World Mission Sunday

SUCCASUNNA  This past Sunday, the Church marked World Mission Sunday and Pope Francis and Catholics around the world prayed for missionaries who leave their homes to travel and live in faraway lands to spread the Gospel.

World Mission Sunday (WMS) honors these missionaries who are dedicated to teach all nations about Jesus in some of the poorest regions and even the most dangerous places around the world. According to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, a mission society of the Holy Father, the day is also set-aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church’s missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice.

In solidarity with the pope, the Diocese marked the international celebration with its annual WMS Mass in St. Therese Church here Oct. 23. It was an appropriate setting for the WMS Mass, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as the Little Flower, is one of the patron saints of the missions because of her special love of the missions and the prayers and letters she gave to support missionaries.

Coordinated by the diocesan Mission Office, Bishop Emeritus Frank Rodimer celebrated the Mass. Bishop Rodimer, who turned 89 on Oct. 25, has celebrated the Mass for the past several years. Also concelebrating the Mass were Msgr. John Demkovich, director of the mission office, Father Mark Mancini, pastor of St. Therese’s, Father Richard Bay, pastor of St. Simon Parish in Green Pond, and Father Hernan Cely, parochial vicar of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Flanders. The WMS Mass also honored school children who supported Propagation of Faith’s Missionary Childhood Association by raising donations to help children in mission areas.

In his homily, Bishop Rodimer said, “Jesus tells us to go into the world and preach the Good News. He wants all in the world to know when we have faith, we can do extraordinary things — that the worries and anxieties we have, we are able to face with God’s grace.”

Bishop Rodimer emphasized the word “we” as the most important word everyone can say. “When we use the word ‘we,’ we are always conscious of one another’s needs. While ‘we’ is the most important word we can say, ‘I’ is the least,” he said.

“St. Therese of Avila, who loved the missions said, ‘We will never know who we are until we begin to know who God is.’ That is the great purpose of missionaries — to go into the world and tell everyone about him. God loves us and welcomes us and once we know him, we will know who we are,” said Bishop Rodimer.

At the end of Mass, an annual highlight is honoring children from parish schools and CCD programs throughout the diocese who have contributed to the missions.

Msgr. Demkovich thanked the young people for their donations to the missions. He said, “You could have spent the money on yourself but you shared it with other children you have never met before.”