Dear Friends,
Today is World Mission Sunday, organized by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. It is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to reflect on our own baptism, when we received the gift of faith, and recommit ourselves to the Church’s missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice.
Pope Francis explains the theme of this year’s World Mission Sunday in these words: “The theme I have chosen for this year’s World Mission Day is taken from the Gospel parable of the wedding banquet (cf. Mt 22:1-14). After the guests refused his invitation, the king, the main character in the story, tells his servants: “Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find” (v. 9). Reflecting on this key passage in the context of the parable and of Jesus’ own life, we can discern several important aspects of evangelization. These appear particularly timely for all of us, as missionary disciples of Christ, during this final stage of the synodal journey that, in the words of its motto, “Communion, Participation, Mission”, seeks to refocus the Church on her primary task, which is the preaching of the Gospel in today’s world.”
Pope Saint John Paul II has also spoken of the Propagation of the Faith’s General Fund of support: “The offerings that will be collected [on World Mission Sunday] are destined for a common fund of solidarity distributed, in the Pope’s name, by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith among the missions and missionaries of the entire world.”
I have shared with you my own life as a missionary in the State of Nagaland, in the remote north-eastern part of India for many years. Every year the needs of the Catholic Church in the Missions grow. The missionaries – priests, religious men and women, lay men and women missionaries – continue to give themselves in many countries, especially in the remote areas where poor people live. Our own parishioner, Sr. Mary Vertucci, a Maryknoll missionary, is a prime example of such a committed missionary who is working tirelessly for the good of the poor girls through the Emusoi Center in Tanzania which we support as a parish.
Many adult conversions are taking place in the missions, new dioceses are formed, new seminaries are opened because of the growing number of young men hearing Christ’s call to follow Him as priests, areas devastated by war or natural disaster are rebuilt, and other areas, long suppressed, are opening up to hear the message of Christ and His Church. That is why the involvement and commitment of Catholics from around the world is so urgently needed. Offerings from Catholics in the United States, on World Mission Sunday and throughout the year, are combined with offerings to the Propagation of the Faith worldwide.
Please read, in today’s bulletin or on our parish website, the letter of our Bishop James Checchio, explaining the importance of this Day. And let us not forget that we can and need to be missionaries to our own people right here. One very easy way to do that is to practice the theme that Pope Francis has set: “Go and invite” others to the Banquet of the Lord. Why not give a simple invitation to our family members or friends to worship with us?
Your brother in Christ,
Fr. Abraham Orapankal