The greatest attribute of St. Katharine Drexel, in my eyes, was her strong desire to help the underprivileged. With conviction to give each human being their God-given dignity, she reached out to the Native American population in South Dakota. Her goal was to give our native population a Catholic Christian education so that they might reach their full potential on their heaven-bound journey here on Earth.
We, the family of St. Katharine Drexel Parish, are called to follow in her footsteps. Even though they are huge shoes to step into, each one of us is called to be the welcoming voice of Christ not only in our neighborhoods, workplace, schools and homes, but right in the middle of our own church family too. Soon we will be opening the doors to our brand new Worship Space and Education Center. It is expected that the flood gates will open and our parish family will swell quickly. Many have said, “Build the church, and the people will come!” Well, construction isn’t even complete yet, and 141 new households have joined the parish. When St. Katharine Drexel Parish was established in 2004, 385 households transferred from St. Michael Parish. Now, 3 1/2 years later, we stand at 526 households. We clearly have a wonderful opportunity to be Christ’s arms and reach out and welcome all who have, and will join us.
But what about those who do not know Christ like we do? What about those who have their Catholic heritage, but have fallen away for one reason or another? And what about those who don’t know Christ at all? Now, that’s what I call underprivileged! Without Christ in one’s life, there is no way anyone can reach their maximum potential.
“So what would St. Katharine Drexel do?” you might be asking. “How can we step into her shoes and do as she has done?” Although we are just touching the tip of the iceberg, I am proud to report that through the intercession of St. Katharine Drexel, our parish family has moved in the direction of being Christ’s welcoming arms to all of our west-side neighbors. It all started when our Communications/Prayer Committee had its first brainstorming session. God was definitely present at that meeting as we brainstormed how we would let everyone in our parish boundaries know about our new church and also let them know how much we wanted them to come join us in praise and worship. We started by sending a postcard to each and every household within our parish boundaries, inviting them to come bless our land at a bonfire celebration on our building site. The postcard was also an invitation to come worship with us. We followed that postcard with another titled, “Come Home for Christmas.” Then, “Come Grow with Us.” Each postcard was vibrant and eye-catching and we hoped that God would place it in the hands of someone who was searching for something that was missing in their lives.
In an attempt to make our connections more personal, we decided to invite our neighbors face-to-face: hence, the Door-to-Door Campaign was orchestrated. During the spring and summer of 2006, an energetic group of approximately 100 parishioners visited nearly 5,100 households within our parish boundaries and personally made an invitation to come worship with us. Now, to continue on with that tradition, our parish sends a welcome and invitation letter out monthly to every new household that moves within or into our parish boundaries.
The next step of the process heavily involves our entire parish family. This step occurs when someone responds to our invitation and comes to celebrate Mass with us. This is when they will experience the true welcoming arms of Christ. It is here that they find an extended hand reaching out to say, “Hello,” and a warm smile saying “We’re glad you came.” It’s here that they see the deep awe and respect we have for God’s word and the Eucharist. It’s here they are taught, and here where Fr. Joe makes God’s word so applicable to their lives. It is this step of the process that determines if their first visit is just the beginning of a lasting relationship or if it’s their last. We pray that with the warmth they feel from everyone in our parish family, they will eagerly want to participate and grow in their faith by joining our parish family. It is definitely an opportunity for each and every one of us to once again reach out and be the loving, welcoming, encouraging arms of Christ. May God bless you all as you continue to serve Him in this way.
