HOME MISSION
The interested sisters are trained for home mission. The training module for home mission includes teachings of the church on family life, analysis of the present family situations; need for strengthening families for the church and society, councilling techniques etc. Home mission is nothing but the family visit of the Religious sisters with the following objectives and goals:
To know the families deeply.
To find out the disturbed and broken Families.
To listen to the family members and foster their faith life, family life and social life.
The Parish where the Home Mission is to be conducted is selected a month earlier. A time table for the visit is prepared by parish priest with the help of the leaders of the family units. The parishioners as well as the team pray for each other and the parish.
Two sisters each visit the families after the morning Mass. The Mass is offered by the Parish Priest along with the director for the success of the home mission. If the Parish is far we reach there on previous day and stay with the families in the parish. Before the group start from the parish, they spend an hour before the Blessed Sacrament to pray for the families they visit and for an outpouring of the Spirit on the team and prepare themselves to meet the problems and to guide them in the right way. After the morning Mass the Parish priest and the director bless each of the sisters and send them forth for the mission. They will be led to the assigned families and spend one to two hours for each family and some times more than time as each individual case demands. In the homes the session will start and end with prayers for which as far as possible the whole family members will be present. This will be followed by listening to them individually and as a family. Many couples, Parents and children open up very soon and pour out their joys and sorrows, success and failures, their expectations and set backs, love and care received and rejection from the parents or children, in – laws, partners and so on.
In every family there will be a lot to listen, to console, empathize and strengthen. For this prayer, patience and courage is required. Whatsoever the situation of the families and individuals is it is very essential to deal with them patiently to solve the problems. At the end there will be some decisions, consolidations and resolutions which make the whole visit a different experience of binding together with the family members, church and above all with God Himself. A data collection sheet will be filled up during the visit. The data to be collected include personal, family, spiritual life as well as social life of each individual of the family. At the end of each home mission the director gather us together to have an evaluation with the respected Parish Priest.
Outcome Of Home Mission:
The bond between the family members are strengthened.
They feel that the Church cares for their well being and developed.
The family as a whole and individuals particularly come closer to the church and Church activities.
A spirit of prayer and deeper community life is felt in the Parish.
Many who were away from the Parish, Sacramental life like confession, Sunday observances turn out to be faithful and convinced Catholics.
The family problems of many are solved and a few are followed up for the better and continuous counseling and treatment.
The Parish gets a very solid data about all families for the further follow up and planning.
CONCLUSION:
Home Mission is a different experience for all those who are involved. It strengthens the families and the Parish. The Parish life became more lively and active. The Parish Priest gets a good picture of the families and it helps him for better planning of the Parish. The religious sisters who are involved in it have grown to feel with the families to know their struggles and worries. As a result they are more committed for the Church and pray for all the families they come across. It is a much needed mission of the Church which helps to form the domestic – the family and grows with the promptings of the Holy Spirit.