The theme of the 2022 World Mission Day is “You shall be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8) Oct. 23 is World Mission Sunday, the day set aside every year for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the missionary work of the Church.
As we celebrate this day, it should serve as a continuing commitment to build the Church as the Christian community where nothing separates us – language, nation, culture, ethnicity or gender. We remember that we are all one human family; we are all children of God. We are not missionaries for this one day alone, but every day.
In 2021, the faithful of the Diocese of Columbus contributed $63,866.01 to the World Mission Sunday collection. On behalf of Bishop Earl Fernandes and Msgr. Kieran Harrington, national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, thank you for your generosity and kindness toward the missions of the Church.
Pope Francis released the theme of the 2022 World Mission Day on the Feast of the Epiphany. The pope said, “This is the central point, the heart of Jesus’ teaching to the disciples, in view of their being sent forth into the world. The disciples are to be witnesses of Jesus, thanks to the grace of the Holy Spirit that they will receive. Wherever they go and in whatever place they find themselves.
“Christ was the first to be sent, as a ‘missionary’ of the Father (cf. John 20:21), and as such, he is the Father’s ‘faithful witness.’ (cf. Revelation 1:5) In a similar way, every Christian is called to be a missionary and witness to Christ. And the Church, the community of Christ’s disciples, has no other mission than that of bringing the Gospel to the entire world by bearing witness to Christ.” (Rome, St. John Lateran, Jan. 6, 2022)
World Mission Sunday, instituted in 1926 by Pope Pius XI at the request of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, calls us each year in the spirit of the Church’s unity and universality to a renewed commitment to everyone’s responsibility for the spreading of the Gospel message.
Pope St. John Paul II said, “I feel it my duty to recall the wise disposition of my predecessors Pope Pius XI and John XXIII, who stipulated that all offerings collected on World Mission Sunday be destined in their entirety to the needs of the mission ad gentes.” (Vatican City, June 7, 1992)
St. Pauline Marie Jaricot founded the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which was formally established on May 3, 1822. Despite the challenges that the missions confronted during the pandemic, the 200th anniversary is cause for joy.
Father Tadeusz J. Nowak, OMI, secretary general of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, wrote: “Thank you for your generous and valuable service to the mission entrusted to us by the Holy Father, inspired by our beloved foundress, Pauline Marie Jaricot. May the Lord bless us all so that we may continue to respond to the vocation that Pauline courageously accepted in devoting her life to evangelizing the world so that the gospel can take root in every country and culture to the ends of the world.” (In Fides, May 4, 2021)
Our planet contains more than 7 billion people, and two-thirds of them do not believe in Jesus Christ. The number of Catholics is more than 1 billion. Christians number almost 2 billion. According to the Vatican Second Vatican, missionary proclamation has conversion as its goal: “That non-Christians be freely converted to the Lord under the action of the Holy Spirit who opens their hearts so that they may adhere to him.” (Ad Gentes, 13)
Jesus is the only Savior who redeemed all humanity through His death and resurrection and freely gave eternal salvation to all. Perhaps, to receive this blissful eternity after our death, we need to believe and accept Jesus Christ is our God and Redeemer.
We continue to promote global missions by coordinating and managing the mission programs and collections in our diocese. You enable us to plan, continue in mission and share the good news – Christ’s love and mercy toward communities locally and globally.
Your part in our shared Church’s mission will be rewarded by God’s blessings. Let us unite with Catholics across the globe to pray and offer sacrifices and gifts for the missionary work of the Church. Our Lady, Queen of the Missions, pray for us!
