MONONA — The Go Make Disciples Commissioning Mass was celebrated on May 20 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Monona.
After three years of implementing the Go Make Disciples evangelization initiative, the Diocese of Madison officially sent out participants as missionary disciples.
Answering the call
The day began with a workshop led by Jason Simon of The Evangelical Catholic.
The workshop focused on discerning your personal apostolate: Who is God calling you to evangelize, and how?
Simon began with some foundational advice: Make sure you’re praying and fasting, meet people where they are at, and invest in your relationships.
He emphasized that last point, commenting that many people think evangelizing means speaking aggressively, making all your interactions with others awkward.
On the contrary, God values our close relationships with our loved ones.
While He does ask for courage, He does not call us to make things difficult but to go deeper in our relationships with others, being willing to listen and ask questions.
Having addressed these “ground rules,” Simon then led the group through praying about their personal apostolate and making a concrete plan to take action.
Knowing who you’re going to evangelize and how helps ensure that the resolve to go on mission for Christ is not just a wish, but a doable choice. He concluded by inviting those present to pray for each other’s plans of action, asking for God’s blessing on the work ahead.
Simultaneously with Simon’s talk, a similar workshop was given to the Spanish-speaking participants of Go Make Disciples.
It was a diverse group in attendance, with various ages and a number of couples attending together.
Celebrating Mass
After the talk and time for prayer, the participants were ready for the Commissioning Mass, which had parts in English and Spanish.
Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison celebrated the liturgy, which concluded with the official commissioning blessing in both English and Spanish.
The missionaries were sent forth with the words , “I commission you by your words and witness to take the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ into all the world, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
They also each received a cross to commemorate the occasion and remind them of Christ’s love as they go forth.
Others in attendance rejoiced to see these individuals step up and commit to pursuing Christ’s mission of love.
We anticipate with joy the great blessing their work will be to our diocese.
The bishop, in addition to thanking them, also took the chance to thank the many individuals involved in Go Make Disciples, as well as the diocesan staff and The Evangelical Catholic.
May the Lord bring fruit to their labors.