MADISON — It could have been called Go Make Disciples Alive for the presence of the combined witness of hundreds of Catholics in the Diocese of Madison engaging in their faith and being primed to spread the Good News to others.
On April 15 and 22, Go Make Disciples Live was held at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madison, St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo, St. Joseph Parish in Fort Atkinson, and St. Clement Parish in Lancaster.
The Madison and Fort Atkinson locations had sessions for both English and Spanish speakers.
These sessions, called “Great Commission Workshops,” were presented by the diocese along with The Evangelical Catholic.
Participants in these sessions came from all over the diocese.
Prior to the presentations and participation, Mass was celebrated. The Masses were bilingual in their applicable locations.
Participants heard talks by The Evangelical Catholic staff members and consultants and diocesan presenters on the importance of evangelization and what it means to do so.
“The Church is us,” said Jason Simon, president of The Evangelical Catholic and presenter at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish.
The mission of the Church to evangelize “is to us,” he said, adding that everyone’s “essential mission” is evangelization.
He emphasized that the kind of evangelization he talked about is not “hitting the streets” or “making conversations awkward with strangers,” but being there and helping those who are close to us to know the love of God and be with them on their journey.
One of the activities that participants engaged in was sharing one’s “story”.
They were asked to take some time in quiet reflection and write down their story, or a mini witness testimonial when or where the Lord was present in their lives.
They were then asked to take a few moments and share their story with someone seated near them. This showed how doable elements of evangelization can be when it’s made personal.
During these moments of sharing, all the participants were actively engaged in the exercise of evangelizing.
The conversations were lively and loud. It was easy for everyone to see that a few moments wasn’t nearly enough time for everyone to share the stories they had of God’s Good News in their lives, but they realized that they could share their stories with others, many of whom were strangers before the day.
As a follow-up to the workshop, participants were asked to join mission training groups that are meeting for three consecutive weeks.
The current series will conclude with a Culminating Workshop and Commissioning Mass on Saturday, May 20, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Monona.
For more information, go to madisondiocese.org/gmd-live