By Matthew DiGiantommaso
Conquest St. Michael´s Parish in Oakville, Ontario organized a Mission Youth mission on Saturday March 28th, 2015. The mission was a blessing and this day couldn´t have been better despite the cold.
As we went door – to – door there was the fear of not saying something right or getting the door slammed in your face, but Christ called us to spread the word no matter what the cost. This is where the motto “Be not afraid” on our Mission Youth sweatshirts came in. When we are struggling to be brave enough to walk up to a house and knock on the door that phrase echoed in our hearts.
Some families thought we were just salesmen walking around asking for money. When they found out that we´re inviting them to Christ´s house, they were so surprised. Some people gave us touching prayer intentions that we brought back to the parish to be prayed for during the Masses. Others were very welcoming even though they were not Christian. We were not always welcome but we prayed for those people anyway. Christ wants every person’s happiness and it was great to offer him to others whether he was welcome or not.
What really made the difference was not just wishing people a blessed Easter. It was the joy and faith of God in our hearts. We are workers of Christ and he has given us the greatest gift of all; love! Out of love, God gave himself for us and died on the cross. Being on missions was such a great time to break out of ourselves and speak to others about Christ. Our Lord tells us in the Gospel to go out and proclaim the good news of God and that is just what we did.
After the mission, we went down into the parish basement to warm up with hot chocolate, coffee, and pizza. Escaping the freezing weather, we all gathered for a group discussion to talk about how Christ had walked with us and guided us throughout the day. There were some amazing stories! I especially loved how Christ spoke to us through the people we met.
This mission was a blessing to me. I have God´s strength to bring others to the Catholic community. Thank you to all who participated and made this a successful day.
Author: Matthew DiGiantommaso (Matthew is a team leader in the Oakville Conquest Group in Ontario, Canada)
This apostolic service project can be found in next year’s Team Leader Guidebooks for 7th/8th grade.