ARTICLES

They Think We're Protestants

On the Beat with Door-to-Door Missionaries

BY STEPHEN FRANKINI

Youth for the Third Millenium, under the auspices of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi (the Legion's lay movement), sponsored its first national "MegaMission" in Sacramento in cooperation with the local diocese, held from April 2-11.

According to its website, Youth for the Third Millenium is "devoted to answering Pope John Paul II's call to the 'New Evangelization' by helping others find new meaning for their lives with Christ through door-to-door visits and parish-based activities." The group, states the website, "works with local pastors in order to form and train youth and adults, so they can continue to share the Gospel with others once the MegaMission ends."

I was allowed to follow the missionaries and observe their activities. I talked to a few of them, asking for their take on what precisely the New Evangelization is and what's so new about it. I was curious as to the effectiveness of young, untrained, and inexperienced men and women going door-to-door. What kinds of instruction would the missionaries receive from Regnum Christi? How effective could door-to-door evangelizing be?

On Spy Wednesday (Wednesday in Holy Week) evening, the young missionaries, wearing white t-shirts with a silhouetted crucified Christ on a background of red, orange, and yellow, gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (the only Legionary-staffed church in the country, I'm told) in Sacramento for the commissioning Mass, celebrated by Bishop William Weigand of Sacramento. At the Mass, the bishop handed crosses to each of the over one-hundred missionaries, who returned to their seats to recite the "missionary prayer": "Lord Jesus, I am here to do as your Vicar, Pope John Paul II told me: 'Go out on the streets and into public places, like the first Apostles who preached Christ.... Lord, I accept your invitation to the New Evangelization...."

I asked Tony MacDonnel, associate director of of Youth for the Third Millenium, if he thought the "New Evangelization" was simply a call to action, or does it differ essentially from the "old" evangelization? "Same truths, different methodology," MacDonnel answered. "Let's use the media, computers, the internet. We do have to use these tools. It's a combination of transcendent truths and the media."

Five-time Youth for the Third Millenium missionary, Nick Zepeda, gave a similar opinion on the character of the New Evangelization. "It's the same message, new method," he said. "Mel Gibson's movie is in line with what the pope calls the New Evangelization. It's new and it renews people. It reaches a lot of people." Commenting further on the work of Regnum Christi, Zepeda stated, "a lot of good Catholics get frustrated about the situation and spend a lot of time and energy complaining, when they could actually be doing something positive and constructive in the Church."

James Deady, an incorporated layman within Regnum Christi, gave me his thoughts on the New Evangelization. (An incorporated layman is someone who has embraced the spirituality and methods of the Regnum Christi movement, making promises to follow the precepts of the movement.) "From what I understand," said Deady, "the pope is calling us to awaken ourselves and others in the Faith. It's not that it's new or different. For Catholics it's a new era in which the pope calls us to reach out. It's not just Sunday Mass only. It's imparting the Holy Spirit to others."

The next day, the missionaries broke into groups and dispersed to various parishes within Sacramento. I followed a group of young men who went to give talks at the elementary schools at All Hallows' and St Peter's Catholic churches -- inviting the students to the Bible camps after school. Most of our team was from the states of Washington and California, though two were from Germany. Most of the guys I talked to were first-time missionaries.

The presentations were informal and lively, especially in the lower grades. The missionaries asked the children to break into groups, come up with names for their groups, and then invent group cheers. The kids all seemed to be laughing and having a good time.

Some examples were: "two-four-six-eight, who do we appreciate, monkeys, monkeys, yay!" and "let's go cheetahs, let's go." The most original cheer was from a group of fifth graders who called themselves the Lions: "we didn't eat Daniel, because he's God's friend." So true, though not catchy.

Once it was established that the missionaries were fun people, it was time for teaching. They instructed the children about what Holy Week is and what missionaries are. "We're missionaries. Do you know what missionaries are?" they asked. "We tell people about who Jesus is." And then came the pitch for Bible camp: "you will learn about Christ, what he can do for you, and that he wants to be your friend. There will be games, competition, and learning about Jesus."

Unlike those in the lower grades, the eighth graders were not so enthusiastic. When they broke into groups, the young teenagers had no interest in moving their desks. The missionaries spared them the humiliation of a group cheer.

Sister Servant of the Blessed Sacrament Hilda Maria Reynoso, principal of St Peter's, gave us her appreciation. "Your presence is a blessing to us," she said. "Some of our students are Buddhists. Hopefully your example will strengthen their faith. I heard you talking about the Eucharist on this day (Holy Thursday), which is so special to my order."

I asked a seventh grader what he thought of the missionaries. "They're cool," he said. He also indicated that he might attend their Bible camp.

I asked a few missioanries why they were taking part in the mission and received varied responses. One said he might not have an opportunity like this again to learn how to evangelize. Another missionary said he was obligated by his family to come. A third said he thought it would be fun.

I talked to James Deady a little about what attracts him to Regnum Christi. Why is he here? "For me, coming in contact with Regnum Christi was a personal calling; and with all its apostolates, it gives us the vehicle to go to work for Christ in effective ways." Deady explained that, although one doesn't need Regnum Christi to evangelize, the organization provides a structure to enhance one's evangelization effort. "From Regnum Christi we get spiritual guidance, and that branches out to everything else we do," he said. "We're teaching others to do the same."

After lunch, we prepared to go door-to-door.

I asked Michael Jacobeen, associate director and thirteen-time Youth for the Third Millenium missionary, about the likelihood of anyone being home, this being a weekday. Jacobeen said that the area has many Hispanics and other minorities, so he expected there would be many at home during the day.

According to Jacobeen, sometimes parish pastors the group works with have special requests, such as to visit a particular person's home or to promote a certain parish program or event -- such as catechism class.

In the afternoon, the group was broken into teams of three. Two teams would run the kids camp while the rest of us knocked on doors. Before sending us out in to the wild, Jacobeen suggested to us how to proceed. First, he said, make the sign of the cross on the door; knock; take a few steps back to be at a polite distance; finally, say, "we are Catholic missionaries from All Hallows' parish down the street, and we were wondering if you had any prayer intentions."

Jacobeen informed us that telling people they were going to hell if they didn't convert is not effective.

Then the missionaries acted out possible scenarios of what might happen. In one scenario, Jacobeen played the part while another member of the group, Anthony, played the missionary. "We were just wondering if you had any prayer intentions," Anthony said.

"No," Jacobeen replied.

"Come on. Everyone has prayer intentions."

"No."

"You don't know anyone who needs help?"

"Yes. You."

Anthony was stuck. What should he say? Someone suggested that a prayer of thanksgiving might be appropriate.

Jacobeen recommended that we not pray the Our Father or Hail Mary because many people we would visit would not be Catholics. Make it spontaneous and personal, he suggested, and not too long. One of the missionary veterans was Johannes, who further suggested "not to be self-aware or uptight or think about ourself. Think about the actual prayer."

"In thirteen missions, I was only cussed out once," Jacobeen said reassuringly. "I always have butterflies until after the first house. Most of us are not versed in apologetics. The best we can do is give our own testimony. We're not here to win arguments, we're here to win souls." Jacobeen instructed us to tell the people why we go to church and assured us no one was interested in philosophical explanations anyway.

What if they ask you a question you can't answer? We were told to write the question down, saying that we would get back to them with an answer.

The missionaries went out armed with "Pillar of Fire" and other apologetics pamphlets, as well as an ad for The Passion of the Christ, containing endorsements from celebrities of diverse faiths. I joined a team led by Johannes. The first person we encountered brushed us off: "I'm good. I'm hooked up. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

At the next house we met a young woman holding an infant. She also tried to brush us off, but Johannes wouldn't give in so easily this time. "You have no needs for which we can pray?" "No." "But you're a mother?" "No, I'm the sitter." "Well, we'd like to pray for the family of this child." "O.K. Go ahead." Johannes made the sign of the cross, and ignoring Jacobeen's suggestion, prayed the Our Father and Hail Mary. The sitter thanked us and we left.

Most of our encounters were short and seemingly non-productive: "What religion are you." "None." "How do you manage to do that?" "Too busy." One woman just waved her hand at us and said over and over again, "no."

"People have a phobia of missionaries," said Johannes. "They think we're Protestants."

Johannes told one family that All Hallows' has a great Holy Week liturgy. The one girl said, "Oh, they're the ones who used to throw balls at us in grade school."

It was getting discouraging, and I remembered that Michael Jacobeen told us he once did a mission where they knocked on 30 doors and no one was home. Jacobeen said the group decided to do five more houses, which all resulted in fruitful conversations.

We went into a small neighborhood market where an Indian woman at the cash register was reluctant for us to pray for her. "You pray and I have to pay?" she asked. Johannes told her it was free, and she said, "O.K. You pray." And we did, with anxious customers waiting behind us.

That evening, because it was Holy Thursday, I attended the 5:30 p.m. Mass at All Hallows'. The music was of the usual its-not-merely-a-sacrifice-its-a-meal variety. During the sermon the priest repeated several times that not only would he wash the feet of twelve parishioners, but he would invite anyone that wanted to come up, so they could wash the feet of each other. He repeatedly asserted how important it was that we understand the meaning of this action, without giving any explanation on the meaning or why it was important.

Leaving All Hallows', I wondered if someone had been convinced by the missionaries to attend Mass there, what would they have seen in it that might make them want to return?

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