Faith

Maureen Crowley
Heil

A great day is coming -- and you can be part of it!

October 19, 2025 -- World Mission Sunday -- is a special day for all of us who are called by our baptism to be involved in the missionary work of the Church. On that Sunday, every nation, even the poorest mission countries, contributes to the missionary needs of the Church worldwide.

World Mission Sunday is celebrated everywhere there are Catholics, in every diocese and in every parish -- in a remote African outstation, in a predominantly Muslim or Hindu area in Asia, in a poor village capilla in Latin America. As citizens of this vast and diverse world, members of the one Body of Christ, we are at our best when we act lovingly, prayerfully, and generously towards our brothers and sisters in the missions.

This year, Pope Leo asks you to remember that on October 19, World Mission Sunday, the family of the Church celebrates that we are called to be "Missionaries of Hope Among the peoples." How are we to act on that call? First and foremost, pray for the people of the missions and for missionaries who bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to them. They live in some of the most marginalized, insecure places on our planet. Your generous help is most needed:

· $15 -- a week's support of a young man in a mission seminary in Zambia.
· $25 -- a month's help for the formation of a religious Sister in the Pacific Islands.
· $75 -- to assist a priest in Bangladesh who travels great distances to celebrate the sacraments for the poor tea pickers in his care
· $100 -- helps cover the cost of a desk and textbook for five of the 300 children in catechism class at a parish on the remote Galápagos Islands off Ecuador.
· $500 -- provides food and education for a child orphaned by HIV/Aids in India.

Whatever you can contribute to the collection for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith on World Mission Sunday will be a great blessing to local priests, religious and lay catechists throughout Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and remote regions of Latin America.

This year Boston's Archdiocesan celebration will be at Sacred Heart Church of the Divine Mercy Parish at 10 am on October 19. Archbishop Richard G. Henning will be our celebrant and homilist. Choirs, readers, and cultural communities will join missionaries, benefactors, and school students representing the mission world to celebrate our shared missionary heritage. Please join us! RSVP for reserved seating: wms@propfaithboston.org or 617-542-1776.

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.

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