Highlighting New Evangelizers: Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate - New Evangelizers

Think going door-to-door is just a Protestant or Morman thing? Think again.

Meet Sister Margery Therese Harkin, a religious sister from the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate who isn’t afraid to knock on doors and bring the Good News to people’s doorsteps.

She takes a few people with her and visits homes. She’ll ask if there are any baptized Catholics there and invites them to church.

Though I’m amazed by Sister Margery, I can’t help but be impressed by the religious order itself. From their homepage:

In imitation of the Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherd, Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate combine a contemplative prayer life with missionary visitation to parish families, and religious instruction.

Parish Visitor Sisters visit families and individuals where they live, door to door as well as along the way, in order to win souls for Christ.

We do this in the name of the parish pastor, who knows that, in addition to the faithful Catholics, there are many others who have strayed away or are living on the fringes of the Catholic faith. These souls are dear to the Good Shepherd, who came to seek out and bring back the lost sheep. This is the New Evangelization called for by the Church!

I first heard about Sister Margery via Catholic Underground, where the discussion really caught my attention.

I can’t help but be challenged by Sister Margery and her order.

We reach out to persons as a friend, with compassion and gentleness, while upholding the teachings of the Church. A typical conversation begins, “Has anyone in this household ever been baptized Catholic?” This simple question has begun the process of re-evangelizing hundreds of thousands of those who have strayed from Jesus. The Sisters strive to draw each person into closer union with Him.

One question can make a difference. A gentle attitude can open a door.

I stand to learn a lot from these sisters.

Copyright © 2013, Sarah Reinhard

Sarah Reinhard

Sarah Reinhard continues to be shocked and delighted that her life as a grown-up involve horses, writing, and sparkly dress shoes. In her work in the New Evangelization as a Catholic wife, mom, writer, parish employee, and catechist, she’s learned a lot of lessons, had a lot of laughs, and consumed mass amounts of coffee. She’s online at SnoringScholar.com and CatholicMom.com, and is the author of a number of books.