The Bigger Picture

During the past two weeks, we have been honored to welcome many directors and office staff from diocesan offices of the Pontifical Mission Societies. We had a two-day Mission Office Orientation Program on July 13 and 14 at our national office, and private visits before and after that from our Philadelphia (below, bottom) and Boston (below, top) mission faily. During those times, we had wonderful opportunities to share with one another, as families do. And that is what we are all about - "One Family In Mission."




From my own perspective as National Director, I felt I needed, of course, to welcome and extend hospitality to our visiting family. But also there was the need to explain the "bigger picture" of what we do. I enjoyed sharing - sometimes through personal anecdotes from my pastoral visits around world, and at times drawing on my experience as a former diocesan mission director now working at the national office - how our work impacts the global mission efforts of the Church.

I hope I made a modest impression on our mission office family who were with us here and through LiveStream presentations of the Orientation Program. Most especially I hope they came to understand the critical role that each plays in accepting our special ministry of mission animation and cooperation entrusted to us by the Holy Father. I hope that they - and all who support the Missions - comprehend the great honor and nobility of what we do.



And each year our Holy Father calls us together on one day to celebrate that common missionary vocation. On World Mission Sunday, at the Eucharist, the Catholics of the world come together to give thanks to God for the gift of our faith and pray for those missionaries who continue to make Jesus known. And we give thanks as well for the example of the poor who have shown me again and again on my missionary journeys that Jesus makes all the difference, in life and in death. How good to be united with each of you in this "one family in mission"!

Seeing Their Believing

Mission journeys. My most recent trip to the Missions took me to both Vietnam and northern Thailand.

It was my first visit to Vietnam. Although Catholics have suffered much in the past 50-plus years with the realities of Communism, the Church is flourishing, with vocations to the Religious life and the priesthood booming.

I wish you could have joined me as I visited seminaries, some very large and bursting at the seams, and others brand new in their humble and just developing conditions. Motherhouses for Religious women are filled to capacity with some older sisters who date back further than the 1975 change of government. There are hundreds of younger Sisters from this "new era" for the Church in Vietnam.


If you were with me, you could not help but notice how young and how happy are these seminarians and those young women in formation to be Sisters. Their joy is infectious, to say the least. These young people are not naive in their desire to serve the Church, and they certainly realize that they have some real challenges ahead. But excellent formation will help them to render fruitful service among their own people, as priests and Sisters.

I had the great experience of being with 400 Religious Sisters as they finished their annual retreat, and formally celebrated and witnessed the perpetual vows of 16 new Sisters at their motherhouse. To be in the company of these happy and holy women was a beautiful experience! Most of them arrived and departed on bicycles, motor bikes or scooters; some from distant places. Their gathering seemed like that of a huge family outing, and I was treated like the "uncle" who was welcomed home.

The people of Vietnam have a very strong faith, and I was blessed to share it with them. I was particularly uplifted in visiting with those of tribal heritage who have historically been marginalized. The Church is dynamically involved in serving these beautiful and loving people. I was privileged to visit them in their local villages and to experience some of their cherished language, culture and customs.

Many of us see the deep faith of the Vietnamese who have come to live in our country - serving as missionaries to us. It is no surprise then that their faith is so alive in their homeland. And my seeing their believing firsthand was a huge blessing for me.

As is my custom, I always include all of you in my mission pastoral visits, making it a priority to extress your loving solidarity and prayerful support for people everywhere, as they too offer the same to each and everyone of us here at home. We are truly "one family in mission"!