Here's an idea for a 30-second answer that will not only inspire, it will also fulfill a Gospel invitation. And crafting this answer will help you more than anyone else.
Catholics grow up learning the seven sacraments, the Our Father, and other prayers and responses for Mass. However, we rarely learn to answer the question “Why are you a Catholic?” which leaves us to say “I grew up that way,” or “Because Jesus started the Church.”
In my previous article, Can you explain why you go to Mass?, I suggested you write an “elevator pitch” of about 30 seconds, following the outline of a Billy Graham revival sermon. For today’s question, I suggest something similar but different. I ask you to answer with an engaging and heartfelt storyline. Our brains are tuned for storytelling, so I will outline the basic elements of a story for you to include. These elements are what make novels and Hollywood movies so memorable.
In the words of NFL Films founder, Ed Sabol: “Tell me a fact and I’ll learn, tell me a truth and I’ll believe, tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” When you tell someone why you’re Catholic as a story — even as a 30-second “elevator story” — it can land in your friend’s heart forever.
I also ask you to see yourself responding to the advice of the Apostle Peter to the earliest Christians: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” (1 Peter 3:15)
Hollywood screenwriters often tell their stories using a particular pattern, because it works:
A character (hero)
Has a problem
Meets a guide
Who gives them a plan
Calls them to action
That helps them avoid failure
And ends in success
Those elements and pattern make for engaging stories in The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, and even The Godfather. Here is my elevator story that answers “Why are you a Catholic?”:
“I was a 19-year-old G.I. in Germany, searching for a meaningful and hopeful life. I often spent my free time at an orphanage where I witnessed the three religious sisters taking care of 40 children and 10 survivors of Nazi slave labor camps. Their Catholic faith led them to live not for themselves but for others, and I wanted such a faith, too. They opened me to a deeper faith in Jesus Christ that’s both meaningful and hopeful. More than 50 years later, I’m still grateful for the deeper Catholic faith they stirred in me.”
You could also follow the previous article’s Billy Graham outline to explain why you’re Catholic, but a heartfelt story often stays with people longer than an argument. Stories have a time-traveler quality, which is why Jesus told stories that we call parables. Growing up, I enjoyed hearing my parents’ story of meeting, falling in love, and getting married. They could have told me a series of facts, but they told me the story that has stayed with me.
What’s your story of a struggle, being inspired, receiving advice, and following it to a deeper faith in Jesus Christ that has transformed your life? Tell that story, and it will stay in your listener’s heart.
Keep in mind that young people moving into adulthood are anxious about many things, including if their lives will possess meaning, purpose, and hope. Your elevator story can remain in their lives as a type of road map that took you into such a life.
Now it’s your turn
With paper and pen in hand, write your elevator story that explains the reason for your life of meaning, purpose, or hope — or a combination of them. Consider a turning point that took you into a deeper relationship with Jesus, or when your Catholic faith took on greater meaning. Tell that story. As I previously wrote, what’s important is finding, not the perfect words, but your heartfelt words. Here are a few questions, based on the earlier outline, to help put words to your story:
What were you doing with your life at the time?
What challenge did you face or struggle to overcome?
Who helped you or gave you wise advice?
What did you learn from them?
What first step did you take?
What was it that worked for you?
What difference did it make in your life?
However you tell your elevator story, ask a friend to review or comment on it. You might ask your priest, a trusted parishioner, or others at your prayer group. You can even ask an A.I. assistant to review your story and suggest ways to make it clearer.
You’ll then have a story to share when asked, “Why are you a Catholic?” You can also use your elevator story as the basis for writing an expanded version. (Here’s a fuller version of my story about the sisters and orphanage.)
And when you write your elevator story, see yourself following the Apostle Peter’s call to “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope." (1 Peter 3:15)
