Pass It On

Posted by: L.E.S. on: June 5, 2014

• In: Everyday Life | Faith | Family | Friends | Holy Days
• 1 Comment

On Sunday, our priest talked about the command Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20*:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Most of us are familiar with the Great Commission. But as the priest pointed out, this applies not only to the disciples but also to us. And then he asked the congregation how many of us had brought someone to church. Not many hands went up.

There seems to be an unwritten rule that we don’t raise politics or religion in conversation, especially in our multi-faith society. How do we reconcile this with our call to “make disciples” and “be witnesses,” as set out in Acts 1:8?

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”

Here are a few low-pressure ways we can invite people to visit our parish:

• Encourage our kids to invite a friend to a parish picnic, a family movie night, or a seasonal event like an Easter egg hunt or a Christmas party.
• Encourage our youth to bring a friend to a youth ministry outing such as a movie night, sporting event, or “Welcome Back!” barbecue.
• Invite someone to a Catholic Women’s League or Knights of Columbus meeting to hear a speaker on a topic the person is interested in. Or ask someone to be a guest speaker at one of these meetings.
• Extend an invite to a special event such as a pancake breakfast, spaghetti dinner or bake sale.
• Participate in local events. For example, the parish could have a float in the Christmas parade, a booth at a street fair, or tables at a community yard sale.
• Maintain our parish website with up-to-date information on ministry activities and contacts.
• Mention our involvement in our parish—our work on a sacramental preparation committee, in children’s or youth ministry, and so on—in conversation, whether in person or online.

If we have relatives who have walked away from the Church or who have never attended church, we could invite them to parish events as well.

I pray that we would find the courage to invite others to our church to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8).

(*Scripture quotes taken from the Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition.)

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Tags: Ascension, Catholic, Christian, disciples, faith, God, inviting people to visit our parish, religion