By Caroline Smith
Bassendean parishioner Merle Penheiro has found a novel way to evangelise through a series of DVDs and discussions with guest speakers on Catholic faith.
The meetings, which are held at Bassendean Parish St Joseph’s Church Library every Tuesday morning, brings together a regular group of people to talk about their faith journey.
Mrs Penheiro said that by showing films, which focus on the experience of conversion to Catholicism, she was able to encourage discussion on various faith-related topics.
“There was a good variety of DVDs that I found through authentic Catholic sources,” she said.
“These DVDs aim to be a more engaging way to introduce and discuss various topics and many people have had answers from scripture verses that helped defend the Catholic faith.”
The featured films include ‘The Truth Exposed’ in which several Catholic converts including Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins, Marcus Grodi and Joetta and Larry Lewis tell their stories.
Following the viewing, attendees are encouraged to discuss them through question-and-answer sessions with retired priest Father Marcellinus Meilak along with other special guests.
Mrs Penheiro said she had been inspired to start the meetings to encourage people to find out more about their faith, although she had never done any kind of evangelising before.
“I started on the feast of St Joseph three years ago,” she said.
“Too many people seem to be leaving the Catholic Church and this stirred something inside me to take action.”
Initially, she began putting out flyers in local churches and advertising in The eRecord, and this has attracted a regular crowd of people to the meetings each week but added that she wanted to reach others in the Catholic community.
“I’d like to spread the teachings [of the Catholic Church] through the DVDs to bigger venues and audiences including high school students and adults who would like to increase their knowledge,” Mrs Penheiro said.
“It would be great if Catholic schools would permit these resources to be presented to the higher grades which would teach them to deepen their knowledge about the Catholic faith and also to be able to defend their faith with scripture verses.”
Reflecting on the current meetings, Mrs Penheiro said it would be great to add an evening session for people who were unable to attend in the mornings and create an organising committee for such events
“I would like to have active committee members joining me eventually since lay people have been asked to evangelise,” she said.
The weekly meetings run from 11 am to 12noon every Tuesday at St Joseph’s Church Library, 20 Hamilton Street, Bassendean.
For more information, please contact Mrs Penheiro at merlepenheiro@bigpond.com.