How simply inviting your friends, classmates and co-workers to mass could be the new normal way to evangelize.
Find new ways to spread the word of God to every corner of the world
Pope Francis
Making evangelization concrete has never been so simple. Sometimes you just need to stop elaborating big plans and sophisticated ideas to spread the good news, and start make it happen. Just think a little about it and you will see how easy it can be.
Giving a little boost
Juliette, 22, a young student at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and recent member of the Emmanuel Community in Boston, started inviting classmates to mass few years ago when she was studying at Ecole Polytechnique, also called X, in France. “There was a small chapel close to the dorms and I used to go there to pray with other students before going to bed.” she said. At one point, she realized they could ask more students to join them. From that moment, Juliette kept inviting people to mass. And when she moved to Boston last year, there was no reason for her to stop. When she arrived in Boston one year ago, Juliette was thankful to discover Saint Paul’s church in Harvard Square, Cambridge. Located at the heart of the student life, St Paul offers a daily mass during the middle of the day and even provides lunch to the students. A special mass for students is held on Sunday evenings at 5 p.m. St Paul is also home to the Harvard Catholic Center, the chaplaincy dedicated to undergraduates, graduates and professional students from Harvard University and other academic institutions in the area. For Juliette, it helped her living her faith and then inviting her new friends and classmates to join her.
“Often, it is more like a joke. I just say; guys I am leaving you, I am going to mass. By the way, if you’d like, you can join me…”, she said.
Sometimes, inviting catholic students she knows just gives them the little boost they need to go to church. But sometimes, it opens the opportunity to discuss with them and with non catholic students about her faith. “Being labelled as a practicing catholic, students who have questions about religion or faith come naturally to me.”, Juliette said. Simply because when you invite others to mass, you never know what will happen next. It always lies in the hands of God. Sharing this beautiful experience with me truly helped me seeing evangelization from a different – and inspiring – perspective. And I started telling myself: after all if it works for the student community in Cambridge, why not in my personal or professional life?
Ingrid (MA)