How to Be Noticed & Make A Difference in This World

I'll never forget this experience I had just a few years ago, because it was like being in a movie! Guards escorted me into a small room with a long table, a tiny kitchenette and a restroom. There were 11 other people staring up at me from the table when the heavy door slammed shut behind me and was bolt-locked from the outside. We were stuck. We were captive. We were jurors.

We had spent the last week sitting through testimony, arguments, and evidence in an absolutely heartbreaking case and now it was up to all of us to deliberate and deliver a verdict. I had known what my vote was on Tuesday morning of that week and was irritated that I had to wait three days for the opportunity to cast that vote. I offered it up, and hopefully someone got out of Purgatory. But, now it was 3pm on Friday and if we just voted and got it over with, we could all go home and enjoy the weekend.

To my disappointment, not everyone on the jury agreed with me and this began a heated debate. Within 15 minutes, there were tears from a few of the jurors. Others were angry and this made for an uncomfortable mixture of emotions in this small, stuffy room. By 5pm the bailiff came by to check on us and we were firmly stuck in opinionated gridlock. The vote was 8 to 5 and no one was budging. It was then the bailiff reminded us that by law, we had to continue the debate until we had a unanimous decision. We were not allowed to sit idly, we had to be actively discussing the case. Period.

This meant we had a lot of frustrating and emotional conversation ahead in order to get everyone to agree on the same verdict. Seven-and-a-half hours later, at half past midnight and after all but one juror had cried at some point, we filed into the court room and delivered the verdict. Not guilty. In the end, we all agreed the long hours were worth it because we delivered a just verdict and felt closer to each other because of the intense experience.

I share this with you because I see a strong resemblance between this experience as a juror and our call as Catholics to evangelize. It's important that we keep having conversations with others who disagree with us. We can't just sit comfortably in our own knowledge of the truth and not share it because we are resigned to the notion that others don't want to hear what we have to say, because that's not necessarily true.

Case in point: I was listening to a Catholic radio station one day and the talk show host was asking fallen away Catholics to call in and reveal why they weren't Catholic anymore. One caller said in response, "I'd come back to the Church in a heartbeat if I could." The host replied, "What's stopping you?" She responded, "I haven't been invited." I practically jumped through my radio wishing I could extend the invitation, as I'm sure many other listeners did that day and that's my point... How many people are out there waiting for an invitation to come home to the Catholic Church? We've got to keep the conversations going.

No matter what your state in life is—single, married, divorced, widowed—we all are called to share the good news of Christ with others, which means we need to be willing to have conversations, albeit sometimes uncomfortable or difficult. But, it extends even further than conversation because leading by example is one of the most effective ways to plant seeds in someone's heart, or provoke interest from others in your beliefs.

When you go on a date and you don't spend the night at your date's place, people take notice. When you're engaged but living separately and not using contraception, people take notice. When you have a happy marriage, people take notice. It piques their interest in why you are the way you are. It's all part of evangelization and it incites the interest of those who don't have the faith you have.

People observe you all the time, whether you realize it or not and this is why it is so important to be solid in your faith and authentic in the way you live it, in being holy.

Dr. Scott Hahn says living holiness is key to evangelization. Prayer is the sine qua non (the indispensible and essential action) of holiness, family life is the center of the new evangelization and friendships also play a key role. I invite you to think about how you, as a single, engaged or married Catholic can become more holy in this new year and be a light to the world.

Please send your comments and questions to asklisa@catholicmatch.com.