Dear Friends,
Today is World Mission Sunday. Thank you in advance for your contributions to this collection which will go to help the work of missions around the world. World Mission Sunday is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church's missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice. In this year's mission message from the Pope, he reminds us that the social and religious challenges facing humanity in our day call believers to renew their missionary fervor.
Funds collected this weekend will be shared between two organizations. Each year, World Mission Sunday raises money for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. This is a fund distributed, in the Pope's name, to missionary efforts around the world. This year, our parish will also be giving half of the mission collection (from two of our weekend Masses at which this was announced) to Snehalaya, a mission of the Don Bosco religious community in India. This is in response to a direct appeal to our parish from Indian Catholic residents of our neighborhood who know that we support Indian Catholics by making our facilities available to the Kerala Indian Catholic League to worship together at Mary Queen of Heaven. Snehalaya, which means House of Love, is a residence in northern India for very poor homeless children who are orphaned or abandoned and have been rescued from the streets. We were visited by Fr. Luke Cheruvalel, SDB, who runs Snehalaya. Fr. Luke was in Elmhurst recently, and concelebrated morning Mass with Fr. Tom during the week he was here. References were checked with Fr. Luke's bishop and our own diocese and, after consultation with members of our parish pastoral council and commissions, a decision was made to share part of our mission collection with Snehalaya. Thank you for your donations which will help some of the littlest and poorest of the children of God.
Besides the funds that were raised this weekend in the mission collection, our parish is involved in missionary work in another way. One of our parishioners, Judy Fuschen, left this weekend as part of the Diocese of Joliet's mission trip to Sucre, Bolivia. Judy was commissioned to this service at last weekend's 5 p.m. Mass. Judy, along with 30 other people from our diocese, will be part of our diocesan mission of providing medical care in the hospitals and housing improvements in the barrios of Sucre. Please keep Judy in your prayers during this week that she is away from us. Pray for her safety and that God will bless her and those served through her missionary work. After her return, Judy will be writing an article for the bulletin about her missionary experience. She will also be bringing in representatives from the diocese to talk with our Peace and Justice Committee about getting more involved in the mission work of our diocese.
There are many ways that our lives can have an effect on people throughout the world, through our individual efforts, as members of a local church, and as citizens of the richest and most powerful country in the world. Charitable donations and missionary efforts are very important ways to help people in other countries. We must also be aware that decisions we make to elect people to positions of political power also have critical impact on people around the world, especially the poor and vulnerable. In this week's bulletin, you will find copies of a brochure on the U.S. Bishops' document Faithful Citizenship. I urge all members of our parish to consider coming to a presentation on Faithful Citizenship which will be held on Monday evening at 7 p.m. in Barrett Hall. We will have with us two representatives from the diocese for some in-depth discussion of the bishops' document, which urges us to take into consideration all of Catholic Social Teaching when it comes time to vote. Joining us will be Art Leamy, from the Diocesan Peace and Justice Office, who serves as Coordinator for Catholic Relief Services and as an assistant with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development Program. Also with us on Monday will be Lorna Miressi of Resurrection Parish in Wayne, who is a graduate of the Diocese of Joliet "Peace and Justice Institute." Lorna, like our own parishioner Judy Fuschen, has also served on several diocesan mission trips to Bolivia. Please come for this event on Monday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.
Two final things this week: Please consider subscribing to our diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Explorer, which is a good source of information about Catholic life and teaching. Your subscriptions can also help to support our youth group, which receives $5 for every subscription. Please contact our Youth Ministry, Leader Kathleen Gusloff, for more information at (630) 832-4348. Lastly, I have been asked by a parishioner if we could develop a Saturday support group for people who are unemployed. Certainly, parish facilities are available for this. If there is anyone interested in forming such a group, please contact the parish office.
Have a great week, and may God continue to bless you.
Mary Michele (Regina) Foley
Pastoral Life Coordinator