How vibrant is your parish? How welcoming are its parishioners? Is its prayer life alive and well? Is it a parish that would attract fallen-away Catholics or those who have never experienced the Catholic faith?

Probably no parish scores perfectly when examining its approach to seeking and welcoming outsiders into its fold or, in other words, when examining its approach to evangelization.

Evangelization is not an easy word to define. In fact, it’s a word most of us shy away from. As Cardinal Francis George of Chicago has noted: “It doesn’t mean beating people over the head with a Bible or a catechism or our own spiritual experience stridently repeated.” Evangelization has been better defined as “helping persons come to an encounter with the living Christ.”

To better assist parishes with their evangelization efforts, the Diocese of Sacramento is sponsoring Disciples in Mission, a program of the Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association, which focuses on energizing parishes and instilling in parishioners an excitement in their faith that will spread to their family, friends and co-workers.

Under the direction of Mercy Sister Susan McCarthy and the diocesan team, each participating parish forms its own team, whose members are trained to put the process in motion.

The process brings together all parish ministries, the parish’s different cultures and all parts of parish life in a dedicated effort. Disciples in Mission runs for three years in the parish. Each year’s efforts build on the previous year’s strengths and weaknesses.

The primary component of the process is the Sunday Scripture readings. These provide the basis for small faith-sharing groups giving parishioners the chance to reflect on and discuss the readings. These groups are now being formed in participating parishes with group discussions to begin this Lent.

Special homilies on Jesus’ evangelizing mission are given during Lent. Inserts are placed in the parish bulletin to explain the teachings of the U.S. bishops on evangelization. Family activities are scheduled to involve children from pre-school through elementary school.

Father Ricardo Giraldo, who coordinates Hispanic evangelization programs for the diocese, will guide Disciples in Mission among the diocese’s Hispanic Catholic population.

After Easter, a Parish Reflection Day will be held to affirm evangelization efforts and bring out new ideas for the future. During the following summer, fall and winter, the parish continues to build on its evangelization efforts of the previous Lent. In late fall, the parish team reflects on their experiences and plans for the following Lent.

Parishes will go through this cycle of Lenten formation, spring planning, and implementation for three consecutive years. By the end of the third year, parishes should be able to see where their evangelizing efforts are most needed and be able to put together a plan to keep this most important parish mission alive and growing.

Fran Vitulli is a member of The Herald’s advisory board. For more information about Disciples in Mission, call the diocesan Office of Evangelization at 916-733-0154.

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