Sidewalk Evangelization

Since our beginning, Glenmary priests and brothers have been involved in street evangelization in the mission areas we served. I was reminded of this while on a recent trip in California for a vocation event. I snapped the photo below of Fr. Aaron standing next to man with a sign and megaphone. As people marched by both the man with the sign and the priest in his collar, I reflected how hard it is to evangelize in this world of ours. While I stood there I saw both people who paused to gawk at the spectacle of these two men and others who passed by without even noticing their presence. I think the key to effective evangelizing is not yelling at the passersby nor to stand and wait for them to engage in a conversation. We have to be "walking with them" on this journey, in that way our words and actions can be that of joyful witness of the love of Jesus Christ. That is what Glenmarians refer to as our "Theology of Presence" with the People of God in the missions