How Catholics Can Evangelize Jews

Holy Mother Church does not have a formal program for evangelizing Jews. More than anything else, we evangelize Jews through the example of life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 578, declares. “Jesus, Israel’s Messiah and therefore the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, was to fulfill the Law by keeping it in its all-embracing detail – according to his own words, down to the least of these commandments. Mt 5:19 He is in fact the only one who could keep it perfectly.” The more Christlike we are, the more Jews will see through the Church’s Latin culture to her Jewish heart.

Jesus calls us to be fishers of men. Fishermen are patient. We invite the Holy Spirit to work in our Jewish friend’s heart and in our own. Sometimes a Jew will approach a Catholic with some questions about the Church. We provide what is asked of us, and ask whether he has any other questions or whether there is more we can do. If he shows further interest, we can invite him to visit our parish church. If he continues to show interest, we may invite him to attend our parish’s next RCIA class.

When answering objections to, or questions about, the Catholic faith, it may be helpful to learn more about similar issues that often arise in the Jewish-Catholic dialogue.

There are also some special issues when we evangelize Jews:

Understanding Jewish Antimissionaries

Why Catholics Evangelize Jews

Using Second Exodus to Evangelize an Inquiring Jew