Why do so many Catholics struggle to share their faith, even when they want to? In this episode, Dave Plisky and Fr. John Gribowich explore the personal and professional barriers that prevent Catholics from evangelizing effectively. Through conversations with Monica Martinez, parish lead at Hallow, Emily Ricci, founder and CEO of Gloriam Marketing, and Peter Andrastek, a senior consultant at the Evangelical Catholic, they discover that the solution isn't more training or techniques, but something far more fundamental: authentic relationship, genuine encounter, and what you might call "pre-evangelization." If you've ever felt uncomfortable with the word "evangelization" or wondered why your parish's outreach efforts fall flat, this episode offers a refreshing perspective that puts listening, presence, and personal holiness before programs and strategies.

Monica Martinez - Parish Lead at Hallow, a chart-topping Catholic prayer app. Monica brings extensive experience in evangelization ministry and parish engagement, having worked with parishes across the country to understand what works in getting people to encounter Christ.

Emily Ricci - Founder and CEO of Gloriam Marketing, a Catholic marketing agency that serves parishes and Catholic businesses. Emily specializes in helping Catholic organizations communicate more effectively and reach the people they're called to serve.

Peter Andrastek - Senior Consultant at The Evangelical Catholic with over 20 years of experience in adult faith formation. Peter works with faith communities from college campuses to military bases, helping establish vibrant Catholic communities focused on authentic discipleship.

"If we reduce evangelization to something you can just train someone for, just a set of skills or a technique for saying something, we reduce evangelization to the manipulation of human techniques." - Peter Andrastek

"The person who feels called to evangelize needs to also equally feel called to be evangelized by the person they are trying to evangelize." - Fr. John Gribowich

"Everyone is a walking Christ already, so what are we doing to honor and reverence the walking Christ in our midst?" - Fr. John Gribowich

"It's not so much about saying 'tell me that God loves me.' It's experiencing the love of God." - Monica Martinez

"People want to [evangelize], we just have no idea how to. That's not something that most of us were taught how to do in faith formation." - Emily Ricci

Join us next week as we explore the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, from understanding their meaning to how we can better live them out in our daily lives.

Religion to Reality explores the gap between religious belief and lived experience, bringing research-based insights from the Called Learning Community's discipleship study into conversation with real practitioners. Hosted by Dave Plisky and Fr. John Gribowich, each episode examines how Catholics can move from simply identifying as religious to living out their faith in authentic, transformative ways.

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