God loves all of His children and wants to have a relationship with each one of them. His desire is for no soul to be left behind; all are welcomed to be with Him in heaven, knowing as they go from being of the world to being of God that life takes on new meaning and purpose!
Sadly, many in our churches today don't understand God's message of love and mercy to a fallen world or feel ill-equipped or afraid to share it. Many parish evangelization efforts don't produce the intended fruits because they go directly from concept to program without engaging in a healthy prayer effort. In Go and Make Disciples, we are told:
"These goals are meaningless unless they are steeped in prayer. Without prayer, the Good News of Jesus Christ cannot be understood, spread, or accepted. These goals can be accomplished only by opening our hearts to God, who gives to his children everything they seek, who responds when we knock, and who answers when we persevere in asking. At Mass, in the Liturgy of the Hours, in prayer groups, and in individual prayer and devotions, we must ask unceasingly for the grace to evangelize. The moment we stop praying for the grace to spread the Good News of Jesus will be the moment when we lose the power to evangelize."1
Through God's grace, St. Ladislas Parish in Westlake, Ohio, developed a program of prayer that engages their parishioners in their lifesaving mission to evangelize, so that it’s a part of who they are and who they are becoming. They've found that this program is sowing the concept into the spiritual fabric of the parish so that it’s part of their community, not just a program that will be forgotten about in a year.
They've found these to be the benefits of the No Soul Left Behind Parish Program:
1 Go and Make Disciples, US Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1992, #83.