We’re all called to spread the Gospel, and Father Dave welcomes back Franciscan friar Father Casey Cole to discuss his new evangelization mission and book. Father Casey and two fellow young friars moved to Charlotte, NC to found SEARCH, which stands for Seek, Encounter, Accompany, Renew, Convert and Heal. He is also the author of the new book, “Sent: How to Evangelize Wherever You Are, Whoever You Are.”
Father Casey describes how SEARCH is inspired by the former preacher to the papal household, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, and his reflections on Jesus’ Parable of the Lost Sheep. “He said that Jesus loved that one so much that we should be willing to go after it, and that sheep is not coming back on its own – we need to go get it if we want it,” Father Casey says. “But [Father Raniero] also said we allocate all of our resources to the one who has stayed, and yet the 99 have left today; the world has flipped. It just hit me that I’m spending all of my time with the people who come to me. I need to do something to go to those who are not in church.”
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He explains how he and his fellow friars have conversations about faith while wearing their religious habits out in the community, whether that is on the streets, in coffee shops, or in bars. Father Casey says, “[The name SEARCH] is working on two levels, because we’re searching for them, and I think people are searching. People are definitely out there who may not be religious and they may not be coming to church, but they’re searching for something.”
“SEARCH is also an acronym: Seek, Encounter, Accompany, Renew, Convert and Heal,” he continues, noting that people often mistakenly jump to convert first. “‘You should go to church,’ is often what we think evangelization is, but that’s like step five. So much has to go into actually seeking people, accompanying them, working with them, and sometimes just healing them before they’re even able to listen to you.”
Father Casey notes that while his mission is to evangelize, we all share a responsibility to spread the Gospel. “What I’m experiencing here in Charlotte is that we have a lot of bankers and people who work 10-12 hour days. They’re good, faithful Catholics, but they don’t know what to do with the three hours that they have free in their week,” he says, and how they often ask him how to evangelize.
“I’ve told them recently that maybe that three hours isn’t meant to go do more things; Maybe you could reframe the way you see your work. Rather than ‘I have my work and then I have my God time,’ could you make your work into your vocation? I’m not talking about going around the office saying, ‘Jesus saves’ — that’s probably not going to make too many friends. But maybe you could find that person in your office who doesn’t have many friends, or might be going through a hard time,” he adds. “Maybe you could be that voice of Jesus, that wonderful touch that gives them warmth and comfort. That’s living the Gospel, it’s evangelization; maybe not in a showy way like ours is, but that is showing the love of Jesus.”
LISTEN: Father Casey Cole Talks Baseball and Beatitudes
Father Casey continues, “Don’t discount or overlook having a Virgin Mary [on your desk], a beautiful image or icon, or wearing a cross. Doing some of that and just saying, ‘God bless you, or ‘Can I pray for you?’ I think we’re so afraid of offending people that we don’t even do the basic things of decency and caring for people.”
He offers more tips for starting organic conversations about faith. “One thing I talk about in the book is that I think everyone knows God, even if they don’t know his name. The reason is they know truth, goodness, and beauty,” Father Casey says. “Maybe you don’t open with ‘Jesus Christ says this,’ but instead you say, ‘Hey, you love baseball,’ or maybe you love music or art. Say, ‘Yes, that’s beautiful. What do you love about that?’ Maybe draw that out to say, ‘Where do you think the source of that is?’ You start that conversation, and you make a connection between what they genuinely love, which is good, and maybe the fuller experience of what that is.”
