Posted On 2009-09-25 In Covenant Life

The Missions are possible! From a crazy idea to a madness of love

MissionsTheresia Rutzmoser. Imagine your houses’ doorbell ringing; you open the door, and there before you are two youths with a picture of the Blessed Mother in their arms. They introduce themselves as a Catholic youth group who wants to talk to you about faith, and furthermore, they invite you to participate in different activities at the parish. Scary? Courageous? Unusual?Live the faith - Photo: Rutzmoser

This scene was not invented; it truly has been done hundreds of times. It happened during Missions 2009: Live the Faith, which was carried out for the first time from August 30th to September 6, 2009 on German soil in Ginsheim, a neighborhood of the city of Ginsheim-Gustavsburg in the Maguncian Diocese.

 

Setting puztAccording to the pamphlet, “Missions 2009 is an initiative of Christian youth who not only dream about a living Church, but who also want to give a concrete witness to it. Missions have been held in South and Central America, Spain, Portugal, and in Italy for several years; in these countries, it is an experience of Faith and of evangelization, of indescribable efficacy experienced by youth from Germany that now has reached their own country and Switzerland a week later. For the mission group composed of seventeen young people, three Sisters of Mary, a Schoenstatt Father, and a deacon, it meant living at Saint Mary’s Parish center at Ginsheim, visiting the neighbors and conversing with them, praying for their intentions, and organizing activities for youth and adults. Why did they sacrifice ten days of their annual vacation or semester?” Their motto states: “We will inflame the faith like apostles of your joy!” This expressed the young people’s motivation, and was the motto that impelled their daily conquest.

Sent forth with the mission cross, the Pilgrim MTA, and a bright yellow t-shirt.

In order to undertake this daring project, a sending forth and a blessing were indispensable; this occurred in none other than the Original Shrine. They were aware that the leaders – God and the Blessed Mother– were responsible for what would happen during the Missions; they placed themselves at their disposal as instruments. As a sign of this, they solemnly received the mission cross – a gift from Spain– the picture of the MTA, and a bright yellow t-shirt with the Missions’ logo.Thus, the missionaries did pretty well stand out when they were introduced in the parish during the initial Mass. The reaction of the faithful in the Mass was that of surprise, skepticism, but of great expectation; however it was always friendly and receptive. So the first contacts were not difficult. On Sunday afternoon, the bearers of joy dressed in yellow joined the people during the celebration of the firefighters.

Two by two, house by house

TalkingWhen the missions became concrete, when the youth went two by two, house by house, from person to person, the experiences could not have been more diverse: many doors did not open, or they were answered by an automatic porter, who was not interested. They rarely received insults or confused with the Jehová Witnesses; very often they had surprising and friendly conversations over the garden fence, and once in a while some very profound conversations emerged in which they confided their desires and necessitites to the youth, when they shared the joy of having faith with them or when they had the blessing of praying together.

One pair of missionaries related their encounter with an elderly woman: at first she did want to have anything to do with them, but then she was willing to converse. She told them about her husband, who had died a short while ago and how precisely on this day it was their wedding anniversary. She ended by inviting them to enter her house and they conversed for a long time. They concluded by praying the Our Father together. When they bid her farewell, the lady said that it had been a long time since she had such a good conversation and that she believed that this visit of the missionaries was a greeting from her husband, who was also a Swab which was very noticeable in one of the youth.

This was one of the many large and small encounters that make the missions something unique and special, and about which a book could be written.

They remained after the evening prayer

Illuminated Rosary in the parish churchDuring the home visits, the youth invited the people to the activities that they had prepared at the parish. This is how, for example they offered a varied program for children, one night for the youth around a bonfire with a talk about relationships, and a candlelight dinner for couples, in which in addition to the good meal, motivational talks about marriage were presented. Julia, one of the collaborators relates: “After the last song of the evening prayer, the people simple remained sitting there…Then we invited them to continue singing and we remained sitting in the church and we sang the songs they wanted. They did not want to leave.

One of the Sisters who accompanied them told about a man who had lived closet o the church for decades, but he had never stepped into the church until now. “When we asked him if he had liked the evening prayer he began to cry”.

Nursing home or school…

In the nursing homeAmong the activities that the youth had scheduled was a visit to a retirement home, and they went prepared with guitars and a repertorie of old popular songs. The youth offered their time and kindness to these elderly people.

Another group visited an integrated school (that contains an elementary, middle and high school in the same building); they prepared long hours of catchesis, which generated great enthusiasm among the students. In the small groups that they formed in each classroom, the children fervently discussed their faith, God, and the world.

Die Taufkapelle der Pfarrkirche: im Gebet verbunden

In the parish church

Prayer in the chapelFrom here, we send a cordial “May God repay you” to everyone who supported us with their prayers!

You should know that we could not have carried out this experience alone, you gave us much strength and confidence.

Where two or three are gathered in my Name…

What would have become of the missions without the deep community of the youth!

During lunch you could only hear the savage shouts of the 22 youth who told about their experiences during the home visits. The exchange of experiences with the people encouraged and gave them strength when a pair of missionaries returned somewhat depressed because during the morning doors had been closed on them. The group shared in all the situations…in the “successes” as well as the “failures”

There was also abundant community fun because joy is part of being an apostle. They did not have a planned program for the nightly meetings; each one contributed something creative. For example, the youth had a great time when the password was to eat with their hand tied to that of neighbor at table. And the simple community games extended the nights longer than planned.

This week I was much closer to faith and to God

MissionariesThis communitarian challenge of the mission, had a common objective, it ignited the faith again, it formed an intense community with a contagious effect. A youth from Ginsheim with whom two missionaries coversed at a bus stop and whom they invited to accompany them, participated everyday in the internal program of the group: the Mass, the afternoon meeting, and night prayer. In spite of all his questioning about the faith, he felt like a fish in water within the group and on the last day he went with them to knock on doors and to converse with the people. When they bid him farewell, he said: “ This week I again found myself close to the faith and to God. I hope we meet again!”

I had never been so close to God as during these days

What this youth expressed with words was also felt during the final Eucharist of the week: gratitude for the commitment and the example of the youth and for the renewed enthusiasm that they took to the parish. One of the faithful, who had critically asked them on the previous Sunday, why they wanted to mission him if he was already a Catholic, said at the conclusion of the missions: “What you have done here has taken away my haughtiness. It is something good, you have surely made many people reflect, continue doing it!”

Yes, it's possible! Misiones 2009 Ginsheim - Fotos: Johanna BeckerRadiant faces, cordial embraces, and damp eyes during the farewell were sure signs that something touched the hearts of the people from Ginsheim. But it was not only in them, God also worked interiorly in the missionaries. This is how one of the youth evaluated the missions: “I had never been so close to God as during these days”.

Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio, USA/Melissa Janknegt, Elgin, USA

Photo album

We will inflame the Faith – as witnesses of your love: 22 missionaries go forth for the first missions in Germany

2 Responses

  1. Sarah-Leah says:

    Judy, it all starts with a wish. Maybe you’re being called to get the ball rolling there in Wisconsin. I can think of a handful of people who would be prepared to participate in the missions. Remember: nothing without you,nothing without us
    MPHC

  2. Judy Harlow from Kewaskum, Wisconsin says:

    What an awesome story, and what awesome faith these young people have to have undertaken such a mission. May our dear MTA bless you all for being her special evangelists. Wish we could start this in the U.S.A

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