On the Need to Evangelize to Practicing Catholics

This http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/catholics_protestants_practice_faith_in_different_ways is depressing and confirms many Catholic stereotypes. Essentially, it is a survey that protestants are twice as likey to read the Bible daily, reflect on scripture, or pray, than Catholics are. (This is a study of people who go to Church at least twice a month, so lax Catholics aren't counted.) One factor that I believe is unaccounted for in this study is that many Catholics are "identity Catholics". By that I mean that they are Catholics because they are born and raised Catholic, not because of what they actually believe. Many of these never attend Mass, many attend only at Easter and Christmas (and occasionally Mother's Day) and many go to Mass semi-regularly. All would call themselves Catholic in a survey but would have no clue as to the basic tenets of the faith, and if you asked them if they believed in the real Presence in the Eucharist, they would look at you as if you had asked them if they believed in Santa Claus. Would those kinds of people really read the Bible every day?
On the other hand, if someone had stopped attending a Baptist church 20 years ago, would they still identify themselves as a Baptist? And how many people continue attending a protestant church when their faith is gone, out of a cultural sense of duty? In the protestant world (and this is a gross over-generalization) people weak in their faith go church-hopping until they either find a place where they feel comfortable and their faith becomes strong, or they stop going to church altogether and either identify themselves as generic Christians or as non-religious.

What does this mean to the Little Way of the Family? Well, first, we want our family to be in that 25% that reads the Bible daily. Second, we have to see this as an enormous opportunity for evangelization in our own community. Catholics need to see that Catholicism is not just something we do for an hour every Sunday. Our love for Christ has to be present in us every minute of every day, manifested through scripture reading, reflection, charitable acts, prayer and other ways. How do we evangelize in this way? By being an example of the happiness brought to a family that is enthusiastic about its faith. When people see a happy family ardently in prayer, it has an impact. When they see a five-year-old praying the rosary before Mass, it has an impact. When they hear the sweet voice of a ten-year-old girl singing the Gloria in Latin, it has an impact. When the see a three-year-old boy genuflecting before entering the pew, it has an impact. That is our challenge, and that is our opportunity.