World Mission Sunday Mass

PROSPECT PARK  The diocesan Mission Office marked World Mission Sunday on Oct. 22 at St. Paul Church here with a special Mass.

It was part of the worldwide celebration in the Church that encourages the faithful to pray for and contribute to the missions and promotes their work in spreading the Gospel and God’s mercy in mostly poor countries around the globe. The Diocese also presented awards to a Catholic elementary school and two parish religious education programs for generous and heartfelt contributions from their students through the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA).

St. Paul’s parishioners joined representatives from the award-winning school, St. Gerard Majella, Paterson, and the two religious education programs, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Flanders, and St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Paterson, for the noon Mass, celebrated by Msgr. Edward Kurtyka, St. Paul’s pastor, and judicial vicar for the diocesan Tribunal. Concelebrants were Msgr. John Demkovich, diocesan mission director; Vocationist Father Patrick Nwachukwu, a missionary in Madagascar for 11 years who delivered the homily; Vocationist Father Leo Antony, pastor of St. Gerard Majella Parish; and Xaverian Father Michael Davitti from the Xaverian Missionaries’ Provincial House in Wayne.

“Pope Francis reminds us that mission is at the heart of the Christian faith. By virtue of our Baptism, we all are missionaries,” Father Nwachukwu, ordained a priest in Nigeria, said, during his homily at the Mass, which included a second collection for World Mission Sunday, as was also done in all parishes of the Diocese. “I encourage you to give generously to the missions. Through the missions, the Church becomes the Good Samaritan that reaches out to people, who need healing, in foreign lands, often in remote areas. If you can’t help by going [to these lands], then help by giving [to the collection],” the priest said.

At the end of the Mass, Msgr. Demkovich and Mila Burdeos, Mission Office coordinator, led a ceremony to present MCA Outstanding Awards to St. Gerard School and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish and the MCA Spirit Award to St. Anthony Parish for the 2016-17 academic year. Specifically cited were Filippini Sister Jo-Ann Pompa, St. Gerard’s principal, and Liz Odo, its mission moderator; Father Stanley Barron, St. Elizabeth’s pastor and diocesan Vicar for Education, and Father Hernan Cely, St. Elizabeth’s former religious education director and now administrator of St. Anthony Parish, Passaic; and Estari Tucker, religious education coordinator at St. Anthony in Paterson and its pastor, Father Eider Reyes.

Founded in France in 1843, MCA encourages children “to be aware of the needs of children living in mission dioceses through the world and support them both spiritually and sacrificially.” Contributions benefit self-help programs involving the building of schools, the provision of health and nutrition programs and medications, school fees, and teaching and learning resources in 110 countries and help “make Jesus known to children all over the world,” according to www.propfaith.net, the website of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which also raises funds for the missions.

“Today, we honor the school and parishes that have generously encouraged their children to pray and give economic support to children in developing countries around the world. We are sincerely grateful to the principal and CCD directors for their untiring support to children around the world. Because of their prayers and good works for children, we call them angels of the Good News,” Burdeos said.

In 1926, Pope Pius XI instituted World Mission Sunday “to engender a sense of responsibility in people for supporting the missions throughout the world.” Contributions to the Propagation of the Faith provide “support for the life-giving and hope-filled work and witness of priests, religious and lay pastoral leaders in mission churches. Support reaches clinics that care for the sick and dying, orphanages that provide a place of safety and shelter, schools that offer education from kindergarten through high school” and “seminarians, who are preparing for the priesthood and religious sisters and brothers in formation programs.” This takes place in 1,111 mission dioceses, mostly in Africa and Asia, “where the poorest of the poor receive an education and health care,” according to materials distributed at the Mass by the Mission Office, which operates under the canonical jurisdiction of Pope Francis with the approval of Bishop Serratelli.

“The Paterson Diocese has always been very generous not only to people around us and our nation, but also around the world,” Burdeos told the churchgoers. “Together, we build up the Church, affirm human dignity, alleviate poverty, encourage dialogue and inspire hope.”

The Diocese has sent contributions to the dioceses of Belarus, Russia, Bolivia, Congo, Dominican Republic, Ghana, India, Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda and Tanzania. And every December, Bishop Serratelli sends a Christmas check to support the ministries of missionary priests from the Diocese who serve outside the U.S., Burdeos said.

“It’s a beautiful thing — giving money to people, who hardly have anything,” said Msgr. Demkovich during the awards ceremony. “These people [the award recipients] exemplify a love for people and the Church.”

Before the recessional at Mass, Msgr. Kurtyka called St. Paul’s “an appropriate place” to hold the diocesan World Mission Sunday Mass — in a parish named after the greatest missionary of the Church. He told the congregation, “We are all missionaries of Christ and are called to bring the Gospel to everyone we meet.”

After the Mass, Sister Jo-Ann noted that St. Gerard’s raising funds for the missions helps to realize the charism of St. Lucy Filippini, founder of Religious Teachers Filippini, that “all are sent to preach God’s Word to all people.” She also noted, “The children give with their hearts and prayers and extend their love to all children in need.”

“This is very special,” said Tucker about St. Anthony’s award. “Our children learn about other children in need. Many of our children come from poor communities, but they give from their hearts to share what they have,” she said.