Objective:
The middle school youth will discover St. Patrick’s gift to evangelize others and our baptismal call to evangelization.
Overview:
EVAN GELIZATION : Evangelization is a big fourteen letter word that simply means “to share.” When we were baptized, we were commissioned to join the Church in evangelizing the world. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that,
Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, ‘that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life.’ For lay people, ‘this evangelization . . . acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world’ (#905).
In every aspect of our lives, we are to be proclaiming Christ to all people. As Catholics we often seek to fulfill our Sunday obligation, but we forget our call to be witnesses of Christ’s love and saving mission at our jobs, in our homes, at the mall, the gym, etc. The same is true of our middle school youth. During the middle school years, most youth will tell you that they were invited to attend a friend’s church at least once. They report that in school they are asked to join Bible studies and prayer groups both at school and at other churches. It is important that we arm our young people with the same evangelization tools that saints have used for centuries to convert entire nations to the Catholic faith.