There is no doubt that in the minds of many missionaries, pastors, and lay people alike that the special mission Sunday appears like a privilege that is granted to the missionary bishops or to the missionary order. The way in which the Church looks at these visits of the missionary is quite different. According to the council documents, the visit is as much a service to the faithful as it is a favor to the missionary.

This almost paradoxical statement derives from several pronouncements contained in the "Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church. " Here are just two quotes:

"In his own diocese, with which he constitutes one unit, the bishop stimulating, promoting and directing the work for the missions, makes the mission spirit and zeal of the People of God present and as it were visible, so that the whole diocese becomes missionary" (No. 38).

"In their pastoral activities, priests should stir up and preserve amid the faithful a zeal for the evangelization of the world by instructing them in sermons and in Christian doctrine courses about the Church's task of announcing Christ to all nations; by enlightening Christian families about the necessity and the honor of fostering missionary vocations among their own sons and daughters; by promoting mission fervor in young people from the schools and Catholic associations so that among them there may arise future heralds of the Gospel. Let priests teach the faithful to pray for the missions and let them not be ashamed to ask alms of them for this purpose, becoming like beggars for Christ and for the salvation of souls." (No. 39)

the duty of promoting mission awareness of God's People lies mainly on the bishops and pastors. The missionary men and women then come in to aid the bishops and pastors. As professional people, who usually themselves have worked in the foreign missions, the missionaries are better qualified to give a living witness of what the missionary activity of the Church is achieving.

The council has encouraged this contact between the faithful and the individual missionary. One might apply to the visit of the missionary to a parish the words of St. John, "There were several things I had to tell you but I would rather not trust them to pen and ink. I hope to see you soon and to talk to you personally." (3 John 13)

Receiving And Giving

It is because of this principle that missionary orders of men and women consider mission promotion as one of their specific activities. They have received from God through the Church the task of preaching the Gospel and planting the Church and the task of keeping missionary awareness alive within the sending churches.

Mission appeals allow the missionary to dovetail into their Church of origin by exercising their specific function in the Church as a promoter of the People of God, thus completing his or her other function of preacher of the message in the name of the same Christian community. It is not merely a matter of speaking about the missions but of fulfilling the mandate they have received from the Church.

The thousands of people the missionary meets every Sunday as they visit the various parishes for mission appeals, do not realize that those encounters are really an exchange. They give and receive.

People give prayer, interest, financial help. They receive a deeper appreciation for the many good things they possess.

The missionary gives and receives, too. They receive encouragement, that counts as much as the financial help. They give a vision of a truly Catholic Church which goes beyond the boundaries of the parish and the diocese.

Besides having impact on the faithful, the human contact established during mission appeals is a valid stimulant for the missionaries   themselves to live their vocation to the fullest.

The very way in which the parish visitations are described (Mission Appeals) seems to justify the general idea that missionaries go for the famous second collection. So much so that a few individual pastors bluntly tell the missionary; "You do not need to come. We'll take care of the collection. . . ."

There is more to a mission appeal than taking up a collection. Were it not for that something more, the missionaries would not take it upon themselves to roam the country visiting hundreds of parishes each year, making mission appeals for missionary bishops with whom they have no connection. The parish visitations are looked at as a privileged occasion to create love for the missions.

The missionary is happy to do it no matter what. What keeps him going is the desire to share with the people back home, the wonderful experience he has had of God's work in lands where the message of Gospels is anxiously awaited to be heard.

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