Maine Musings #1: Learning to Fish
And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
—Matthew 4:19 RSV
My friend at church leads a ministry group which describes itself as "dedicated to the glory of God with the salvation of souls as its final end and purpose." Every spring and fall, the group holds an E-day — Evangelism Day — where members of this ministry go knocking on doors in the neighborhood surrounding our church and they invite people to mass.
One spring, I mustered up the courage to join the E-day activites. I was paired with an experienced member of the group who was accustomed to going door-to-door. He did the talking, I handed over an invitation, and then we headed off to the next house.
At day's end, after the 15 teams returned from their assigned neighborhood streets, we learned that cumulatively we had knocked on 503 doors and spoken with 187 people.
Some of the responses included one woman saying that her children had been asking about going to church. Another woman, new to the neighborhood, expressed interest in baptism for herself and her baby. A father talked to us for a long time, sharing his story and saying he would probably be bringing his family to church.
My own heart at day's end was full to overflowing with an inner joy — a wonderful feeling that is hard to verbalize.
Lord, the Scriptures tells us that the fields are white unto harvest but the laborers are few. Make me a willing worker and show me ways in which I can be a "fisher of men."
White fields signify those who have already begun to believe, whose hearts shine with the first light of faith. —St. Bede the Venerable (c, 672-735 AD), Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 1.14
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