ROME, MARCH 26, 2003 (ZENIT International News Agency).- More than 50,000 people will spend their Holy Week holidays under mostly sunny skies -- not to acquire a tan but to take the Gospel into largely remote areas.

The lion´s share of those 50,000 will work in Latin America -- in Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Argentina and Brazil -- from April 12-21. Still others will head to Ireland and a half-dozen other countries.

They are taking part in the 10th annual Mega-Mission, organized by the ecclesial movement Regnum Christi through its Juventud y Familia Misionera (Missionary Youth and Family).

To date, the Mega-Missions have involved 155,000 young people and 15,000 families in re-evangelization in 25 countries.

These popular missions gather teams of young people, families and priests who prepare in an intensive multidisciplinary and organizational course.

In keeping with John Paul II´s initiative, this year´s mission will concentrate in particular on explaining and promoting the rosary.

The missionaries go from house to house in some of the poorest sectors of the population, catechizing the children, visiting the sick and elderly, and encouraging people to receive -- or return to -- the sacraments.

In the afternoons, they invite the residents to attend activities of Catholic formation organized by the missionaries, or to join Holy Week services. The priests who accompany the missionaries work 12 to 14 hours a day, officiating at baptisms and weddings, hearing confessions and celebrating Masses.

At the end of the week, the missionaries return from their zones to the city from which they departed, to attend Easter Sunday Mass, which this year will be offered for world peace.

"We spend six days drawing and performing plays to teach Indian children something about Jesus Christ. Now, when I go to Mass and say ´I believe in one God,´ I understand it in a new way," said Heidi Foster, a member of Missionary Family.

The Oklahoma wife spent Holy Week last year with her husband Jeff and three children evangelizing a village in Mexico´s Sierra Madre.

Over the past seven years, the Mega-Missions have reached some 7 million homes.

News Articles

YTM at World Youth Day 2002
Youth for the Third Millennium Missionaries Make Their Mark in Toronto.

Missions for Life 2002 : Speaking for those who never get the chance
Coming from a variety of ages and backgrounds, this group of passionate missionaries united to defend the dignity of life out of their love for souls.

Evangelizing the Guaraní Villages of Argentina
Youth for the Third Millennium and Missionary Families for the Third Millennium of Argentina evangelized among the Guaraní natives, heirs of the missions of old dating from the XVII century.

Lay Missionaries Evangelize Rural Communities in Mexico
The missionaries wear a distinctive cross on their chest. They visit homes, taking Bibles, catechisms, liturgical guides and holy cards, among other items. They also offer catechism classes to children, youths and adults, and lead liturgical celebrations.

Christmas Missions in Maringá, Brazil
Brazilian families received a pleasant surprise at their door this Christmas: young people from Youth for the Third Millennium.

Austrian Young People Evangelize in School
Classrooms can be locales for spreading the good news ...

Youth for the Third Millennium Arrives in Ireland
Fourteen young people from Dublin, Northern Ireland and London (England) went door to door bringing Christ to all who would listen.

Youth for the Third Millennium Has Reached the Philippines!
For five days this November, twenty-one missionaries went door to door visiting poor families in Malvar, Batangas.

Testimonies

Seeing God At Work
For four days we stayed in a 100-year-old hacienda with 25 other families and visited our assigned homes in Fraustro. We brought the people the full host of Holy Week Services that they otherwise would not have had.

Everest Peak – Easter in the Missions
I am impressed by the formation of the young men. They have all the elements of the integral formation that we espouse at Everest. They are intellectually prepared and they have the personal relationship with Christ that animates their work.

The Lord´s Love is Marvelous
We learned a very valuable lesson from those people during the three days we were there. Faith in God keeps people strong. My faith was made stronger by just being around them.

On Mission with the Legion of Christ
A young man from Michigan tells of his recent experience on mission in Mexico.

For more information on the Mega-Missions, send an e-mail to: info@ytm.org.

(March 31, 2003)