At our parish in Nysa we have a group of 50 people who are involved in New Evangelization. They are well prepared for this work. Most of them finished special courses organized by various Schools of New Evangelization in Poland or abroad.
They have formation meetings every week. They meet in three smaller groups on a regular basis. It is demanding to meet regularly as well as to cope with the challenges in the society. Mostly they try to work with the youth which is very challenging. One of the tasks of the group in the parish is to prepare youngsters for the sacrament of Confirmation. They run a program called “Youth on the Threshold”. It is appreciated very much by the participants. In the Polish situation such preparation is mostly done by priests or nuns.
Another type of activity of this group of Evangelizers is “New Life” courses. They are aimed at people who have lost their relationship with Christ and their faith is getting weaker and weaker. As a result of these courses quite a few people have found depth of spiritual life. In a broader scale, the group takes part in a project run by Opole Diocese called “Evangelizing Towns”. On a certain day all the groups go to a chosen town. They start with common prayers and special homilies during morning Masses. Next they go to talk to people about their human experiences and the Word of God. They meet people on the streets, in shopping centres, restaurants and pubs, at train and bus stations and so on. They also go door-to-door. In the evening they gather in the churches for prayer of praise. They are joined by many people they have met during the day.Now we are finishing the procedure to obtain a status of a School of New Evangelization.
Danilewicz Andrzej SVD, Mission Secretary