Here in the Mission Office, we oversee many programs; all of them have a different place in the family quilt that make up the four Pontifical Mission Societies. One of our more visible programs is for the Propagation of the Faith -- the Mission Co-operative Program.



Every year, we receive hundreds of letters from missionaries seeking the opportunity to come to Boston and share the story of their ministries. Their messages make it clear that their work is about accompaniment; it's walking with people as they come to know Christ as a beacon of hope in their lives.



We prayerfully invite those we believe represent the broadest cross section of the mission world to speak in local parishes. They are priests, sisters, brothers, and lay people at work around the globe in the service of others.



And so, they come to share their stories.

This year, parishioners in Dedham, Cambridge, Bellingham, Sudbury, Haverhill, Wakefield, and Melrose will hear from the Raise Up the Roof Foundation. This organization is headquartered right here in the Archdiocese of Boston. Inspired by the passage in Luke's Gospel where the paralytic is lowered through a house's roof by friends to get closer to Jesus, the Raise Up the Roof Foundation is helping people with disabilities live fuller lives. High School and college students in Nigeria can attend class thanks to the wheelchairs and crutches provided to them; special needs primary school students in Sri Lanka are guaranteed a nutritious meal; clean, accessible bathroom facilities are now available at a primary school in Cameroon.



Local parishes in Wilmington, Dorchester, Cohasset, and Hull will hear from the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa. The sisters are an international organization based in Ireland. Among their ministries, they care for people deprived of home and a livelihood in war-torn South Sudan; help widows increase their household income in Uganda; improve the education of little ones in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya; and serve the sick in Zambia. These sisters' charism statement identifies them as "women of faith, consecrated to God in a community of love, joy, and simplicity."



As members of our One Family in Mission, we welcome Raise Up the Roof Foundation and the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa, and all the visiting missionaries to our home in Boston. As we gather around our family table at the Eucharist, we pray for their safety and success as they share their stories with the rest of our family -- you.



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