HCA Members: Angels to the Missions

For members of the Holy Childhood Association (HCA), prayer and sacrifice are a way of living their faith year round. Children in our local Catholic schools and parish religious education programs are taught through HCA that there are many different ways to sacrifice for children in the missions. They are also taught that these offerings are needed every day so missionaries may bring not only material support but most importantly, faith formation to children around the world.

HCA emails classroom - ready materials every month to schools and parishes - lesson plans on a missionary saint, prayer services, classroom facts and activities on a social issue facing children in the missions. We’ve addressed child labor, hunger, access to clean water and the life of child refugees to name a few. Stories and pictures of missionaries making a difference through support from HCA are included.

These worksheets, activities and pictures open a new world to our students: one of awareness of the conditions in which other children live. They are also a way to personalize the work of missionaries, showing that the work being done is happening because of real people devoting their life to our faith.

As part of our materials in December, students were asked to color in the outline of an angel and send it back to our office. We, in turn, sent them to the missions and asked for pictures of the recipient with their angel, if possible. Archbishop Peter Kairo of Nyeri, Kenya and Bishop Raymond Kingsley Wickramasinghe of Galle, Sri Lanka received angels from St. Peter's Parish in Plymouth MA. The response from these two men was full of praise for the children in their outreach and gratitude for the acknowledgment of their daily efforts to spread the Gospel.

Bishop Wickramasinghe wrote, “I join with my diocesan family to pray for all those who contribute immensely for our well being and to proclaim the Love of God to the world.”

Archbishop Kairo singled out the child who signed the back of his angel saying “Thank Colin on my behalf for his prayers and assure him of my prayers for him and the other children.”

Sometimes, we can all fall into the rut of believing that the spread of our faith is done by some mysterious, unknown “others”. Holy Childhood members are being taught that this work belongs to all of us – sharing the Gospel of Jesus wherever we are and supporting those, with prayers and action, who do the same work in distant lands.

-Maureen Crowley Heil

Welcoming the (Missionary) Stranger

Every week our office receives requests for financial support from missionaries all over the world. All of their stories are compelling and it is sometimes difficult to know to whom we should respond given the limitations on the way we are allowed to directly distribute funds. The two principal ways in which we are able to provide financial assistance to missionaries are Mass stipends given by our donors and our Missionary Cooperative Program.

In considering these multiple requests we have tried in the last year to pay particular attention to those missionary dioceses and groups that have never been recipients of our generosity. Recently we were contacted by Father Peter Loro Bambu, a priest of the Archdiocese of Juba. His story is one of the most compelling I have encountered because he ministers in Southern Sudan, a country that has long been torn by civil war. The Archdiocese of Juba numbers within its borders millions of refugees who live in substandard conditions and are served by priests who are as poor as the people they serve. The people look to their priests for everything—food, clothing, money, and educational expenses for their children. Although the priests do the best they can, very often they have little that they can give them except for their faith and the consolations of the sacraments.

We hear often in our own country about the “shortage of priests.” Father Peter describes a situation in which one parish is made up of as many as 103 “chapels” or outstations—comprising an area roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island—and served by two priests who travel to these chapels the best way they can, very often by bicycle or motorcycle. Father Peter says that he was accustomed to navigating the Nile River by canoe to get from place to place in his last parish assignment.

This year we welcome Father Peter and many other missionaries to Boston to participate in the Missionary Cooperative Program. We are confident that the people of our parishes will be as generous to these servants of the Gospel as they have been to past missionary visitors. As we launch this year’s Missionary Cooperative Program, we thank God for your generosity and pray for His generosity to you in return.

-Rev. Rodney J. Copp, JCL

Be Still and Know That I am God

The two pillars of the Holy Childhood Association, the Church’s mission society for children, are prayer and sacrifice. We ask children to pray a Hail Mary every day and make a regular offering for their brothers and sisters in Christ who live in the missions and cannot depend upon the material or spiritual blessings that we do. Most students seem surprised when I tell them that their prayers are just as important to the work of missionaries as their sacrifices.

In the schools and parishes that I visit, even the youngest child has a very firm idea about the mechanics of prayer. They walk me through the steps of talking to their friend, Jesus. First, they make the Sign of the Cross, and then they may recite an Our Father, Hail Mary or Glory Be. Next, they start to put together their list of needs: “Please take care of my Grandma who is sick…please help me on my test today…please watch over my family…” When pressed for more details, most children will add (some with a sheepish grin) that they do indeed remember to tell God that they love Him and are thankful for the many things He has given to them. This, of course, is followed by more lists! Finally, they end with another Sign of the Cross and declare themselves finished.

Quite often, I have to point out to them that they are not quite done. They have missed a vital part of prayer. They raise their hands and try to guess – did we not say thank you? Please? I love you? What didn’t we say to our Friend in this conversation?

At St. Rose of Lima School in Chelsea a few weeks ago, it was a second grader who sat patiently waiting for her turn to answer: “We must be still, like Abraham, and listen to God.”

The room fell silent. Her teacher smiled.

We took the time to talk about what God might say to each of us and that everyone’s message from God is different because we are all unique creations with our own gifts. We talked about the children in the missions who have just as many gifts as the children in Chelsea but need the help of the local students to develop them to God’s glory. St. Rose’s students learned that without missionaries in place to teach mission children, they may never learn many things in life, most importantly to be still and listen when they pray.

Because, like us, God always has something to say!

-Maureen Crowley Heil

Migration and the New Evangelization

January 15, 2012 was celebrated by the Universal Church as the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. On that occasion, Pope Benedict XVI reminded all of us that, although these men, women, and children are the recipients of charitable outreach, they are also called to be missionaries as they find their way to new and stable communities.

In his Angelus talk on the fifteenth, the Holy Father referred to the Scripture readings for that day. The theme of these readings was “vocation” in the broad sense of the term. Samuel, in the Old Testament reading for the liturgy, heard and answered the call of God. Likewise, Peter, Andrew, James and John willingly left all to follow Jesus and preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

The Holy Father chose as the theme for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees, “Migration and the New Evangelization.” As we look to the New Evangelization, both in the Archdiocese of Boston and in the Universal Church, Pope Benedict urged all of us to see the phenomenon of migration as a providential opportunity for the proclamation of the Gospel in the contemporary world. Migrants themselves have a special role in this regard because they in turn can become “heralds of God’s word and witnesses to the Risen Jesus, the hope of the world.”

All of this serves as a challenge to “cradle Catholics” as they welcome people from different cultures and races into our neighborhoods, churches, civic organizations and schools. We, who may never be required to leave home to engage in missionary activity, need to remember that on the day of our baptism we were commissioned as missionaries who are called to bring the Gospel message even to the small, secure part of the world in which we live. Ours is both a local and a global task. Our Holy Father concludes, Christian communities are to pay special attention to migrant workers and their families by accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity, by enhancing what is reciprocally enriching, as well as by fostering new political, economic, and social planning that promotes respect for the dignity of every human person, the safeguarding of the family, access to dignified housing, to work and to welfare.

As we “go forth and teach all nations,” we thank God for the gift of our own faith and pledge to share it with others to the best of our ability.

For more information about the work of spreading the Gospel message, see our website, www.propfaithboston.org.

Photo courtesy of Catholic News Service through Pontifical Mission Societies in the USA

-Rev. Rodney J. Copp, JCL

The Match That Lit the Fire

Monday, January 9, 2012 marks the 150^th anniversary of the death of Venerable Pauline Marie Jaricot, foundress of The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Pauline boldly spent her life and her life savings to further the cause of the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Born into a well to do family in Lyons, France in 1799, Pauline developed into a deep, thoughtful girl during her teen years through tragedy. First, a serious fall caused her to retreat from the world to heal physically. Then, the death of her mother caused great emotional pain for the young girl.

Pauline’s prayer life was nurtured at this time by her brother Phileas who was studying to be a priest. Phileas shared stories of the missions of their time with his sister, telling her of the struggle to establish the faith in China and another large mission land of the time, the United States.

At the age of 18, Pauline had a prayerful vision: two oil lamps appeared, one empty, one overflowing. The overflowing oil was filling the empty lamp. To Pauline, the empty lamp was her home country of France, still struggling with its faith after the French Revolution. The overflowing lamp represented the young, vibrant faith of the New World whose stories could re-energize Europe.

Her vision became her vocation.

At just 19 years old, in a time when most women were not even educated, Pauline became “the match that lit the fire” - she organized the workers in her family’s silk mill into “circles of ten”, asking them to gather weekly to pray and sacrifice for mission work around the world. Once established, each circle member was asked to find 10 more people to do the same. Within a year, 500 workers were enrolled; soon there would be thousands.

The sacrifices made through Pauline’s circles became the foundation for the Universal Solidarity Fund of The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. No one mission or group is supported – all are. Her vision of the two oil lamps still illuminates our work. Stories of the Church growing around the world continue to inspire Catholics both in the Archdiocese of Boston and worldwide to great prayer and generosity.

In 1963, Pope John XXIII signed the decree proclaiming that Pauline lived a life of virtue. The cause for her beatification and canonization continues. Please join us as we pray daily and sacrifice so that the fire that Pauline lit so long ago may continue to burn brightly in Catholics everywhere.

-Maureen Crowley Heil

Society Membership Vital To Building the Mission Church

For many years, Catholics have followed the custom of enrolling themselves or their loved ones, living or deceased, in Membership in The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. By doing so, they give an ongoing gift to the new Member and to the missions. Membership means that the person enrolled receives the spiritual benefits of Masses said daily by mission priests; they are also included in the intentions of a daily Mass celebrated at the Vatican.

In many mission locations, funds from Society Memberships are a substantial means of support. One such place is the Archdiocese of Mbarara in Uganda. At a mission school there, the Sisters of Our Lady of Good Counsel provide vocational training to young women who have been left at the margins of life with no skills to support themselves. They are taught to weave sweaters and sew uniforms to be sold to local schools. They proudly model their work in the picture below!

Because of our Members’ support, the Sisters teach not only valuable life skills but priceless faith skills as well.

For more information on 5 year, 10 year or Perpetual Enrollments, please call 617-542-1776 or email info@propfaithboston.org.

The following people have been enrolled as Perpetual Members in

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith:

Megan A. Lally, Rosie & Roy Cataudella, Mrs. Peter M. Ditto, The Parsons Family, Jean Verchereau, Erin V. Lehman, Grace, Ian, Douglas, Charlotte, Scott, Adam & Travis Taylor, The Marie Ketly Rene Family, Joanne & Ann Hyde, Robert, Barbara, Alley, Katherine, Caroline & Allison Brustowiez, Diane, Kevin & Isabelle Ghiozzi, Ernie Field, Br. Donald Fahig, Charles Lloyd, Alexander Haig, David Fred Brownell, Patricia Neal, Mitch Miller, Jean A. & Charles J. Orrell, Ronald, Mary Jo, Leah and Alexander Kriz, Agnes B. Colpoys, Rev. Walter F. Dirig, C.M., Faith Abbott McFadden, Marion & Thomas Errick, Thomas J. Marzen, Hugh C. Newton, Florence O’Leary, Emma Richard, The Fernando Sevigny Family, Lazaro A. & Ana Montes Diaz, Matthew Sullivan, Aine M. Doyle, Fanny, Ed, Patrick & Jennie O’Brien, Jeanne Zambuto & Family, Dorothea V. Moran, Stephen, Donna, Geoffrey, Stephen, James & Matthew Doyon, The Hoey Family, The Ronda Family, Deacon John J. McDonough & Family, William S. Sr., William S. Jr., Lena, Marilyn, Brian & Kiara Slattery, Virginia & Dennis Crowe, Mary & James Quigley, The Brosnan Family, Louis & Margaret Papetti, Paul Gouthro.

-Maureen Crowley Heil