Cardinal Vincent Nichols, giving an enthusiastic and wide-ranging keynote speech at the Proclaim ’15 national evangelisation conference in Birmingham, called on delegates to focus on three ‘C’s:
Our COLLEAGUES who have lost their way
These can be fellow Catholics who are resting: all those who cross the threshold of the church just every now and then. They have heard of Jesus; they have some of the words; they have a familiarity, of sorts, with the Church.
Can we lead them, step by step, to know Jesus more clearly?
The CURIOUS
Curiosity, even if tinged with hostility, can be a marvellous opportunity if we are open ourselves and remember that within that curiosity may well lie the prompting of the Holy Spirit. If we forget that, then we are quickly on the defensive and the moment has gone!
The CRY of the human heart
A cry of confusion, pain, hunger, loneliness, need, anger.
Whatever action we take in response to the cry of the world around us must bring together the cry of prayer and the cry of pain. Only then can it be the mission of Jesus.
Our action should be effective. But even more so it should be prayerful, otherwise its effectiveness will not touch the deepest well of pain from which the cry is rising.
You can read the full Proclaim ’15 keynote address given by Cardinal Vincent Nichols at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 11 July 2015.
