Evangelizing door-to-door

FLORHAM PARK  It only took a few preparations for Elizabeth Poore of Holy Family Parish here to get ready for her faith-filled mission — a winter coat, a backpack and small headphones filled with Christmas music. During early December, this lifelong parishioner set off to canvas her neighborhood in Florham Park and a few local housing developments to deliver a special Christmas gift door to door to fellow members of her community: copies of “The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity” by Matthew Kelly.

In weeks leading up to Christmas, Poore joined an army of Holy Family parishioners who hit the streets of Florham Park and parts of East Hanover and Madison to evangelize every household — Catholic and non-Catholic — by hand-delivering more than 6,000 copies of “The Biggest Lie,” subtitled “How Modern Culture Is Robbing Billions of People of Happiness.” Each book was stuffed with a pamphlet that offered Holy Family’s Christmas wishes to each of the recipients and information about the parish and school. Holy Family and its canvasing parishioners reported that their neighbors and also parish faithful, who got copies of the book, warmly received it. They also expressed hope that this gift keeps on giving well into the New Year by encouraging non-parishioners and inactive parishioners to consider cultivating their faith and stopping in for a visit to Holy Family.

“The days that I delivered the books were cold. But I had a tailwind to push me up hills. I usually left the books on top of Amazon.com delivery boxes at people’s doors under an awning,” said Poore, a graduate of Holy Family School and a member of the parish’s collection and decoration ministries. “With every step, I felt my burden getting lighter. It was a tremendous spiritual feeling. This is partly a leap of faith of Father Thomas [Rekiel, Holy Family’s pastor, who devised the book distribution]. We want to take our faith and reconnect with it and also step out to take steps to promote the faith,” Poore said.

In November, Holy Family ordered 7,000 copies of “The Biggest Lie” and asked parishioners to sign up to deliver the books to houses in their neighborhoods. Before Christmas, the parish also placed copies of the book in the pews of the church and at the entrances for the faithful who came for Mass to read. Participating parishioners were instructed to place the books on neighbors’ doorsteps and refrain from ringing their doorbells and actively engaging them in conversation. But they were free to speak with the recipients if they engaged them, Father Rekiel said.

“We had good weather. Parishioners distributed the books — some of them as many as 200 copies each — on their streets and many other streets. Many did it, while taking daily walks for exercise. We also wanted to give out the book to people of different beliefs, but in a way that didn’t make them feel threatened. Some parishioners took copies from the church to give to others,” said Father Rekiel. “People have been calling the parish and I’ve gotten text messages about how much people — some, who are not Catholic — like the book and thanked us for it. It’s a good book and it’s short. Matthew Kelly tells us that we deserve to be happy through a relationship with Christ and others. Parishioners were enthusiastic about this project. We need to reach people at the edge and give them something extra to encourage them to come back to Church. Our hope is to reach everyone, who desires happiness and wishes to share that happiness with others,” the priest said.

Kelly, who has spoken in the Diocese, is an internationally-acclaimed speaker and author, who has sold more than 20 million books, focused on the Catholic faith. He founded The Dynamic Catholic Institute, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit organization, “whose mission is to re-energize the Catholic Church in America by developing world-class resources that inspire people to rediscover the genius of Catholicism,” according to www.dynamiccatholic.com.

“This book [‘The Biggest Lie’] provides the practical tools necessary to help you regain your fervor and leave your mark on the world — and experience more happiness than you thought possible. Together we can change the course of history — with humility, generosity, kindness and joy, one holy moment at a time,” state promotional materials for the book.

During her travels, Poore enjoyed looking at the many Christmas decorations in the neighborhoods where she dropped off the books. Some people, she said, seemed interested in receiving the book. Poore also said that one of the questions posed by “The Biggest Lie” has inspired her in her faith and efforts to evangelize: “When we are with someone, are you really 100 percent there?”

“It’s how we treat people. If we can learn how to engage with people [not active in the faith], we can connect to them. If we can do that, the world will look a lot brighter,” said Poore, who also helped stuff the books with the flyers, before they were distributed.

Another parishioner, Paula Romano dropped off 50 books on two streets, while taking her morning walk. She also reported having some “pleasant encounters” with people she met on her route.

“People knew that the book was a gift of Holy Family. This [placing the books on the doorsteps] was an easier way to evangelize rather that knocking on doors and talking about the faith. This was an introduction to Holy Family for people; participating in this was great application of our faith,” she said.

So impressed was Holy Family parishioner Ron Rowe Jr. with “The Biggest Lie,” that he emailed Father Rekiel to request a meeting with him about ways that the parish can implement its suggestions on ways to spread the Gospel. Rowe called it “an excellent book” that drives home a “profound point”: “that Christians have a tremendous opportunity to transform the world.”

“Certainly, we are living in challenging times and in a culture that is increasingly abandoning the Judeo-Christian principles that have always served as its foundation. Our culture is in need of positive change and I find myself trying to understand what I can do to help initiate that change,” Rowe wrote to Father Rekiel.