guidance for how all of us can bring those we love closer to Christ through our daily prayers and ordinary interactions.

- Emily Stimpson

Author of These Beautiful Bones, The Catholic Girls Survival Guide for the Single Years, and co-author of The American Catholic Almanac

Nudging Conversions

Copyright 2015 Carrie Gress

Published by Beacon Publishing

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-942611-23-3

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-942611-47-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Dynamic Catholic and Be Bold. Be Catholic. and The Best Version of Yourself are registered trademarks of The Dynamic Catholic Institute.

For more information on this title and other books and CDs available through the Dynamic Catholic Book Program, please visit: www.DynamicCatholic.com

The Dynamic Catholic Institute

5081 Olympic Blvd.

Erlanger, Kentucky 41018

phone: 859-980-7900

email:

Designed by Shawna Navaro and Leah Nienas

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

LIVING WITNESS: CONVERTS
ARE THE FRUIT OF A MATURE FAITH

To Debbie Devereaux
and all the Rosary group:
Thank you for all your
gentle nudges.

INTRODUCTION

Since the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, there has been much discussion of the New Evangelization and a new springtime in the Catholic Church. The topic has generated a lot of interest, especially as new trends are being seen among the young, seminaries are filling up, and growing pockets of orthodoxy are emerging. These are all very good and important changes after decades of heterodoxy and dissent in the Church. Less attention, however, has been given to how these quiet but powerful changes are taking place from one person to the next.

The idea for this book was sparked after Mass one day when I started chatting with two elderly women who were comparing notes on how many children they had who had left the Church. Ninety-two-year-old Mary lamented that she had five daughters without faith. It got me thinking about what can be done to help bring those we love back into the fold.

Mary and her friend, sadly, are not alone. There isnt a Catholic who takes his faith seriously who doesnt have a parent, sibling, aunt or uncle, coworker, grandparent, child, neighbor, or friend who has left the Church or hasnt been able to find a way to it. Meanwhile, in every church, at every Mass, every day, people are praying for these parents, children, siblings, and loved ones to return to the Church. This book considers what we can do to help bring them home. Evangelization doesnt usually happen in a flash like it did for St. Paul, but instead, like the lighting of a candle, it passes slowly and quietly from one person to the next.

The reason for calling the book Nudging Conversions is the recognition that a conversion is a mysterious act of grace. There seems to be no exact science. A person who seems ripe for conversion may in fact be an immovable force, while another who you thought would never convert in a million years finds her way back to the faith with ease. Often, it is those who seem closest who are the hardest to inch back in. They are comfortable where they are, just being a good person, while those who are farther away make the trip more swiftly. No matter; there isnt a simple recipe for conversions, but there is an art to helping others move in that direction.

When still archbishop of Buenos Aires, before becoming Pope Francis, Cardinal Bergoglio set up a parish network to assist the poor. When Argentina was hit by an economic crash, his network helped many thousands of people who had lost everything manage basic needs. Those in need, the future pope made clear to his parish network, were not to be viewed as cogs in a machine, but treated as unique individuals with their dignity intact. He asked the aid workers to view their efforts as artisanal and not industrial. Evangelization needs to be approached in much the same way: not as a formulaic, one-size-fits all, but as an artisanal approach, tailored to the needs of those you love.

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