Missionaries spread Gospel door to door

By Lynanne Lasota, The Catholic Sun
April 19, 2007

QUEEN CREEK — When people think about missionaries coming to their door in Arizona, they often envision bicycle-riding young men offering instruction.

No one can recall a Catholic coming to the door issuing an invitation to the local parish — not until a couple of weeks ago.

During the recent Holy Week, some 75 young Catholic men and women served as missionaries in Phoenix, Queen Creek and Carefree. Wearing wooden crosses and T-shirts urging people to “Be not afraid,” the missionaries knocked on doors to talk about the Catholic faith.

“This year is the first year we received permission from Bishop Olmsted to hold missions,” said Colleen Austin, a mission co-director and parishioner at St. Mary Magdalene in Gilbert.

The apostolic movement Regnum Christi and the Legionaries of Christ plan Holy Week missions through the Youth for the Third Millennium evangelization project.

“Our purpose is to bring the love of Christ to others,” said Emily Thomas, Regnum Christi missionary from San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Normally the missions are planned a year in advance, but Austin and her husband, Phil, had only 10 weeks to put the mission together. They started small with three parishes and plan to expand next year.

Fr. John Bullock, missionary chaplain from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, brought college-age students to assist his mission at St. Agnes Parish.

The missionaries arrived April 4, just before the triduum began.

They focused on the Eucharist, confession, the Blessed Mother and the resurrection. Each day of Holy Week, the missionaries piled into cars and drove to nearby neighborhoods, knocking on doors to promote the Catholic faith.

“It’s scary knocking on the door,” said Mary Whitfield, a missionary from St. Thomas the Apostle Parish. “You don’t know who’s on the other side.” 

It’s hard to preach about Christ because, she said, so many people get offended.

With each doorbell chime, the missionaries introduced themselves and asked for prayer requests. If the recipient appeared interested, they spoke of Christ while handing out Mass and activity schedules for Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.

“Our purpose was not necessarily to convert someone,” Emily Thomas said. “It was to bring charity through our words and actions.”

Traveling with two other young women, Autumn Smith from Lake Arrowhead, Calif., found many doors shut abruptly. Yet she felt blessed when others spoke to her.

One resident renewed Austin’s dedication when he expressed interest in joining the parish RCIA program.

Mary Whitfield missed spending the holy days with her family. She compared the missions to spreading the Gospel like the Twelve Apostles and many disciples.

“It’s a different way to celebrate Easter,” Whitfield said. “But there are people out there who need that knock on the door.”