We often tend to think about bringing people into the Church as a one-time individual or group effort. But often, I think, it's a matter of little drips wearing away at the wall that separates the person from accepting the Truth.
From my own experience of returning to the Church after a 30-year absence, I can see that it was a matter, first, of the Spirit which I finally heard calling me and, second, the seemingly chance remarks and conversations with other Catholics that penetrated my wall of defense. There was the joy I heard in co-workers who as a small group regularly attended a lunchtime Mass. There was the conversation with a former co-worker who had recently attended an Ignatian retreat that had changed her life, prompting her to pursue more simplicity. These people were not trying to "convert" me, they were merely sharing their faith in a very matter-of-fact way, and by doing so showed me what I was missing in life.
We should never feel that sharing our faith is a waste of time and effort. Often, it may take years for the message to hit home with a person, and we may never know that it did. The effect is cumulative--one sows and another reaps.
We ourselves need to first have faith and joy in Christ Jesus. We need to practice sharing our faith and joy with each other. Then we need to be open to letting the Spirit speak through us, willing to share our faith and joy with those outside the Church--at work, over lunch or dinner, at the gym, at the hairdresser, on a plane, wherever. Sharing our faith and joy should become for us as natural as breathing.
