The Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the missions. On behalf of His Excellency, Bishop Earl Fernandes, I would like to thank you for your generosity. I sincerely thank you on behalf of the Church’s missionaries and the people whom they serve. Please consider including the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in your will/trust. Your legacy will live on and on, and your life will touch the world for many generations!
Jesus tells us as he told Simon: “Let us move on to the neighboring villages so that I may proclaim the Good News there also. That is what I have come to do” (Luke 4:43). Following Jesus, we are called to teach and to pass on the faith with which we have been blessed. The Propagation of the Faith is the central means of the Church to encourage prayer for the missionary task and to gather support for those who bring the Gospel to the poor in village missions, city streets, in primary schools, and in clinics in Asia, Africa, Oceania, among the elderly, families of orphan, refugees, and young people who flock in to the cities of the developing world
The Society for the Propagation of the Faith is established in every country where the Church is free to operate. At the beginning of each year, the total sum collected during the past year is distributed, and the missions are always at the mercy of the faithful. Every year, at the end of January, the offerings of the members of the society are sent to the central office in Rome. The total amount is divided among all the missions of the earth. The society does not deal in investments and has no permanent fund.
Let us ponder the words of Pope John XXIII, “No one today in a world where distance no longer counts can give the excuse that the needs of his faraway brother are not known to him, nor can one say that the task of helping his brother is not his concern.” We can together carry out the missions of the Church and continue to be foster and transform many in the light of Christ, who commanded us to spread the Gospel to the whole world. We also have to foster vocations who are consecrated for the work of Gospel.
Today, the General Fund of the Propagation of the Faith, which gathers donations from all over the world, is the basic means of support for the Catholic Church’s worldwide missions. Encouraging the faithful to give first place to prayer and a spirit of sacrifice for the missions is the most important part of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Let us humbly serve Christ to promote His kingdom.
As Pope Francis teaches, “The Church is missionary. She exists so that every man and woman may encounter Jesus.” Today, the General Fund of the Propagation of the Faith, which gathers donations from all over the world, is the basic means of support for the Catholic Church’s worldwide missions.
I quote the words of Blessed Carlo Acutis, “The infinite is our homeland. We have always been expected in Heaven.” If we want enjoy eternal salvation, we must love our brothers and sisters in need, wherever they are and from wherever they came. In fact, universal fraternity is necessary for everyone. Jesus reminds us that what we do to the “least of others” we do to Him (Mat: 25:31-46). Jesus is the companion of the poor, the hungry, the stranger, the immigrant, the sick, the imprisoned, the misunderstood.
The mission work is the important vitality of the Church. We are obliged to preach Good News of Jesus Christ to our fellow men through our good deeds and words regardless of their religion, ethnicity, culture, rich and poor. Membership Sunday is calling us to prayer and to affirm us in our work in the Church to move forward in Christ’s mandate to all the nations. Let us hear the cry of the poor and console them by our act of charity.”