World Mission Sunday

PATERSON  Around the world, brave men and women, religious and laity, leave their homes to travel to the farthest ends of the earth with one mission — to make known Jesus Christ as the Savior of all humanity. Because of this, every year on World Mission Sunday (WMS), the universal Church prays for and honors these missionaries, who are dedicated to teaching the faith to those in some of the poorest and most dangerous places in the world.

According to the Society for the Propa­gation of the Faith, a mission society of the Holy Father, WMS is set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church’s missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice. The Diocese marked the international celebration with its annual World Mission Sunday Mass in St. Gerard Majella Church here Oct. 21.

Coordinated by the Diocesan Mission Office, Bishop Serratelli was the main celebrant of the Mass along with several diocesan priests and missionary priests from the Diocese. The WMS Mass also honored diocesan schools and parish religious education programs that supported Propagation of Faith’s Missionary Childhood Association by raising donations and praying to help children in mission areas.

In his welcome message, the Bishop said, “We gather on the Lord’s day to praise and worship him and to thank him for the faith he has given us, and especially on this day, World Mission Sunday, we are reminded of our own need to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Reflecting on the Gospel to Mark 10:35-45, Bishop Serratelli delivered the homily at the Mass. “As followers of Jesus, we do not look for what we can get for ourselves, for the honor, for the glory, for the fame. Rather we follow the very example of Jesus himself, who put aside his own glory as the son of God, and took on our human weakness so that he could accomplish our redemption,” the Bishop said.

“Each one of us has special gifts. No talent is without value and each one of us has been given the truth of the Gospel so there is something special each one of us can do with our lives. As followers of Jesus, we use all our gifts, both material and spiritual, to serve one another, to do good for one another and not gain honor for ourselves. When we bring the truth and the grace of the Gospel to others by the way we live and speak, it is then that we become better at the Church’s mission of catching others for the kingdom of God,” the Bishop told the congregation.

An annual highlight of the World Mission Sunday Mass in the Diocese is honoring children from parish schools and religious education programs who have contributed to the missions and pray for children around the world in mission areas through the Missionary Childhood Association.

Eighth-graders of St. Gerard School, Mia Ferreras and Francheska Morales spoke at the Mass explaining how the Diocese has helped the missions last year. More than $123,000 was given to the missions assisting countries such as Brazil, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Mila Burdeos, director of the diocesan mission office, announced the schools and parishes with active participation in assisting the missions and the Bishop presented them each with an award. Awards were given to: St. Gerard Majella School in Paterson for Best Mission Promotion and Divine Mercy Academy in Rockaway for the Recognition Award. Receiving awards for religious education programs were: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Flanders, for Best Mission Promotion; St. Therese Parish, Succasunna, for the Mission Spirit Award and St. Anthony Parish, Paterson for the Recognition Award.

At the end of Mass, the Bishop thanked the parish schools and religious education programs for their efforts in supporting the missions and encouraged the children to consider the priesthood or religious life. “St. Pope Paul VI said, ‘the Church exists to evangelize.’ What that means is the missionary apostolate is what the Church is all about. When Jesus said go forth and preach the Gospel, he didn’t mean it just for those first apostles, he meant for every one of us and every age. Being a missionary is part of being a follower of Jesus.”