By Father John Ludden (Special to the Florida Catholic)
10/17/2016
On Sept. 4 of this year, the world witnessed the canonization of Mother Teresa of Kolkata. St. Teresa gave great witness as a missionary of Jesus and the Church. As we celebrate World Mission Sunday on Oct. 23, we recall her humble wisdom. She once said: “Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do this humble work.”
St. Mother Teresa started her work by creating a new group of missionaries called the ‘Missionaries of Charity.’ Her great witness of mercy toward the poor inspired 12 of her former students to join her in entering into solidarity with the lives of the poor and the forgotten by living and ministering to them. Since the creation of the Missionaries of Charity on Oct. 7, 1950, St. Teresa’s community is now over 4,500 Sisters strong in 517 missions in 100 countries. The community continues growing to this day. The Missionaries of Charity continue to run orphanages and shelters for individuals living with and dying from complications of AIDS, the homeless, the disabled, the aged, those living with addictions, and victims of famine, disease and natural disasters. On March 4 of this year we watched reports from the various media outlets around the world as they told the story of four of the Missionaries of Charity losing their lives along with 12 of the elderly they were caring for at the hands of ISIS gunmen in Aden, Yemen.
On World Mission Sunday, the Church prays for and offers her financial support for the Missionaries of Charity as well as the countless thousands of other missionaries who serve the Church of the poor in the 1,111 mission dioceses that exist around the world. The poorer communities in the continents of Africa, Oceana, Europe, Orient, and the Americas are blessed to receive countless missionaries and experience the mercy of Jesus through their ministry.
Pope Francis has approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, paving the way for her canonization in 2016. Mother Teresa is pictured holding a candle in this undated photo. (CNS) See MOTHER-TERESA-SAINTHOOD-CAUSES Dec. 18, 2015.
Missionaries reach out to the poorest of the poor in war torn countries. They offer healing in the clinics that are operated in the most rural parts of the globe and also in the poorest of slums. Missionaries are the face of Christ who reminded his disciples, “Whatsoever you did to the least of my brothers, you did to me” (Matthew 25:40). The Missionaries serve the Catholic Church in may capacities. Some are priests who serve rural parishes. Many Religious Sisters and Brothers aid the work of health clinics, schools, social services, catechesis and charitable homes and shelters. Thousands of lay missionaries join in this universal mission in entering into solidarity with the forgotten of the world and collaboration with priests and religious. The Mission of the Church continues to express itself in the realization of a Church fully alive and active which fulfills the hopes and aspirations of the Second Vatican Council.
In this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis continues to urge all members of the Church to participate in the Mission of Jesus. He states, “On this World Mission Sunday, all of us are invited to “go out” as missionary disciples, each generously offering their talents, creativity, wisdom and experience in order to bring the message of God’s tenderness and compassion to the entire human family…. She [The Church] is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel” (Pope Francis’ Message for World Mission Sunday, 2016).
All Catholics in the Diocese of Venice have an integral part to play in joining the mission endeavor of the Church. The mission mandate given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 reminds all of us to go out into the world and make his presence known to all through our personal acts of witness to mercy and charity. For some this may manifest itself by taking a risk and going on a mission trip as a missionary. For others this may reveal itself in the generosity of offering money to aid the work of missionaries who serve the Church every day.
When we listen to the Gospel, we are reminded by Christ himself, “The poor you will always have with you” (Mark 14:7 and Matthew 26:11). So long as we live in an imperfect world the poor will always be in our midst. There is an ongoing challenge to reach out to the poor with the mercy of God through our time, talent and treasure. Those who live in poverty are real people. They have names. They live in the fear of tomorrow and experience the hunger of today.
Pope Francis reminded people working at the Headquarters of the World Food Program in Rome in June of this reality. “Poverty has a face!” He remarked, “It has the face of a child; it has the face of a family; it has the face of a people, young and old. It has the face of widespread unemployment and lack of opportunity. It has the face of forced migrations, and of empty or destroyed homes.” Missionaries who serve the Catholic Church know this reality all too well. Men and women accompany the poor in their mission of mercy. They offer the Church’s consolation and the hope that belongs to the call to be Christian.
Please know when you hear of World Mission Sunday that it is not simply a second collection but a call from the Holy Father to make a difference by joining the work of mission. It is a way of the local Church reaching out to God’s poor through priests, religious, and laity to the marginalized half a world away. Your profound prayers and financial support will help missionaries to accomplish their task and allow them to change the world one person at a time in ministering to them. The Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States beautifully captures how you can be part of the Universal Mission. It states, “Your World Mission Sunday gift may be used to buy Bibles for catechists in Sierra Leone, or provide for a small parish in India. Your offering may be used to help Sisters in Sudan who lovingly care for orphans in Jesus’ name, or it may buy a bicycle for a priest in Thailand so that he can travel from village to village to celebrate Mass. Most importantly, wherever you offering is sent, it brings with it the Good News of Jesus Christ and His message of peace, hope, and salvation.”
For more information of how you can further aid the Missions, please call the Diocesan Mission Office at 941-625-4754 or visit the Pontifical Mission’s website at www.onefamilyinmission.org.
Father John Ludden is the Diocese Director of the Office for the Propagation of the Faith, Vicar for Priests and Pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Naples.
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