Missionary Cooperation Plan
We will hold the Missionary Cooperation Plan collection on the weekend of August 7-8. Missionaries are not able to be with us due to the global pandemic. Instead, we are learning about the 104 mission causes that will benefit from the collection virtually. Here is information about just three of these groups:
Congregation of the Holy Spirit
The members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit go to those who haven’t heard the message of the Gospel and whose needs are greatest. Spiritan Fr. Donald McEachin ministers at a parish in San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic. To address rampant unemployment, Fr. Don established a job training school. St. Michael the Archangel Technical Professional School offers courses in computer data processing, word processing, sewing, beauty salon training and baking. It is now one of the top three professional training schools in the Dominican Republic, and the only one that does not charge tuition.
Foundation for Children in Need
The Foundation for Children in Need is a Catholic lay organization based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Dr. Geetha Yeruva and Mr. Tom Chitta established it to work in the interior villages of Southern India. The foundation has built several schools, boarding homes, a community health center and a home for the elderly. They provide free medical check-ups and medicine to thousands of people. At the heart of the foundation’s mission is education. Providing an education to an individual changes the trajectory of a person’s life, as do the health education classes that Dr. Geetha conducts for teenage girls.
Sisters of St. Francis
The Sisters of St. Francis, with their Motherhouse in Tiffin, Ohio work to spread the Gospel and strengthen the Catholic faith through ministries of evangelization, pastoral care, education, prison ministry, emergency services and health care. In their Cuernavaca, Mexico mission, poverty is widespread. It is common to see children as young as five years old selling gum or trinkets so they can have food for the day. Not long ago, one sister visited a home where the baby was sleeping in a cardboard box. She asked why their beds were gone; the family said they needed to sell the beds so they could buy food. The Sisters provide various forms of assistance to families in need. It could be anything from a meal to a pair of shoes to a small interest-free loan. They also offer children the opportunity to receive educational support and mentoring.
Please pray for these and more mission causes sharing the Bread of Life with communities around the world. The local churches cannot support these ministries by themselves. So, if you are able, please place cash or a check, made out to our parish, in the second collection basket during Mass the weekend of August 7-8. Or you may give online, using a credit card at www.WeAreMissionary.org/give. Each donation will be distributed evenly to all 104 participating mission causes.