On behalf of His Excellency, Bishop Earl K. Fernandes, I would like to thank you for supporting the Black and Indian Missions collection. We, the Catholic faith community, have been a beacon of hope for the hopeless for generations. Today, our solidarity with them is more important than ever, especially with vibrant Catholic faith communities in the poorest regions, serving and caring the marginalized. This collection will support and strengthen the evangelization programs. Your generosity would help the evangelization easier and would bring saintly life such as St. Kateri Tekakwitha (first Native American saint) and St. Martin de Pores (first Black saint of the Americas).
In an interview, Rev. Fr. Maurice Henry Sands, executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office, speaks about the needs and urgency of evangelization among the Native American communities. He said, “A lot of Native American Catholics don’t have access to the sacraments. They don’t go to Mass because they don’t have a priest who is specifically assigned to serve in their community. I hope that Native American Catholics can be acknowledged and be welcomed to participate more fully in the life of the U.S. Catholic Church. I also hope that the Church can help to bring about restoration and healing through increased efforts to address our spiritual and material needs, many native people live in poverty and don’t have proper housing, electricity, telephones or running water. Unemployment rates are very high. The quality of health care for most Native Americans is very poor. Most Native American children on reservations and in urban centers attend public schools that are inadequately staffed and resourced.”
They evangelize with the sacraments, community participation and a special relationship with the saints by devotional practices. As Pope Francis advocates in one of his encyclicals, “Any missionary impulse, if derived from the Holy Spirit, manifests predilection for the poor and vulnerable” (Evangelii Gaudium7). These funds are used for evangelization efforts in poor rural and reservation communities that cannot survive without our help. It mainly focuses on administering the sacraments, giving witness to the people whom they serve, helping them understand God loves them and recognizing the Church as a mediator. Let us earnestly pray and ponder in our hearts the message of our Holy Father, “May the Spirit give us the ability to listen to the voice of those who have no voice. We will see, then, what the eyes do not yet see: that garden, or Paradise, which we will only reach by welcoming and fulfilling our own task.” (Pope Leo XIV, Wednesday, January 14, 2026)
Mission work is the most precious service of the Church, according to St. John Paul II. “The Church can never be closed in on herself. She is rooted in specific places in order to go beyond them. The mission of Christ which is entrusted to the Church is still far from completion. An overall view of the human race shows that Christ’s mission is still only beginning and that we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its service.” (Redemptoris Missio) Mission work includes evangelization and caring for the basic needs of the poor; sharing meals, cleaning clothes and helping a struggling family to cover the coast of education. It can be possible with people of goodwill.
The support of generous hearts can fulfill dreams of many unfortunate people to pursue a college education and to have a better future. When they receive these grants/funds they recall the words of the Psalmist “My father and mother may abandon me, but the Lord will take care of me” (Psalm 27:10).
