Every year, something special happens on the next-to-last Sunday of October – the Church reflects on its deepest identity, that of being missionary.
On World Mission Sunday, October 20th, Catholics
of the world united at Mass to recommit ourselves to our vocation, through
baptism, to be missionaries. We invited
you to join us at the Archdiocesan Eucharistic celebration at the Cathedral of
the Holy Cross that day at 11:30 AM as missionaries, ethnic choirs, school and
parish representatives and Society benefactors gathered to celebrate our precious
faith being planted in even the most remote parts of the globe. Through prayers
and sacrifices for The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, not only on
World Mission Sunday but throughout the year, we are all made witnesses to the
miracle of the growth of the Church around the world.
This
year’s theme for World Mission Sunday echoed the words of St. Therese of
Lisieux, Patroness of the Missions, who exhorts us to “Do Good on Earth.” By
prayerfully supporting the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and
reaching out to the poor and marginalized half a world away through our
Church’s missionaries, you do just that.
When our Holy Father, Pope
Francis, recently called on us to “give voice to those not able to make their
cries of pain and oppression heard” he could have been talking about any number
of children served by missionaries. Vandoosha
is one of them.
When she was very young, 10 year
old Vandoosha was sold to a neighbor to work in the family’s home. That
neighbor sold her again. “I had to work from 5 AM to midnight ever day,”
Vandoosha says. “I was doing all the washing, cooking and cleaning for the
whole family and looking after their 2 year old child.”
Today, five years after Vandoosha
was rescued, the memories of her time as a domestic worker are still fresh in
her mind. Thanks to missionary sisters, she is now healthy and happy and doing
very well at school, along with over 100 girls between the ages of 4 and 14 who
receive daily care, education and vocational training.
Your prayerful generosity on
World Mission Sunday, and every day, literally saves lives in the missions.
For more information about how
you can “Do Good on Earth”, go to our
website: www.propfaithboston.org.
-Maureen
Crowley Heil
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