Fish Fridays and why they can be a tool of evangelisation.

How often do we hear, get out there and evangelise, the new evangelisation etc. Well, surprisingly how do we do that, one way is to take to every opportunity we get to start a conversation about the Gospel, about Our Lord and Our Lady of course, this is one way.

Working in the Middle East, Africa and Asia for the past 5 years I’ve had more opportunities than most to spread the faith. I have been tested a few times as well, in shall we say, less than friendly countries to Christians. Seeing the look of hatred on a Sudanese Border guards face when he has found my Bible, Rosary’s and 10 pack of Rosary books, having to defend the Lord when in Pakistan an official has commented on Christs Divinity or when a senior customer has made a claim about the corruption of our Bible, all the while being aware that my next word might get me in some very serious trouble.

Overall, I have been very lucky to work almost exclusively with Americans for a few years in some pretty tough and hostile environments in the Middle East. It has actually been surprisingly easy to start those conversations, often all I have achieved is making some Southern Baptist hate or dislike Catholicism a little less or in some circumstances a whole lot less. I have managed to distribute a few Rosaries, books and call a few American Catholics back to the faith.

However, in normal or more normal circumstance how do we evangelise? Well, for most of you reading this, you will already be saying “by living the faith” or by “being a witness to the faith by the way we live”, you would, I would hazard to say be correct. So the question then comes, what’s fish Fridays got to do with evangelising, well I will tell you, I have started more conversations with people over the last few years about Catholicism and Jesus Christ with my observing the no meat requirement of the church, than any other single thing I do.

Granted, praying the rosary in public has been another one, but Fish Fridays for some reason peaks the interest of our brothers and sisters outside the one true faith the most. Reading the Bible always got some interest too, my favourite moment in that regards is when a young Baptist Naval officer said to me as he was passing me in the hallway, careful you don’t cut yourself with that thing, me realising he was referring to the bible as a sword, us both laughing and me showing him my Rosary and explaining that this too is a weapon of mass destruction for demons.

Fish Fridays though, being in a queue at the canteen onboard a ship on a Friday and taking only what little veggies or salad was available or sometimes just bread because they had run out veggies and being cheerful about it, being asked by the Filipino chef why I am not eating, explaining that me being English, my diocese still recommends no meat on Fridays, and I always do fish only Fridays, it has led to so many conversations about their own faith and with encouragement often offering a rosary or a prayer followed up by small talks over the weeks, it has been the foothold I needed.

After a month with one Filipino who had converted to the Seventh Day Adventists, his meeting someone who believed in the faith so strongly, he was reduced to tears, I think he had seen so much Luke Warmness and assumed that was how all Catholics behaved and it all started with me bringing a can of tuna to eat because there were only meat options. In fact, that same ship after two weeks the chef started putting out a fish option and several crew started to follow suit. What amazed me more than the Americans or Filipinos was that my British colleagues, second generation Catholics, in effect would quietly ask me questions, I think seeing a young military veteran fast, pray and wear his faith on his sleeve was such a curiosity. Often some of the guys had quite militant Protestant opinions mainly from serving in Northern Ireland and again after the questions over the meal choice on Friday, opened a conversation. I would quietly explain the Catholic heritage of England, Alfred the great and Richard the Lionheart both great English Kings both extremely Catholic.

Some of the smaller things we do, have an importance that is far bigger than we realise, abstinence from meat on Fridays has a deep spiritual meaning, as we know if you truly think about it, we should do penance on Fridays the day of Our Lords crucification, we are offered to some other good deed technically my question why not do both?

I feel that it is a small reminder to us in a very visceral way that “hey it’s Friday, remember what that means”. It can be the catalyst to remind us of the more important things to do, such as Friday devotions and meditations on the passion. We should live the faith more loudly and remember the great commission and yes spread the good news, Christ has come! That can be done with great signs of faith, such as protesting outside an abortion mill or a Euchasristic profession, but it can also be done by being in the queue to eat and walking away with empty plate and a smile on your face. Recently a judge in America was told “the dogma lives loudly in you” well yes and I will pronounce all the dogmas and truths of the church in every way my toolbox has.