Evangelization Team

Evangelization Team Mission Statement: To create an awareness of our responsibilities to live our faith in Jesus Christ, and to share that faith with our brothers and sisters.

What can we do for our college students? How can you build a bridge to a faith relationship? Let’s pray for our college students! Let’s write to our college students! 

Remember in your prayers our youth who have gone off to college. You can specifically pray for your college student, and all students. Ask the Spirit to help them in their studies, and help them in staying connected to their faith. Please help reach out to the students by sending a note in during their months away from home. The note can simply be a card with well wishes, and most important is to mention that you are praying for him/her. You may gain a new friend as you build a disciple of our Lord. 

To sign-up please contact msmitley@stgregorythegreat.org. 

What is evangelization?  In simplest terms, it means to preach the gospel.  Uh oh, you say, Catholics don’t do that.  Actually, they do and must.  The Church tells us that “…the work of evangelization is a basic duty of the People of God.”  Evangelization a duty?  Perhaps, like many Catholics, you feel that preaching to people is just plain awkward! 

Let’s look at evangelization in a different way.  Suppose you have a brother that you love dearly and are very proud of.  He is a great guy.  He is there when you need him.  You can always go to him with your problems.  He listens and comforts you.  If you ask for something that is good for you, he provides.  Even when you hurt or offend him he will always forgive you.  You know beyond a doubt that your brother loves you so much he would even die for you.  Not only that, he is leaving you and all who love him a bountiful inheritance.

Wouldn’t you want others in your life to also know and love this great guy; to share in the inheritance? That is what evangelization is – introducing those you hold dear to your brother, Jesus, and sharing his wonderful words. 

How does St. Gregory the Great’s Evangelization Team introduce Jesus to people in our parish? 

The E-Team, as it is called, reaches out to introduce Jesus and help people to get to know him better in many ways.  Some of those efforts include:

• An annual Mission to bring people into a deeper personal relationship with Jesus
• An annual 40 Hours Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament during which our parish offers prayers of adoration and petition asking Jesus to pour out his graces upon us
• Brochures to get the word out about Lenten and Advent opportunities available in our parish to grow in faith
• Parish participation in the Robbinsville St. Patrick’s Day parade
• An annual parish Christmas Tree Lighting in anticipation of the coming of baby Jesus
• E-Team’s future plans include an exciting hands-on program that teaches how to share our faith comfortably yet boldly and introduce Jesus to family and friends

The E-Team invites you to be part of our efforts, whether for a single event or to serve on the Core Group to help plan and implement evangelization efforts through the year.  To be on the team, email us at msmitley@stgregorythegreat.org. 

The purpose of the E-Team is to bring people into a deeper personal relationship with Jesus and to help them in bringing their family and friends to know Him better too.  It is a very active ministry.  Some of our efforts throughout the year include:
 
Lenten Mission – Each year the Evangelization Team plans and organizes an annual parish mission.  This year we are extremely fortunate to have Father Larry Richards, a regular on EWTN, with us from May 8^th through 11^th.

Carnival Evangelization – Imagine… our parish members give away treasures of our faith!  Our parish is blessed with the generosity of many who gladly share their statues and religious articles with those who visit our parish carnival. 

Lent and Advent Outreach – Our E-Team endeavors to communicate the faith-enrichment offerings of our parish, most especially during Advent and Lent.  We create pamphlets to share all the opportunities on campus to experience the love and mercy of our God.

Reaching out with Prayer and Pen - We build a bridge of a faith relationship with our college students through letters and prayers.  We ask our parishioners to remember in their prayers our youth away at college, and consider volunteering to send letters to students.

Community Outreach – The E-Team reaches out into our community to tell people about our wonderful family of believers and to extend an invitation to become part of parish.  Outreach efforts include participation in the Robbinsville St. Patrick’s Day parade, Hamilton Township’s Oktoberfest and the Robbinsville Day event. 
 

Do you ever find yourself in front of your closet on Saturday evening or Sunday morning saying, “What should I wear to Mass?” – and just not be sure of the answer?
 
Because we worship together, each of us helps the other in lifting our minds and hearts to God.   With that in mind, here are a few things to think about as we choose what to wear to Mass:
 

• Modesty is a primary consideration:  We get good advice on modesty from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper:  “We should also come to the sacred liturgy appropriately dressed. As Christians we should dress in a modest manner, wearing clothes that reflect our reverence for God and that manifest our respect for the dignity of the liturgy and for one another.”  Modesty – one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit we receive at Baptism – includes dressing in a discreet manner.  Even with casual dress, it’s important to be mindful of modesty.

• How we dress is a reflection of the importance to us of what takes place:  This is one way that we “say” to our fellow Mass-goers that we are focused on the awesomeness and sacredness of the Mass and Jesus’s true presence in the Eucharist.

• Scripture suggests proper attire for worship:  We see verses in the Bible that call for modest and appropriate dress as being well-suited to worship.

 
Catholic writer and Trappist Monk Thomas Merton offers a wonderful reflection on his observations regarding attire at Mass: “What a revelation it was, to discover so many ordinary people in a place together, more conscious of God than of one another; not there to show off their hats or their clothes, but to pray.”
 
Jesus is clear in the Gospels that what is inside of us, in our hearts, is far more important than what we look like or wear.  But if we keep these pieces of advice in mind, it will help all of us to have a more prayerful and enriching experience of the liturgy as we seek to draw closer to God.