Membership renewal for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (SPOF) occurs Saturday, Jan. 15 and Sunday, Jan. 16.
The Church is a missionary by her nature. Through faith and baptism, each of Christ’s followers is incorporated as a living member in the Church and has an active part in her mission of salvation.
In 2021, the Diocese of Columbus contributed $49,802.35 to the society’s membership drive. On behalf of the diocese, the Church’s missionaries and the people they serve, I thank you for your generosity. Donors and their intentions remain in the prayers of missionaries.
Consider including the SPOF in your will or trust. Your legacy will live on, and your life will touch the world for generations.
The SPOF was founded in France inMay1822 by Pauline Jaricot and approved by Pope Pius VII in 1823.
Jaricot gathered friends and workers into “circles of 10,” asking each person to pray daily for the missions and make a regular weekly sacrifice. These groups included working women and servant girls who practiced special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In 1922, Pope Pius XI declared SPOF as “pontifical,” and its headquarters were transferred to Rome. Its principal function still is carrying the Christian faith to the world.
Jaricot will be beatified in Lyon, France, on May 22, as the 200th anniversary of her founding of the SPOF is celebrated. In 2020, Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to her intercession, thus paving the way for her beatification.
The Beatification Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
In a message to the national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Father Tadeusz J. Nowak, OMI, secretary general of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, wrote: “Thank you for your generous and valuable service to the mission entrusted to us by the Holy Father, inspired by our beloved foundress, Pauline Marie Jaricot. May the Lord bless us all so that we may continue to respond to the vocation that Pauline courageously accepted in devoting her life to evangelizing the world so that the gospel can take root in every country and culture to the ends of the world.”
Out of your fervor, the SPOF continues to open the hearts of believers through spiritual and material support for the proclamation of the kingdom of God.
Let our hearts be inspired by Jaricot’s words: “I have loved Jesus Christ more than anything else on this earth, and because of his love I have loved those who were in distress and pain, more than my own life.”
Some people give to the missions by going to the missions, and some go to the missions by giving; without both, there are no missions.
Sister Zephrina Mary Gracykutty, FIH, is director of the diocesan Missions Office.