"Jesus approached and said to them… Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." - Matthew 28:16-20

Why invite people to an encounter with Jesus? Short answer: because Jesus asks us to. Among the possible Bible verses that might be a good example of Jesus giving a succient mission to the Church, the great commission above is a top contender. What does Jesus commission us to do? Go… make… baptize… teach.

Fr. James Mallon, author of the book Divine Renovation, points out that the central verb in this verse in the original Greek is matheteusate: literally, “make disciples!”

What’s a disciple? A disciple is someone who learns, in a committed, intentional and ongoing way from a master. In order to really follow someone like this, we have to both know and love that person. So a disciple of Jesus is someone who 1) has had an encounter with and has come to know and love Jesus personally, and 2) has intentionally committed to a lifelong process of growing in following him.

Jesus extends to all of us the invitation to come to know him personally, and then to make the conscious decision to follow him. Then he asks us to make more disciples. How?

First: Go. Go out from Mass, from our church buildings, go outside our fears and comfort zones, to people in our lives who don’t yet know him, and invite them to the encounter. It could be neighbors, co-workers, people at the gym, people on sports team – any people God has already put in our lives. Then, with those who accept the invitation and do come to know and love Jesus, we can baptize (and celebrate the other sacraments), and teach all that’s involved in a life with Jesus in his Church.

Now, all this looks fine on paper. But it feels challenging to do! Especially in our time and place. Sherry Weddell, a lay Catholic leader and author of the book Forming Intentional Disciples, points out that the fastest growing “religious affiliation” in the U.S. are “nones”: people who respond “none” when asked what religion they belong to. But, what she also points out is that a good number of these same people say they might believe in God, or are at least open to belief, and would join a church if they found one that drew them. That makes for a great opportunity to go and invite people to take a first step toward meeting Jesus!

We’ve been talking these weeks about praying for and intentionally inviting people we know to try Alpha at St. Raphael beginning Sept 24. Each Alpha session is a meal, a video presentation about life and faith, and an open conversation. It’s a chance for people to encounter Jesus personally for the first time, or to be renewed in relationship with him (as I was when I tried Alpha). In short, Alpha’s a concrete way we have at St. Raphael, both in English and in Spanish (and now both in the evening and the morning!), to make disciples like Jesus asks us to. It’s a first step to invite people to – and then to entrust them and the results to God.

But for it to work, we have to first go and invite. Which is not complicated! See saintraphael.org for the past several bulletins and other Alpha resources on ways to pray for people, and talking points for making a simple and no-pressure invitation. It might be as easy as: “Hey, we have this thing at my church called Alpha – it’s dinner, a short movie, and open conversation on big questions about life and faith. I think you’d find it interesting. Want to try it?”

How about you: want to try making a few invitations with me this month?

Fr. Phil Hurley, S.J.
Pastor