Has anyone heard of Catholic parishes participating in Mission?

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crohnie4life

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I hope someone can offer me some insight.

A Catholic friend of mine told me that her parish is doing Mission for an entire week where there are lectures, pot luck dinner, and prayer groups.

I have never heard of it and was wondering if this is something new the church is doing or has it been around for a while.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Lisa
 
A mission at a Catholic Church is why I decided to convert from Judaism to Catholicsm. It played a very important part in me finding Jesus.
 
Yes, here in Britain it is quite normal, our parish had a Mission in May and the ‘Mission-team’ travels from parish to parish, on the invitation of the parish priest. It was a lovely experience and our youngest daughter was christened during the final Mission Mass.

Anna x
 
a parish mission is an old old tradition, some religious orders such as Redemptorists have conducting missions as their charism. Alphonse Liguori and Francis de Sales among other great saints were noted for the effectiveness of the missions they preached. It was particularly strong as a Lent or Advent tradition before V2, and its revival is an excellent sign.

It usually consists of a week of preaching services each evening, often with Mass or Benediction and Adoration, possible preceded by a meal, covered dish or whatever. It may be conducted by one or by a team of priests. there is usually a “kick-off” at the Sunday Masses, and the mission begins Sunday evening after a pot-luck supper. I vividly remember the missions conducted in my childhood parish. Attendance was so huge they had to be held in the high school gym. Entire families attended (as a girl scout I helped with child care, that was our service project).

a parish mission was responsible for the life decisions and priority-changing that led to our eventual move down here to Texas and the work we are now doing, and our involvement in the Church.
 
My parish has a mission week every Spring. We bring in a priest who specializes in this type of work. He usually speaks at all of the Masses on the Sunday before that week and then we have something every night Mon-Fri with at least one night of parishwide reconciliation and one of Mass and/or adoration.

We have a group of lay people who organize this every year as a ministry. If you are interested in having a mission talk with your priest and some like-minded folks about organizing a committee. You need to plan about a year ahead to get the speaker booked. It does cost to bring in these folks, so you have to plan for airfare, etc. Perhaps if you have a small parish you could get together with the next closest parish and do a mission week together?

When I was a kid going to Protestant churches with relatives they had something similar and called it a “revival.”
 
thank you everyone who replied.

From what my friend told me, the reason her church conducted Mission was to bring back those who left the church due to divorce, divorced and remarried without an annullment, .and wanted to bring them back along with those who questioned their faith.

I just question her church because they do things that I don’t think are correct such as giving out communion to those who aren’t Catholic (Protestants, Methodists) but as she puts it "they just don’t publicize it, they let Eucharistic ministers give out communion even if they are divorced/in a a serious relationship w/o an annullment, hold hands during the Our Father to name a few.
 
I just question her church because they do things that I don’t think are correct such as giving out communion to those who aren’t Catholic (Protestants, Methodists) but as she puts it "they just don’t publicize it, they let Eucharistic ministers give out communion even if they are divorced/in a a serious relationship w/o an annullment, hold hands during the Our Father to name a few.
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:eek: You’re kidding me! Crohnie, this is a Catholic church? Have you investigated her claims and are they true? If so, is the Bishop informed or aware of this clandestine activity?

-Alison
 
hi allison,

No I’m not kidding b/c her husband (before she filed for divorce) has been going up to communion (he’s not Catholic–he was brought up Methodist but now goes to Victory Christian Center–nondenominational) and I asked her why the priest would give him the Eucharist knowing full well that he’s not Catholic. That’s when she told me that they do this.

Also, she divorced her husband (she claims that he’s never worked much and never provided for the family and claims mental abuse) and is involved with a divorced Catholic man from her parish.She is a Eucharistic Minister so that is why I think it’s wrong b/c she’s claims to follow the church’s teachings but yet when I told her how wrong it is her response was "God wants me to be happy, I’ve been praying about it for God to send me the kind of man who’s going to love & take care of me.

He converted after he divorced (was married before a JP only–no religion at all) and she told me that they talked before deciding to go out and now it’s been 3 yrs. they have been dating. She just applied for an annullment now. She went to her church’s annullment program and informed me that she spoke with a judge that “handles annullments” and was reassured that she’d receive one. I questioned her saying that she shouldn’t assume because they may deny her.I was shocked when she dropped this bomb–she said that she’d get married anyway, civilly if she had to, move to another parish and lie about her status for the sake of her 13 and 17 yr. I thought I knew her but now, after trying to explain the church’s teachings she doesn’t care what I say or what others think. I’ve been praying for her…that’s all I can do.
 
oh I forgot to mention this, she did ask her priest if he would have a problem with her situation and he told her he wouldn’t knowing that she’s divorced and in an invalid relationship.

I’ve been a EM for a few yrs. in my parish and I know that if something like that occured, you’d be asked to step down so as not to cause scandal. You either follow the church’s teachings or you don’t.

I’ve even sent her Catholic website addresses and suggested her reading books by C. West and the Pope John Paul but she doesn’t want to hear of it. (sigh) we use to be very close yrs. ago and now we are drifting apart spiritually.
 
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