WORLD MISSION SUNDAY [C] (October 19, 2025) 

Introduction: Over one billion Catholics all over the world observe today as World Mission Sunday. This annual observance was instituted 98 years ago in 1926 by Pope Pius XI’s Papal decree. Every year since then, the universal Church has dedicated the month of October to reflection on, and prayer for, the missions. On World Mission Sunday, Catholics gather to celebrate the Eucharist and to contribute to a collection for the work of evangelization around the world. This annual celebration gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of mission work for the life of the Church. It reminds us that we are one with the Church around the world and that we are all committed to carrying on the mission of Christ, however different our situations may be.

The Holy Fathers’ Mission Sunday messages: Pope Leo XIV’s message for the 2025 World Mission Sunday emphasizes the theme “Missionaries of Hope Among all Peoples,” encouraging Christians to be messengers and builders of hope in the Jubilee Year 2025. He asks the faithful to burn with holy zeal for a new era of evangelization, bringing hope to a world overshadowed by dark shadows, and to be a community of hope by letting the Spirit guide their actions.

In his World Mission Sunday messages, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of Christian charity in action as the keynote of evangelization. He encouraged Churches with a shortage of priests to get them from countries with many priests. In the Pauline Year, heencouraged everyone “to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel,” and he exhorted all Christians “to redouble their commitment to participate in the missionary activity that is an essential component of the life of the Church.” Pope Francis, in his first World Mission Sunday message, 2013, challenged us to proclaim courageously and in every situation the Gospel of Christ — a message of hope, reconciliation, and communion. In his 2014 Mission Sunday message, the Pope challenged the Church to become a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples, and the source of rebirth for our world through the intercession of Mary, the model of humble and joyful evangelization. “The Church is on a mission in the world,” Pope Francis wrote in his 2019 World Mission Day message, Baptized and Sent. “This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission.” Hence, the Holy Father calls on all Catholics and the Church to revive missionary awareness and commitment. In his 2020 message, our Holy Father asked us to discharge our mission duty by volunteering with prophet Isaiah “Here am I, send me” (6:8) to alleviate the suffering of our Covid-19-stricken brothers and sisters. The theme of 2021 World Mission Day – “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard”(Acts 4:20), is a summons to each of us to “own” and to bring to others what we bear in our hearts. Pope Francis’ theme for 2024 World mission Sunday is rooted in the Gospel of Matthew: “Go and Invite Everyone to the Banquet,” reflecting the inclusive and urgent call to bring God’s love to everyone. Let us join in this universal mission to spread the Gospel and invite all to experience the joy of Christ’s message!

The missionary Church: The Church, according to Vatican Council II, is “missionary” in her very nature because her founder, Jesus Christ, was the first missionary. God the Father sent God the Son, Incarnate in Jesus, His Christ, into the world with a message of God’s love and salvation. Thus, the evangelizing mission of the Church is essentially the announcement of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, as these are revealed to mankind through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. How should we evangelize? There are three ways: 1) By living an exemplary and transparent Christian life, 2) by prayer, and 3) by financial support. The first and most powerful means of preaching Christ is by living a truly Christian life.

— a life filled with love, mercy, kindness, compassion, and a spirit of forgiveness and service. Prayer is the second means of missionary work.  Jesus said: “Without Me you can do nothing.”  Therefore, prayer is necessary for anyone who wishes to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Third, all missionary efforts also require financial support because the love of God can often be explained to the poor only by providing them with food, medicine, and a means of livelihood.  Hence, on this Mission Sunday, let us learn to appreciate our missionary obligation and support the Church’s missionary activities by leading transparent Christian lives, by fervent prayers, and by generous donations.

October 19, 2025 WORLD MISSION SUNDAY– Is 60:1-6; Rom 10:9-18; Mt 28:16-20

Homily starter anecdote: # 1: Isaiah’s divine call as a missionary prophet: Twenty-seven hundred years ago, a young man, Isaiah, was praying in the temple of Jerusalem. As he was immersed in deep prayer, he saw the Glory of God. Immediately, he became aware of his sinfulness and said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” At that moment, a seraph flew to him, holding an ember, and touched the mouth of Isaiah and said, “Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and Who will go for Us?” Immediately, Isaiah responded, “Here I am! Send me.” At that moment, Isaiah became a messenger of the Lord and a prophet to the people of Israel. He preached the word of God for many years among his people. In vivid language, this prophet Isaiah presented the Good News of the coming of the Messiah, the One who would suffer and die for the forgiveness of our sins. Later, in the fullness of time, Jesus, the Messiah and Savior, was born in Bethlehem. He was a messenger of the Good News of our Heavenly Father’s love for everyone. After his death and resurrection for our salvation, when it was time for Jesus to ascend to heaven, he gathered his disciples around him and said, “Be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. Teach them what I have taught you. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And I will be with you till the end of the age” (Mt 28: 19 -20). The Church, founded on the rock of Peter, has always been faithful in continuing the ministry of Jesus. The Church has always relied on its members to fulfill the mission given by Jesus. Today, the Lord is asking the same question he once asked young Isaiah, “Whom shall I send, and Who will go for Us?” Yes, the Lord needs each of us as a messenger to spread His word more than ever. He needs witnesses to go to the ends of the earth. As we celebrate World Mission Sunday today, let us promise the Lord will be His messengers and witnesses, starting  from where we are.

2) “I have no other plan.” S.D. Gordon has a beautiful story about the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. When the grand welcome ceremony was over, the Archangel Gabriel approached Jesus with a question. He said, “I know that only a very few in Palestine are aware of the great work of human salvation You have accomplished through Your suffering, death and Resurrection. But the whole world needs to know and appreciate what You have done and become Your disciples, acknowledging You as their Lord and Savior. What is Your plan of action?”  Jesus answered, “I have told all My Apostles to tell other people about Me and preach My Message through their lives. That’s all.” “Suppose they don’t do that?” Gabriel asked. “What’s your Plan B?” Jesus replied, “I have no other plan; I am counting on them.” On this World Mission Sunday, the Church reminds us that Jesus is counting on each one of us to make Him known loved and accepted by others around us.

# 3: “We Wanted to be like them” A striking story tells about one remote area in western Sudan. Expatriate missionaries, especially priests, Brothers and Sisters, had labored there for many years with few visible results. Then expatriate lay missionaries — married and single — came to that area and soon many Sudanese people become Catholics. A Sudanese elder explained: “When we saw the priests and Sisters living separately and alone, we didn’t want to be like them. But when we saw Catholic families — men, women and children — living happily together, we wanted to be like them.” — In our family-oriented African society, married missionary couples with children have a powerful and unique witness and credibility. (Fr. Joseph G. Healey, M.M., a Maryknoll missionary)

# 4:  “Go and invite people to Church.” The Evangelism of Roy Fish hits the nail on the head when he emphasizes the difference between “come and hear” and “go and tell” ministries. “People often say, ‘Come and hear the Gospel taught in our church’ or ‘Come and hear our evangelist preach the gospel.’ This ‘come and hear’ kind of religion constitutes a reversal of the Great Commission of Jesus. His instructions to His church were not to invite people to ‘come and hear,’ but for believers to ‘go and tell.’ The main responsibility is not to bring the lost to the Gospel, but to take the Gospel to the lost. Jesus wants us to go and witness, but we have interpreted it to mean, ‘Go and invite people to church.'” (Roy Fish, “Missing Thrust in Today’s Evangelism,” in Evangelism Today & Tomorrow [Nashville: Broadman Press, 1993], 43.)

Introduction: Over one billion Catholics all over the world observe today as the 98^th   World Mission Sunday. Pope Pius XI instituted this annual observance in 1926  by Papal decree. Every year since then, the universal Church has dedicated the month of October to reflection on, and prayer for, the missions. On World Mission Sunday, Catholics gather to celebrate the Eucharist and to contribute to a collection for the work of evangelization around the world. Of the 3000 dioceses in the world, about 1000 are missionary dioceses—they need assistance from more established dioceses to build catechetical programs, seminaries, Religious Communities, Chapels, Churches, orphanages, hospitals, and schools.  This annual celebration gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of mission work for the life of the Church. It reminds us that we are one with the Church around the world and that we are all committed to carrying on the mission of Christ, however different our situations may be. The greatest missionary challenge that we face at home is a secular, materialistic, consumerist culture in which God is either absent or unimportant, Truth and moral values are relative, and institutional religions are deemed unnecessary.

Mission Sunday messages of recent Popes: It is because of the modern challenges to evangelization that, in his World Mission Sunday Message, for 2003, Pope St. John Paul II  called on the Church to become “more contemplative, holy, and missionary-oriented, grounding its work on fervent prayer.” Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2006 message, stressed the importance of Christian charity in action as the keynote of evangelization.   “All the Churches for all the World” was his  theme for World Mission Sunday, 2007. Pope Benedict encouraged the sending of missionaries from Church communities which have a large number of vocations to serve those communities of the West which experience a shortage of vocations.  In 2008, the “Pauline” year, Benedict encouraged everyone “to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel,” following the example, and imbibing the missionary zeal, of St. Paul, the greatest missionary of all times.  In 2009, the Pope declared that the “the goal of the Church’s mission was to illumine all peoples with the light of the Gospel as they journey through history towards God.” He asked all Christians to redouble their commitment to participate in the missionary activity that is an essential component of the life of the Church. Pope Francis, in his first World Mission Sunday message (2013), challenged us to proclaim courageously and in every situation the Gospel of Christ, a message of hope, reconciliation, and communion, a proclamation of God’s closeness, His mercy, and His salvation.   This proclamation would make it clear that the power of God’s love is able to overcome the darkness of evil and guide us on the path of goodness. In the light of the conclusion of this Year of Faith, the Pope offered his thoughts about Faith: the necessity of sharing it, some roadblocks missionary efforts can encounter, and the importance of generously responding to the missionary call of the Holy Spirit. In his 2014 Mission Sunday message, Pope Francis challenged the Church to become a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples and the source of rebirth for our world through the intercession of Mary, the model of humble and joyful evangelization. In his 2015 message Pope Francis declared “The Church’s mission is faced by the challenge of meeting the needs of all people to return to their roots and to protect the values of their respective cultures. This means knowing and respecting other traditions and philosophical systems, and realizing that all peoples and cultures have the right to be helped from within their own traditions to enter into the mystery of God’s wisdom and to accept the Gospel of Jesus, who is light and transforming strength for all cultures.”  “The Church is on a mission in the world,” Pope Francis said in his 2019 World Mission Day message, Baptized and Sent. “This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission.” Hence, the Holy Father was calling on all Catholics and the Church to revive missionary awareness and commitment. In his 2020 message, Holy Father asked us to discharge our mission duty by volunteering with prophet Isaiah “Here am I; send me” (6:8), to help alleviate the suffering of Covid-19-stricken brothers and sisters. Pope Francis’ message for 2021 reflects on the theme: “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts of the Apostles 4:20). His theme for 2022 was “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) focusing on three elements of the life of a mission disciple: i) The call of every Christian to bear witness to Christ.(You shall be my witnesses”); ii) The perennial relevance of a mission of universal evangelization (“to the ends of the earth”); and (iii)  Let us always be strengthened and guided by the Spirit (“You will receive power” from the Holy Spirit). Pope Francis’ theme for 2024 World mission Sunday is rooted in the Gospel of Matthew: “Go and invite everyone to the Banquet.” Here, Francis reflects on God’s inclusive and urgent call to bring His love to everyone. Let us each take our part in this universal mission to spread the Gospel and, so,   to invite all to experience the joy of Christ’s message! Pope Leo XIV’s message for the 2025 World Mission Sunday emphasizes the theme “Missionaries of Hope Among all Peoples,” encouraging Christians to be messengers and builders of hope in the Jubilee Year 2025. He asks the faithful to burn with holy zeal for a new era of evangelization, bringing hope to a world overshadowed by dark shadows, and to be a community of hope by letting the Spirit guide their actions.

The missionary Church: The Church, according to Vatican Council II, is “missionary” in her very nature because her founder, Jesus Christ, was the first missionary.   God the Father sent God the Son into the world incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, His Christ, with a message.   This message, called the Gospel or the Good News, is explicitly stated in Jn 3:16: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die, but have eternal life.”  John further clarifies Jesus’ message in his epistle: “God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”(I Jn 4:9).  St. Paul writes to Timothy about the Church’s mission: “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth.” (I Tm 2:4). Thus, the evangelizing mission of the Church is essentially the announcement of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, as these are revealed to mankind through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Gospels show us how Jesus demonstrated this all-embracing and unconditional love of God by his life, suffering, death, and Resurrection.

Counter-witnessing affects Mission Sunday message: Revelations of recent and past sex abuse cases and the culpable failure of the hierarchy to prevent them, prompting some Catholics to leave the Church, put non-Catholics and non-Christians in a dilemma; some of them postponed or even abandoned their plan to join the Catholic Church. They naturally expected the Church ministers to be holy or at least honorable, and they were disillusioned by the counter-witnessing caused by the sex abuse crisis. They wanted the Church authorities to take drastic and effective steps to restore the Church to its true dignity, loving the Church as Christ does. The observance of Mission Sunday is the appropriate time to reorder the Church to meet the demands and expectations of the true apostolic nature and Divine vocation, given to her by Christ. The holy living of faithful Christians and their anointed ministers, with their fervent prayer, is the only solution to tide us over the present crisis.

Why should we preach? Jesus, the first missionary, made a permanent arrangement for inviting all men throughout the ages to share God’s love and salvation:  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19).  This is why the Council Fathers of the Second Vatican Council declared that the Church of Christ “is missionary in its origin and nature.”  Hence, it follows that the mission of the Church is the mission of every member of the Church, and is not reserved for the priests, the religious, and the active missionaries alone.    Thus, every Christian is a missionary with a message to share — the message of God’s love, liberation, and eternal salvation.

How are we to accomplish this goal?   The most powerful means of fulfilling this goal is by living a truly   Christian life — a life filled with love, mercy, kindness, compassion, prayer — and having a forgiving spirit.   Mr. Gandhi used to say: “My life is my message.”  He often challenged the Christian missionaries to observe the “apostolate of the rose.”   A rose doesn’t preach. It simply radiates its fragrance and attracts everyone to it by its irresistible beauty.   Hence, the most important thing is not the Gospel we preach, but the life we live.  This is how the early Christians evangelized.   Their Gentile neighbors used to say: “See how these Christians love one another!”   The Christ they recognized and accepted was the Christ who lived in each Christian – and that continues true today!

Prayer is the second means of missionary work.  Jesus said: “Without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15: 5). Therefore, prayer is necessary for anyone who wishes to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and for everyone who preaches the Good News in his life.   In his message for World Mission Sunday, 2004, Pope St. John Paul II stressed the fact that the Holy Spirit would help us to become witnesses of Christ only in an atmosphere of prayer.  Since missionaries are weak human beings, and since witnessing to Christ through life is not easy, we need to support them by our prayers always. In his message for 2007, Pope Benedict reminds us, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”, the Lord said; “pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Lk 10: 2).

All missionary efforts also require financial support because the love of God can often be explained to the poor only by providing them with food and a means of livelihood.  The sick can experience the healing power of Jesus only through the dedicated service of doctors, nurses, and health care workers.   Building, maintaining, and staffing schools, hospitals, and nursing homes require serious funding.  The use of expensive modern media of communication is often necessary to bring Christ’s message of love and liberation more effectively to non-Christians in the modern world.

Hence, on this Mission Sunday, let us learn to appreciate our missionary obligation and support the Church’s missionary activities by leading transparent Christian lives, by fervent prayers, and by generous donations. Pope Benedict XVI concluded his 2006 Mission Sunday message thus: “May the Virgin Mary, who collaborated actively in the beginning of the Church’s mission with her presence beneath the Cross and her prayers in the Upper Room, sustain their action and help believers in Christ to be ever more capable of true love, so that they become sources of living water in a spiritually thirsting world.”

JOKES OF THE DAY

# 1: Spread the word! 97% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola.72% of the world has seen a can of Coca-Cola.
51% of the world has tasted a can of Coca-Col.
Coke has only been around 123 years ( by 2022).
— If God had given the task of world evangelization to the Coke company it would probably be done by now!

# 2:  Did Jesus Christ Ever Kill a Lion? A story is told about a missionary who went to a remote area in Northern Tanzania to proclaim the Gospel among the Maasai tribes who were warriors.  One day he was explaining to a group of adults the saving activity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He told them    how Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of all humankind. When he finished, a Maasai elder slowly stood up and said to the missionary: “You have spoken well, but I want to learn more about this great person Jesus Christ. Now I have three questions about Jesus. First, did he ever kill a lion? Second, how many cows did he have? Third, how many wives and children did he have?”

# 3: Rescue mission to Egypt: Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday school. “Well, Mom,” he reported, “our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he ordered his engineers to build a pontoon bridge, and all the people walked across safely. He used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters to call in an air strike. They sent in bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.”  “Now, Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked. “Well, no, Mom,” Joey admitted, “but if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!”

#4: Religion is a good thing, as long as it comes in small doses. A family lived off the alley behind my first church. There were three floors to their row house, each floor inhabited by a different generation. The grandparents, who were members of the church, lived on the ground floor. Next floor up was their son and daughter-in-law, and the grandchildren’s bedrooms were at the top. One day, the grandfather beckoned me to the back fence. “I’m worried about my grandson,” he said. “What’s the problem?” I asked. He said, “When he gets up in the morning, he reads the Bible before he does anything else. Every time he sits at the kitchen table, he insists on saying grace. Now he’s talking about joining a prayer group with his girlfriend.” “Walter,” I said, “what’s the problem?” “Don’t get me wrong, Reverend,” he said. “Religion is a good thing, as long as it’s in small doses. I’m worried my grandson is becoming an extremist.” — I admit it was hard to sympathize with my neighbor. So far, no member of my family has been lost to such radical behavior. Neither has a child of mine wandered off to the Temple for three days. But it’s important to remember that religious commitments can divide a family. [William G. Carter, Praying for a Whole New World, CSS Publishing Company.]

# 5: And hell broke loose:   Mark Twain used to tell a joke that he put a dog and a cat in a cage together as an experiment, to see if they could get along. They did. So, he put in a bird, pig and goat. They, too, got along fine after a few adjustments. Then he put in a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and a Catholic, and hell broke loose.

Video homily by archbishop Nolan: https://youtu.be/VPPnGRFOPs4v

7- Additional anecdotes:

1) “You’re not a white man; you’re Jesus.”  A touching story is told of a British missionary priest who lived   in a remote part of Tanzania.  He lived alone, a single white man among his African flock, speaking their language.  One day a British government official arrived on a tour of the area. The Tanzanian children ran out to welcome the visitor. They entertained the official by clapping, singing and dancing.  After the official left, the children excitedly told the missionary priest, “We saw a white man! We saw a white man!”   Some of the children said that the visitor was the first foreigner they had ever seen. The priest was amazed and exclaimed, “But I’m a white man. I’m a foreigner. But I’ve been living here with you all these years.”   One of the children said, “You’re not a white man; you’re Jesus, you are our Father.”  — Mission Sunday reminds us that transparent Christian life, as lived by this missionary, radiating the real presence of Jesus within, is the mission of every Christian. (Joseph G. Healey, M.M).

2)  “Athanasius Evangelized Me With a Cup of Tea“ : One day Bishop Christopher Mwoleka came to our house in Nyabihanga Village in Rulenge, Tanzania on an unexpected visit. My good friend Athanasius and I hurriedly prepared tea for the villagers who came to greet the bishop. We started with two full thermoses, but then several other visitors came and soon we had finished all the tea. I wondered what I would do if another person came. Just then one of our neighbors arrived to say hello. As I started to apologize for not having any more tea, Athanasius spontaneously picked up his own cup of tea and politely handed it to the visitor. — It was a simple gesture of sharing, but for me a profound act of love and beauty. By his example Athanasius had evangelized me. (Joseph G. Healey, M.M).

3) Americans give $700 million per year to mission agencies. However, they pay as much for pet food every 52 days. A person must overeat by at least $1.50 worth of food per month to maintain one excess pound of flesh. Yet $1.50 per month is more than what 90 percent of all Christians in America give to missions. If the average missions’ supporter is only five pounds overweight, it means he spends (to his own hurt) at least five times as much as he gives for missions. —  If he were to choose simple food  and chose a not to overeat, he could give ten times as much as he does to missions and not modify his standard of living in any other way!  [Ralph Winter of the William Carey Library, 1705 North Sierra Bonita Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91104, in Leadership, IV,4,p. 64. ]

 4) Mary Moffatt Livingstone:  Sometimes marriage to a great leader comes with a special price for his wife. Such was the case for Mary Moffatt Livingstone, wife of Dr. David Livingstone, perhaps the most celebrated missionary in the Western world. Mary was born in Africa; she was the daughter of Robert Moffatt, the missionary who inspired Livingstone to go to Africa. The Livingstones were married in Africa in 1845, but the years that followed were difficult for Mary. Finally, she and their six children returned to England so she could recuperate as Livingstone plunged deeper into the African interior. — Unfortunately, even in England Mary lived in near poverty. The hardships and long separations took their toll on Mrs. Livingstone, who died when she was just forty-two.
[Today in the Word, MBI, January 1990, p. 12.]

5) Good motto for the missionaries: One afternoon, author Patsy Clairmont found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man. She writes, “I had already observed something about this young man when I was being seated. He called me “Ma’am.” At the time I thought, ‘Either he thinks I’m ancient, or he’s from the South where they still teach manners, or he’s in the service.’ I decided the last was the most likely, so I asked, “You in the service?” “Yes, Ma’am, I am.” “What branch?” “Marines.” “Hey, Marine, where are you coming from?” “Operation Desert Storm, Ma’am.” “No kidding? Desert Storm! How long were you there?” I asked. “A year and a half. I’m on my way home. My family will be at the airport.” I then commented that he must have thought about returning to his family and home many times while he was in the Middle East. —  “Oh, no, Ma’am,” he replied. “We were taught never to think of what might never be, but to be fully available right where we were.” Focus on the Family, July, 1993, p. 5. (Quoted by Fr. Tony Kayala).

6) Surrendering the achievements in mathematics for the missions:  In his book Facing Loneliness, J. Oswald Sanders writes, “The round of pleasure or the amassing of wealth are but vain attempts to escape from the persistent ache…The millionaire is usually a lonely man and the comedian is often more unhappy than his audience.” Sanders goes on the emphasize that being successful often fails to produce satisfaction. Then he refers to Henry Martyn, a distinguished scholar, as an example of what he is talking about. Martyn, a Cambridge University student, was honored at only 20 years of age for his achievements in mathematics. In fact, he was given the highest recognition possible in that field. And yet he felt an emptiness inside. He said that instead of finding fulfillment in his achievements, he had “only grasped a shadow.” After evaluating his life’s goals, Martyn sailed to India as a missionary at the age of 24. When he arrived, he prayed, “Lord, let me burn out for You.” In the next 7 years that preceded his death, he translated the New Testament into three difficult Eastern languages. — These notable achievements were certainly not passing “shadows.” (Quoted by Fr. Tony Kayala).

7) “God Is Like a Large Baobab Tree” One day my pickup truck broke down on the road from Maswa to Bariadi in western Tanzania. After I had waited for a half-hour a big Coca-Cola truck came by and the driver named Musa kindly towed my vehicle to the next town — a common occurrence of friendship and mutual help on our poor dirt roads. Part of the time I sat in his big cab and we talked about, of all things, religion. Musa was a Muslim who belonged to the Nyamwezi Ethnic Group from Tabora. — In commenting on the tensions between Christians and Muslims in Tanzania he told me: “There is only one God. God is like one large tree with different branches that represent the different religions of Islam, Christianity, African Religion and so forth. These branches are part of the same family of God, so we should work together.” Simply put, Musa taught me an African metaphor of world religions and interreligious dialogue. (Fr. Healey).  L/24

  “Scriptural Homilies” (C-No. 58) by Fr. Tony: akadavil@gmail.com

Visit my website by clicking on https://frtonyshomilies.com/ for missed or previous Cycle C homilies, 141 Year of Faith “Adult Faith Formation Lessons” (useful for RCIA classes too) & 197 “Question of the Week.” Visit https://www.catholicsermons.com/homilies/sunday_homilies  under CBCI or  Fr. Tony for my website version. (Special thanks to Vatican Radio website– http://www.vaticannews.va/en/church.html -which completed uploading my Cycle A, B and C homilies in May 2020)  Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Fr. Anthony Kadavil, C/o Fr. Joseph  M. C. , St. Agatha Church, 1001 Hand Avenue, Bay Minette, Al 36507

Additional Mission Sunday message

Our Mission: Connecting with the disconnected by witnessing: “How can we connect with the disconnected?” asked Bishop Eric Pohlmeier during his homily at the Deanery Mass, celebrated in our church on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Recalling that the primary concern of pastors, parents, and other church leaders everywhere is how to connect with the disconnected, he said the many wonderful programs we have are not helping us to achieve this goal. “The programs are wonderful for those who are already connected,” he said, “but no program is going to help us connect with the disconnected.” Hence, Bishop Pohlmeier suggested following the model of Jesus. “It is a one-on-one approach rather than a program,” he said. “To connect with the disconnected, we have to look at what Jesus did. Jesus brought people close to him, and their lives were transformed.” Then he said, “You go out, and you tell what happened to you.” The bishop said the essential building block for connecting with the disconnected, especially those in the family, is sharing our personal story of Faith with others. He then asked us to consider the following questions: 1. What difference has Jesus made in your life? 2. If you have children, do your children know the answer to the first question? Acknowledging that we Catholics are not usually ready with an answer to the first question, he encouraged us to reflect on this question seriously. He then asked the parents to share their answer to the first question with their non-practicing grown-up children before they ask them to go to Church. “Sharing faith is not a matter of telling others what they should do,” Bishop Pohlmeier said. “Sharing faith is about speaking of God at work in our own life… To really share Faith with somebody means I have to be versatile enough to adapt it to the situation. This takes some real reflecting to see how God has pervaded my life and how God wants me to build bridges with other people.” Saying that we all face many serious challenges in life, he asked us to see this as a common ground and share with others how we have learned to navigate life’s difficulties because of Jesus. “They may have biases of their own. But our common ground is that they are looking for what matters in life,” he said. “Everyone is pursuing what they believe will give meaning to their life, what will bring them joy; that is part of our common humanity,” he said. “We have discovered something that really matters,” he said. “So, to speak about our faith in terms of a pearl of great price that we have discovered is very different from telling somebody else, ‘You should do this.’ So, we have to think about how valuable this life with Jesus is in our own story.” Cautioning that we should not be telling others what they shouldn’t do, he said we should speak about the value of what we have found and invite them to look for a different way that offers them a richness deep in their heart they desire. ”We must be sharing and witnessing this richness,”  he added. “You are the building block we depend on – your life and your story have a lot to offer,” he said. “So, I ask you to reflect, to consider more deeply in such a way that we can share with others the story of God at work in us.”

As Bishop Pohlmeier reminded us, sharing our story of Faith with others is very important in getting them reconnected with the Church. Hence, let us often reflect on our story of faith and thus become aware of how God is at work in our lives, helping us navigate the many difficulties in life. Our constant awareness of how God is at work in our lives will enable us to share our story of Faith with others, especially with our family members, helping them reconnect with Jesus and his Church. Many thanks, many thanks to all the priests, deacons, and lay faithful who attended the Deanery Mass from the different parishes of the deanery. My sincere gratitude also to our Parochial Vicar Fr. Rob Trujillo, parish staff, choir, greeters, ushers, reception team in the parish hall, and all volunteers who work. (Fr. Jose P. CMI).