DR MICHAEL SLATTERY: School Communities as places of Evangelisation

We have 19,449 students in our diocesan Catholic schools of which 12,655 are Catholics and 6794 from other denominations. 

Some may think that the role of the Catholic school is to evangelise the non-catholic students. They are not entirely correct because the real work is to evangelise to all parents and children in our school communities.
 
How do we evangelise all? People only grow where they are loved, where there exists a strong sense of belonging to a sense of faith, including sacramental Catholics.
 
By focusing on making families disciples of Jesus, we are being missionary and have a better chance of them seeking Eucharist in their parish. Encounters with adults and students in our schools and getting then to know and understand the Catholic Church is important. Inviting them to join the parish community through personal encounter is central to this. Joyful invitation to others cannot be underestimated. Unless we ask others to join the Catholic community they may never consider attending parish Eucharist. Who can we share our faith with this week, and who can we invite to connect in participation in the parish? Perhaps we call one person forward this week and commit to the vision of loving others.

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Dr Michael Slattery Image
Dr Michael Slattery

Dr Michael Slattery is the Director of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.