World Mission Sunday

PATERSON  In order to love Jesus, people have to know him and that because of the sacrifices made by missionaries around the world, those living in the farthest ends of the earth learn about the Gospel message of Jesus and accept him as their Savior.

On Oct. 20, World Mission Sunday (WMS) was marked by the universal Church with Pope Francis leading the celebration at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In the Diocese, the annual World Mission Sunday celebration took place at St. Gerard Majella Church here with Bishop Serratelli as the main celebrant and homilist. The Mass, which observed the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, also fell during the Church’s celebration, in October, of Extraordinary Missionary Month. Concelebrating at the Mass was Vocationist Father Leo Antony, pastor of St. Gerard’s; Maryknoll Father Joe Healey, a missionary serving in Africa; and Father Stephen Prisk, diocesan vice chancellor and priest-secretary to the Bishop.

To welcome the congregation, the Bishop said, “We gather today to praise and worship God on this World Mission Sunday, aware that we are all called to be missionaries to share Christ with others.”

Coordinated by the Diocesan Mission Office, the Mass also honored Catholic school students and religious education students at five parishes in the Diocese, who supported the missions through the Propagation of Faith’s Missionary Childhood Association, a Pontifical Mission Society. The Mass also acknowledged the many religious orders of women in attendance at the Mass.

In his homily, the Bishop said, “In Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead, God gives us a share in his divine life. This is ultimately the reason why we pray to become more and more sharers in the eternal life of God offered in Christ and this very sharing in God’s life compels every one of us to be missionary. For when Jesus enters our lives, he comes as he is, as the savior of all.”

The Bishop reminded the congregation that, “Christ belongs not to the Church alone; he doesn’t belong just to Christians, Christ belongs to the entire world. In the world, that means for us, not just distant countries but it means to us also those who are close to us, who truly do not know the Lord Jesus, those who are our own family and friends, who do not live by faith. The world around us far and near needs Christ today more than ever. He is the truth, he is the life, he is the way. The more that we open ourselves to God in prayer, the more God fills us with the presence of Jesus and the more readily, the more eagerly we become true missionaries bringing Christ to others. God wants us to keep on giving Jesus to others.”

At the end of the WMS Mass, the annual awards ceremony was held honoring children from parish schools and religious education programs throughout the Diocese who have contributed to the missions and pray for children around the world in mission areas.

Mila Burdeos, director of the diocesan Mission Office, announced the schools and parishes with active participation to the missions at the Mass and the Bishop presented them each with an award. They were for the schools: Best Par Excellence Mission Award to St. Gerard Majella School in Paterson and Best Mission Promotion Award to Divine Mercy Academy in Rockaway. Also receiving awards for religious education programs were: Best Par Excellence Award to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Flanders; Mission Spirit Award to St. Anthony Parish, Paterson; and Recognition Award to St. Therese Parish, Paterson.

Also honored was Justin Pidane, a seventh-grader at St. Anthony School in Hawthorne, who was one of the winners of the Missionary Childhood Association’s Annual Christmas Artwork Contest. His artwork along with 21 others will be displayed at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. during Advent and Christmas.

At the close of Mass, the Bishop said, “Every one of us is called to be a missionary and it doesn’t matter what age we are or what work we have. St. Therese of the Little Flower, cloistered in a Carmel, was one of the greatest missionaries by her prayer and she was young. So whether we are in kindergarten and only four years or retired and looking forward to eternal reward, each of us is called by our prayer to continue the work of the Lord.”