Evangelization Matters!

Close your eyes. Visualize a community in which Sunday Mass and all of the sacraments are celebrated joyfully and meaningfully in a way that is warm and welcoming to all people.

Have you ever stopped to think about the spiritual encouragement your parish offers you, especially the ways in which your parish leads you to grow in faith and follow Jesus Christ?

“Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.’ So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them” (Mark 6:7-13).

Long before there were a multitude of businesses that emphasized customer service and customer care, welcoming strangers was central to our Catholic faith. Today a growing number of parishes are rediscovering hospitality as an essential Christian practice.

The word “evangelization” has meant different things to different people in various places and at various times in history. Today, the Church has a refreshed emphasis on what she calls “the new evangelization” in keeping with the trends and challenges of modern society. 

Imagine you are standing at the front door of your parish church at one of the weekend Masses.  You notice the people streaming towards the church: young and old, rich and poor, sick and healthy, women and men. Some may be highly educated, and others have no formal education. Some are married, some are living together, and some are single, or single parents struggling to raise a family on their own. There are people who are happy, or lonely, or bereaved. People who just found love and people whose hearts are broken.  Sadly, there are people experiencing abuse or addiction.