Evangelisation News
 
“Evangelisation doesn’t stop with the holidays: Good News is Good News in season and out of season”, says Sr Michael, diocesan evangelisation team co-ordinator.

During the Summer the team has been involved in an exciting ecumenical outreach at the Sunderland Air Show.

In the coming months the evangelisation team is planning to spearhead an evangelisation campaign in South Tyneside, speaking at all the Masses in the deanery on Home Mission Sunday, September 21st.

A highlight of the campaign will be a day led by keynote speaker Clare Ward from Case (the Catholic agency to support evangelisation), Be Heralds of the Gospel in St Matthew’s, Jarrow on October 25th.

Also in the Summer a member of the diocesan evangelisation team represented the team at the National RCIA Network Conference in Manchester.

Online Seeker Centre

Our new diocesan online seeker centre is now up and running see www.rcdhn.org.uk/seekercentre

Home Mission Sunday 21st September

Every parish is going to be sent an Evangelisation DVD which has been produced by Catholic Evangelisation Services (creators of CaFE) in collaboration with the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation (CASE); it is titled ‘Alive in Christ – Making Mission Possible in Your Parish’.

Home Mission Sunday (21st September 2008) is a day of prayer for the spread of the Gospel in England and Wales; this year’s theme is: 'Job For Life: Equipping Parishes For Home Mission'.

Evangelisation in daily life

Continuing a series of experience centred stories connected with evangelisation written by people from our diocese:

Recently a young lady in our office was going on leave to get married. As was usual we had a whipround and got a card.

My knowledge of her is that she is not religious and she had chosen to get married in a registry office because of finance. I read others’ comments, some witty and lots of genuine good wishes.

I chose to give the following prayer: ‘May God give you both joy, May Jesus have mercy on you and help you in good times and bad, May the Holy Spirit fill your heart with love.'

I was not present on the day she left but I was informed by her colleagues that my prayer had reduced her to tears. Such experiences have shown me the great thirst for God and his word. I feel tears are God’s calling card, speaking directly to our hearts. Whether joy or sorrow it’s the same Holy Spirit.

Reflection on Scripture
A series written by a different member of the Diocesan Team each month.

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John do you love me more than these?"John 21:15-17

In life some people wake up in the morning singing with the larks, others wake up like a bear with a sore head. Yours truly belongs to the latter group. I sympathise with Peter's frustation at being asked three times if he loved Jesus and especially being asked in the morning after breakfast, if you love someone. But that is precisely the challenge of Christ's love, to give ourselves for others no matter what frame of mind we are in. It isn't easy. We need to pray for love and patience. But didn't St Paul say love is patient and kind. And, he wasn't very patient; he learnt to be patient in prison!

Evangelise month by month
September

A smile and a kind word can lift a downcast spirit, but always carry material with you for the hungry and remember evangelisation is God's work . We are just the messengers, so trust in insight and intuition.

Year of St Paul

This year is the Year of St Paul, and we are reminded what a great evangelist St Paul was; a convert himself, and one who used whatever methods the infrastructure of his time provided, becoming all things to all men, to “win as many as possible”(1 Corinthians 9: 19).

Resources about St Paul