"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
The Mission Office is charged with the responsibility of assisting parishes in giving parishioners an opportunity to deepen the connection with Catholic communities worldwide and to strengthen their participation in missionary activity, as is a part of our baptismal call.
This is done by coordinating the Mission Cooperative Appeal Program (MCP) and promoting World Mission Sunday with the support of The Pontifical Mission Society and The Propagation of The Faith.
It is a means to encourage prayer and financial help for the mission churches and for the support and education of the seminarians and catechists in developing countries.
Our office is also able to assist missionaries and other priests by sending extra Mass stipends which are made available to us by parishes of our diocese.
Request for Inclusion into the Mission Co-operative Appeals program: Please see below.
MISSION COOPERATIVE APPEAL PROGRAM (MCP)
The MCP was established, in this country, in 1930 as a means to help fledgling dioceses in developing countries to support pastors, parishes and evangelization. Every year over 200 letters of request come into this office, of which only 30 or so are chosen. It is difficult to turn any of these groups down as their needs are great.
The Diocese of Lansing participates annually in the Missionary Cooperative Program (MCP), inviting every parish to host a guest speaker from a missionary parish, religious order or lay missionary organization, during the summer months.
Through the MCA, donations directly assist missionaries in their efforts to evangelize, form holy vocations, build congregations, and propagate the faith in various countries around the world.
The Diocesan Mission Office selects mission groups who live and evangelize all over the world to come and speak to our faithful in order that each and every one of the Christian faithful may be fully acquainted with the present condition of the Church in the world, and may hear the voice of the multitudes who cry "Help us!" (cf. Acts 16:9).
It is our sincere hope that the faithful may feel this mission work to be their very own and may open their hearts to such vast and profound human needs and may come to their assistance.
Pope Francis calls us all to support the work of his missions around the world. You can extend a message of hope to so many in great need. You can answer the call of Pope Francis made during his visit to Africa, after visiting the poorest of the poor: "We must stretch out our hands, as Jesus does with us"
In the midst of our struggles, we find hope in the message of Jesus’ Resurrection. Will you support local priests, Sisters and lay catechists who help the poor of the Missions experience that same hope and joy! Your gifts and your prayers will be a blessing to families who benefit from this loving outreach in mission countries.
Requests for inclusion into the Mission Cooperative Appeal
Requests for the Season will be accepted until December 1 each year. Please mail all requests to the address below. The information must be on formal letterhead and include the items below. A new letter must be sent each year that you are requesting inclusion.
- Name of Diocese, Order or Mission Organization
- Name, email address and information of contact person and superior
- Permission from your Superior to be the authorized contact for your mission entity and ability to accept bank wire transfers for overseas transactions. NO funds will be mailed overseas.
- Description of any and all purposes of the appeal (catechetical programs, theological formation, disaster aid, building construction, orphans, etc.)
- How many appeals that speakers are available to do during the MCP season (June 1-Sept 15) – choose 1-4
- Where the speaker(s) will be traveling from
- If you have any speakers that are fluent in Spanish or Vietnamese. It is assumed that your speakers can communicate clearly in English and have prior experience doing appeals.
- Website address if applicable.
Mail to:
Diocese of Lansing, Mission Office
228 North Walnut Street
Lansing, Michigan 48933-1577
WORLD MISSION SUNDAY
ONE SUNDAY FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
In 1926 Pope Pius XI instituted Mission Sunday for the whole Church with the first worldwide Mission Sunday collection taking place in October 1927. The Mission Sunday collection is always taken on the next to last Sunday during the month of October. That day is celebrated in all the local Churches as the feast of catholicity and universal solidarity so Christians the world over will recognize their common responsibility with regard to the evangelization of the world.
World Mission Sunday, our annual worldwide Eucharistic celebration for the Missions and missionaries of the world, will be celebrated on October 18 this year. This collection on the next-to-last Sunday in October is a unique, global effort for the entire Church to provide for the building up of over one thousand local churches in Asia and Africa, the Pacific Islands, and parts of Latin America and Europe. Through the work of these churches, and their witness to Christ, the poor receive practical help and experience God's love and mercy, His hope and peace.
The celebration of World Mission Day is also an occasion for reaffirming how prayer, reflection and the material help of your offerings are so many opportunities to participate actively in the mission of Jesus in his Church. The charity expressed in the collections that take place during the liturgical celebrations of the third Sunday of October is aimed at supporting the missionary work carried out in my name by the Pontifical Mission Societies, in order to meet the spiritual and material needs of peoples and Churches throughout the world, for the salvation of all.
This invitation from God’s merciful heart challenges both the Church and humanity as a whole in the current world crisis. “Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat… are all of us. Just like those disciples, who spoke anxiously with one voice, saying ‘We are perishing’ (v. 38), so we too have realized that we cannot go on thinking of ourselves, but only together can we do this” (Meditation in Saint Peter’s Square, 27 March 2020). We are indeed frightened, disoriented, and afraid. Pain and death make us experience our human frailty, but at the same time remind us of our deep desire for life and liberation from evil. In this context, the call to mission, the invitation to step out of ourselves for love of God and neighbour presents itself as an opportunity for sharing, service and intercessory prayer. The mission that God entrusts to each one of us leads us from fear and introspection to a renewed realization that we find ourselves precisely when we give ourselves to others.
Rome, Saint John Lateran, 31 May 2020, Solemnity of Pentecost Franciscus
“Since the whole Church is by its nature missionary and the work of evangelization must be held as a fundamental duty of the people of God, all the Christian faithful, conscious of their responsibility, are to assume their part in missionary work.” (Code of Canon Law, can.781)