By Father Woodrow H. Pace
Mission Office Director
Father Kuhn, associate pastor of St. Anne Parish in Wausau, visits orphans in Uganda.
In preparation for World Mission Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, within the Year of Mercy, a moment of reflection reveals the marvelous obedience of the Church to her missionary mandate from the Lord. We are to go out to all the earth bringing God’s holy people to the font of His mercy and love. The message of Pope Francis expresses this profound responsibility.
His Holiness writes, “The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which the Church is celebrating, casts a distinct light on World Mission Sunday 2016: it invites us to consider the missio ad gentes as a great, immense work of mercy, both spiritual and material.” He points out the depth of the Father’s mercy, whose tender love identifies especially with “the young, the marginalized and the oppressed” (Message for World Mission Day, 2016).
I want to thank you, the people of the Diocese of La Crosse, for your response. The brief chart of contributions seen on this page joins World Mission Sunday to other activities of the year. They are supported by your commitment to the missions. In the months before Advent, we are concluding the Mission Coop Program. Hosting missionaries, taking up collections and sharing stories about the universal Church through the lives of people we may never meet accomplishes amazing good. Our own youths and adults have returned from mission outreaches and they have provided an exchange of love and care between us and the people of Peru and Bolivia, as well as places in our own nation and on other continents. Our Catholic schools and CCD programs have connected children who sacrifice with children in poverty.
Much has been accomplished, but now is not the time for rest. In a world so much in need of a Savior, our efforts must continue and even increase. The work of Jesus Christ goes on through our obedience to his Gospel command. May he bring to completion the good he has begun in us.
For more information about the Mission Office and detailed parish and youth contributions, please visit www.diolc.org/missions.