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"Go and make disiciples" Mt. 28-19
Proclaiming the "Good News" at St. Thomas More
St. Thomas More has been blessed with more than 35 years of preaching the Gospel, which, according to Evangelii Nuntiandi, is "the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity."
In 2001, Father Andrew recognized the need to restructure the parish organization, which necessitated revisiting the parish mission statement and organizational structure at the time. A year later, Father Andrew and the parish leadership approved a new constitution and by-laws for the Parish.
An outflow of this effort was a mission statement, which says in part:
St. Thomas More is a Christ-centered, sacramental and stewardship parish within the Archdiocese of Denver and the Roman Catholic Church.
Its mission is, as Christ has commanded, to "go and make disciples," and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to build the Kingdom of God.
This commitment to "go and make disciples" from the Gospel of Matthew serves well the late Pope John Paul II's call for a "new evangelization" - new in its ardor, methods and expression, but the same message of salvation.
Keeping in mind that "evangelization is for no one an isolated act; it is one that is deeply ecclesial, because he must always evangelize in communion with the Church and her Shepherd" (EN, no. 60), the Pastoral Council created several commissions to carry out the apostolate work of the Church at St. Thomas More.
St. Paul said, "If I preach the Gospel, I have no reason to boast. It is my duty: woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel." Indeed, St. Thomas More Parish has been blessed, and as a community of disciples of Jesus Christ," our duty to evangelize is an obligation of love, for the "love of Christ impels us." (2 Cor 5:14)