wow, what is the matter with you people? jihad, shmihad. he said that that word is not used. so move on. so many people that read this stuff are well-trained complainers, so used to finding fault that that is all we do to each other too. answer the question or don’t saying anything. you act like the guy is the devil incarnate at his parish. lighten up. you think that arabic speaking Christians don’t use the word ‘jihad’ when they are talking about the ‘crusades’? it means ‘holy war’. whatever. fighting the “good fight” is a holy war in every language.
no matter what you and your little cadre are doing in the parish, no matter what you call it, no matter how noble your intentions, no matter what your priest’s attitude is toward your actions: if you are arousing bitter hatred among your targeted enemies or in the parish at large you are doing far more harm than good, and that sound you hear is Satan chuckling.
just because people get mad doesn’t mean satan is having his day. Jesus got one or two people mad too. anger and hatred are human responses in human interaction. if they were worried about whether Jesus were chuckling, they’d temper their human response with the Gospel.
my answer to the original question is this: no, don’t ignore their anger. use it. you have their attention. your info sheets (“dittos”) should say 'to learn more come to our discussion group on __ night." this may not have been possible before, it can be phase two of your “mission”.
no one wants to offend the Holy Spirit–either by violating the norms of the Church or otherwise. we are at all times called to catechesis. once they know the norms and the reasons for respecting them, they will follow along. if you don’t believe that, then give up. the heart is natually attracted to the Truth. if doing the work to lead others to understanding is too much trouble, then you should stop what you are doing. your mission has to be about others or it is not a “mission”.
i am glad you have fixed what you have fixed so far. now help the people.
btw, you should make an effort toward transparency with your group. everyone should know who everyone is. it is sinful to be involved in secret societies. the slightest appearance of such will rightly offend people. without attention to openness you could accidently violate the laws of the Church, and that would make all your efforts bogus.
john