From Maintenance To Mission

In today’s Gospel St. John tells us the reaction of the
woman at the well when she met Jesus. “The woman left
her water jar and went into the town and said to the people,
“Come see a man who told me everything I have done.
Could he possibly be the Christ?” (4:28-29) And upon
meeting him for themselves they told her, “We no longer
believe because of your word; for we have heard for
ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the
world.’” (4:42) This Gospel story perfectly depicts exactly
what has been happening since we began running the
Alpha program here five years ago; our parish is like the
woman at the well and we love to tell everyone in town
about it so they can experience it, too!

Did you know that during every time we run Alpha we invite
priests and representatives from other parishes, so they
can see for themselves what it’s like? We also go out to
give presentations, and we have lots of conversations over
the phone to explain the process of launching Alpha and to
testify to the many benefits of running it. We’ve even filmed
an infomercial that airs on local cable! The ripple effect of
our prayers and effort is that Alpha is spreading, which
means people are coming to know and more deeply
understand Jesus and the Christian faith on a personal
level, within the context of a small, caring community. We
are truly living our mission and bringing people to Jesus,
within our parish and beyond!

Alpha has already begun in at least two other Rhode Island
parishes, plus one in Milton, Massachusetts, and others are
now considering it. How exciting and wonderful it is for us
to see other parishes being revived, and experiencing the
transformative effects of this program for themselves. And
just like it did for the woman at the well, the Samaritans she
told, the other parishes we have invited, and people who
have already participated, Alpha can change everything for
YOU, too!

Our seventh season of Alpha begins on Friday, April 17th.
Watch and listen for more details in the coming weeks.