Tomorrow my parish is going door-to-door in a local neighborhood to invite people to become a member of our parish. This is the fifth time we’ve done this and so far we’ve visited about 2,000 homes. It is a great activity, as it allows us to reach out to those who might never hear the Gospel otherwise. I have also found that it is very uplifting to those who do the evangelizing, as they receive great graces from the Lord through their work.

My wife invited a number of friends this time and I thought her invitation was beautiful so I’m going to copy it here:

“Let’s go love some people”

Some of you have participated in SJN’s door-to-door evangelization projects in the past. If you have, you know what a blessing the experience is to those you meet and for yourself. If you have not, I am writing to encourage you to participate this time. Maybe it’s a little nerve-wracking to think about knocking on a stranger’s door to invite him to come to church. I hear ya. But, for one thing, we’ve pretty much never had an angry response. More importantly, we’ve been given the opportunity to pray for some very needy people. I’ve had people share with me about deaths in their families, divorces that have pained them,
and their desire for their children to be catechized. It has been a privilege to be invited into the most important part of the life of someone I’d never even met. I’ve also had people close the door with a “whatever, whacko lady” look on their face, but that’s OK, too. In both cases you give Jesus a big thank you.

A few times I’ve taken two of the kids with me. It was an eye-opening experience for them, too, and I hope that by doing this sort of thing now evangelization will be for them in the future not something to be nervous about!

Please pray for us and all we will meet!