The 3 Languages of Evangelization

By Patrick Sullivan

Discover your Language of Evangelization and bring people to Jesus Christ in a language they understand.

 

Your language profile will explain your primary language of evangelization, what it means, and how you can use it to connect others to God.

 

Join more and more of the baptized who are realizing that they speak the Faith by emphasizing Truth, Goodness or Beauty.

 

Your quiz awaits!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evango
• Release date: Aug 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781777852504

Book preview

For Peter and Matthew—thank you for speaking in ways I could understand.

FOREWORD

I will begin my foreword in quoting a profound and memorable statement written by Pope St. Paul VI on December 8, 1975, in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, (Evangelization in the Modern World): Evangelization is (...) the deepest identity of the Church; she exists in order to evangelize.

Before publishing the present book, Patrick Sullivan had already published four titles to date, and I understand that a sixth one is now in the making. In all of his works, as with the numerous missions he has preached in parishes or during special events, evangelization has always been the main focus and the spiritual inspiration dearest to his heart. It is anything but an obsession or a mere job in order to put food on his family’s table. Rather, it is a calling from God that is engraved deeply on his soul. The same words used by the apostle Paul have continually resounded in his heart and spirit: Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! (1 Cor 9:16)

Before the creation of the new Evangelization Team in this diocese at the end of December 2020, someone referred me to Patrick and said that he would be a great asset to help consolidate the project. Without any hesitation, Patrick responded, Count me in, Bishop! This will be one of my dearest projects. As I got to know him better, I realized all the potential this young man has. He is truly inhabited by the fire of the Holy Spirit. This book, The Three Languages of Evangelization, reveals the maturity and wisdom he has acquired over his years of preaching, but also throughout his experience as a husband and father of a large family.

While reading his inspiring book, and because I was a Redemptorist priest and preacher of parish missions before becoming a bishop, I could relate even more to what Patrick is conveying as he reflects on the different languages of evangelization. The language of Truth, of Goodness, and of Beauty truly reflect the different characters and traits of the various categories of people to whom we preach and minister. When we evangelize, we often forget that people are so different from one another, and that we usually evangelize in one language only—ours, the one we are most comfortable with. This explains why we sometimes have so little success when we evangelize and use words with which the other two categories of people do not identify.

Mind you, distinguishing people according to each of these categories is not always crystal-clear and easy to discern in the beginning. Although every person naturally uses his or her preferred language, sometimes and for different reasons, people use a different language when they communicate, to camouflage their true identity, as it were. But by reading this book and through experience and trials, as Patrick says, it is possible for us to learn how to better discern and to adjust our ways accordingly. This will inevitably lead to bearing more fruit when we evangelize.

All Christians are called to evangelize, but we sometimes stumble or hit a brick wall when we attempt to convince someone. That is probably because we did not choose the language that they understand best. The three languages that Patrick alludes to in his work are not to be understood as a simple configuration or choice of words corresponding to the specific categories of people whom we meet. The three languages also require some important predispositions: a fervent prayer life; attitudes of Christian charity, of humility, of purity of heart, of patience and of unconditional respect for the person; the ability to listen more than to speak; the desire for communion and unity with our brothers and sisters, and the desire to help those who are in need. Without these basic Christ-centred dispositions, we would be like a clanging cymbal, as St. Paul puts it. This would be a major impediment to the bearing of spiritual fruit for the glory of God.

We tend to forget that true evangelization always presupposes a personal relationship with God and with the ones to whom we preach and minister. The true desire to enter into a friendly relationship is essential for the grace of God to penetrate the heart and spirit of the listener. This is how Jesus evangelized, and this is how all of us should evangelize. These thoughts continually surface throughout this inspiring book.

Patrick also reminds us that the first step leading to a more personal relationship with the people we want to evangelize is to ask simple questions that connect to each of the three categories of people with whom one seeks to identify. Patrick’s work is very practical, pedagogical and down-to-earth. You will find many simple exercises as you read along.  These will enable you to better understand each of the three languages and how to approach the people who relate to each one of them, whatever the language you prefer in your personal life.

I will end with a simple and joyful comment that I wish to share with you: I am really looking forward to Patrick’s upcoming book, Fertile Ground. There is no doubt in my mind that it will contribute in helping us to better understand our common mission and the unique role we have to play in building up the Church, the beloved and fragile Spouse of Christ.

+ Guy Desrochers, C.Ss.R.

Bishop of Pembroke

PREFACE

HUMANS ARE RELATIONAL beings.

Our personality, our character, our values, even our very existence are all the result of relationships. It seems appropriate then that we approach prayer, the spiritual life, and God Himself in ways that make sense to us—ways that we have learned in and through the relationships in our lives.

I see this clearly in my own life. I firmly believe that my ability to speak about the languages of evangelization, to be able to see them at all actually, is largely due to the people that God has put in front of me over the years.

Some of the most formative experiences and relationships of my youth I credit to a pair of twin brothers who were just a couple years older than me. Brilliant academically and comfortable socially, schooled in science and the arts, these two young Catholics shaped my idea of God slowly and in ways I could understand.

When we would get together, Matthew would pose questions to the group and ponder them himself. Quietly, he would persist in thoughtful objections and passionately defend the truth once found. Peter would play the most beautiful music on the guitar, drawing us all in until those same questions and truths somehow became clearer. And they would both laugh as well as cry, allowing the joys and needs of the world to affect them as they should affect anyone with a good heart.

I didn’t know it at the time but these two young men were not simply talented—they were polyglots. They could speak in the three essential ways discussed in this very book, and because they were able to do this, they helped cast the net that captured the impressionable young man that I was.

So just in case you run into them, please help me in thanking my good friends, Fr. Matthew Gardzinski and Peter Gardzinski. In many ways, this book began with them all those years ago.

INTRODUCTION

It is amazing how much time we have spent talking about the new evangelization since the Second Vatican Council. There are entire books, parish programs, conferences, retreats, television shows, and even films dedicated to this topic. In that regard, you should not be in the least surprised to be holding another resource on the new evangelization in your hands. Yet, you’ll quickly notice one stark difference with this book.

While all other resources talk about what evangelization means, or addresses specific and practical ways in which we can evangelize the people in our lives (like my other book, Dare to Be An Evangelist), this book teaches you how to speak the languages of evangelization—a task so fundamental that you will come away wondering how you have come this far without having ever learned to speak them. Indeed, without a knowledge of the languages most of our efforts can fall flat, often leaving us with that frustrating question: why? Why didn’t my friend take the final steps to becoming a Catholic? Why do I have trouble conveying the Good news to my cousin, sister, or neighbour in a way that appeals to them?

And we wonder, too, when the people we love finally do turn their life around. Why now? What made him decide that this was God’s Church and that our Lord is truly present in the Eucharist?

But this book is not about knowledge or even answering all of these why questions. This book is about reaching the people in your life. This is what has compelled me to commit these discoveries into writing. After all, there are many ways to spread the Good News but not all of those ways will be equally heard by everyone. This is where the languages of evangelization make a difference. My hope is that you apply what you learn here to change people’s lives by challenging their outlook on life, on the Faith, maybe even turning their life upside down for a time and helping them finally turn it right side up. In short, I want you to take what you learn here to transform lives. 

So once you have finished reading—or better yet, even as you read—put what you have learned into practice. Pray for them and speak to them, but this time in the language that they understand.

The Rest of This Book

THIS BOOK THEN IS ABOUT discovering two things.

The first is to identify which language of evangelization you actually speak, not which one you think you speak or which one you want others to believe you speak. Believe it or not, most of the people I have encountered tend to misdiagnose themselves completely.

The second is to identify what those around you speak. In many ways, this is much easier. Though few of us actually take the time to do some much needed introspection, there are far more of us who spend our lives observing others.

As you move through the book and read the various stories and examples I share, I know that you will find yourself thinking of a similar person or experience. I can already hear you saying, Oh, that sounds exactly like my brother! Or, That describes my wife perfectly. I also know that you will find yourself wishing that you had known about all this before. And I know that because that is precisely how I felt when I first discovered the languages of evangelization.

Practice Makes Perfect

I WILL SPEND A BIT of time in this book discussing various ways in which you can practice speaking to others in their language, even if it is foreign to you. I included these exercises for one simple reason. I believe that if you really want to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the faces in your life, then you cannot expect them to cross the channel to get to you. No, you are the disciple who has been given the task to go out and preach the Gospel—not them. Not yet.

As they say, practice makes perfect, so get ready to grow in greater understanding of yourself and those around you. Believe me, this book will change how you speak to the people God places in your path and you will become a stronger evangelizer because of it.

That’s Not All

A book on evangelization would not be complete without addressing its application within the most basic Christian community we belong to—that of the local parish. You’ll see that I have dedicated a selection of chapters for the benefit of parish leaders. I want to help them assess and rethink the ways in which their parish ministries are carried out. I want to encourage them to examine precisely who it is that they have been ministering to, as well as who has been left on the sidelines. In short, my hope is that a new and working knowledge of the three languages of evangelization will give both the struggling and thriving parishes another powerful tool to add to their evangelization toolkit.

THAT BEING SAID, IF you are not currently serving in parish leadership, I nevertheless strongly encourage you to read these chapters. Not only will you find very useful insights as to why your parish and pastoral team have made certain decisions in the past, but you will also come to realize that your participation or lack thereof in parish-run ministries and events will help you better reflect on your own language of evangelization and help you to advocate for a more rounded evangelization movement on the parish level.

At the end of the day, we are never too young or too old to begin evangelizing. Our place of work or habits of life do not preclude it either. Though I refer specifically to parishes in these chapters, at the heart of my encouragement is community-based evangelization. So if you are working in a school board, hospital, marketing firm, or on a construction