Mesa, Arizona was founded by Mormons, has a Mormon temple, and has an LDS ward on just about every block. So, living nearby, I am constantly reminded that American Catholics are doing a terrible job of Evangelizing.
This seems bizarre to me, given that we can clearly trace our history back to Jesus Christ, and the Mormons can only spout impossible conspiracy theories to try in vain to contradict our claims.
We interpret the Bible sensibly. They twist every other word to make it agree with Joseph Smith's writings, and even then they have to say that we altered the Bible to take out the Mormon beliefs.
So, why are they motivated to spread this stuff, while we are motivated to keep a tight lid on the truth? Do we think that God will run out of love if we share it? Or are we just scared and pathetic? I think I'd fall into the second category myself...
Of course one of the reasons Mormons evangelize so much is because they are expected to do it. So maybe we need to raise expectations. Maybe we need to take the Lord seriously in his call. He has called every Christian to evangelize.
And while there may be times when the best way to evangelize is to "set an example with your own life," I think many of us use this as an excuse to avoid the harder work of sharing our beliefs, inviting people into the Church, and defending our faith. Of course we must keep showing kindness and being a living example while doing this.
I'm doing a bit of research on this topic right now, so I'll probably mention this more as I grow in knowledge on the subject.
For now, check out the Legion of Mary (a Catholic group that does door-to-door, and other missionary work):
http://www.legionofmary.org/lom.html
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