Dear friends in the mission,
Like every year, this Sunday we will celebrate World Mission Day, Mission Sunday. The theme, "You will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8), was chosen by the Holy Father with the urgency of today's times, so that in the spirit of these words we may live the missionary dimension in our own local church, in our surroundings, but also with the universal Church.
This year, this day is an opportunity for us to commemorate several significant anniversaries. It is the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, today called the Dicastery for Evangelization, and the 200th anniversary of the Pontifical Society of the Propagation of the Faith, which, together with the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood and the Pontifical Society of the St. Peter the Apostle was recognized as a "Pontifical" Society a hundred years ago.
The Holy Spirit can inspire anyone, even ordinary people, to an extraordinary mission. This was also the case with Blessed Pauline Jaricot, who founded the Society for the Propagation of the Faith exactly 200 years ago. We celebrated her beatification this May in Lyon, France. Despite her poor health, she answered God's call by creating a network of prayer and fundraising so that believers could actively participate in the mission "to the ends of the earth". World Mission Day was born from this brilliant idea. We celebrate it every year, and the collection from each community is destined to a general solidarity fund of the Society, with which missionary activities are funded on behalf of the Holy Father.
I sincerely thank you for the prayers and all the support of the Pontifical missions. This year, we helped poor people in Zambia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea with the amount of almost 17 million crowns from the fund of the Pontifical Mission Society of the Propagation of the Faith in the Czech Republic. In these countries, we support catechists, local Christian radio stations, the construction and repair of churches, religious houses and chapels. We help people improve their living conditions, get educated and get to know God more. We lend a helping hand to all those in need.
Pope Francis, as he revealed about himself in the Message for this year's Mission Sunday, has a big dream. A dream of a missionary church and a new period of missionary activity of Christian communities according to Moses' plea for God's people: "May the Lord make prophets out of the whole nation" (Num 11:29)!
Let's help make his dream a reality and let's all be what we already are thanks to our baptism: the Lord's prophets, witnesses, missionaries! Let us bear testimony in the power of the Holy Spirit to the ends of the earth.
Thank you for your efforts to be missionaries in your neighborhoods and for your generosity in the missionary collection. May God bless you and your loved ones.
Deacon Leoš Halbrštát, National Director, Pontifical Mission Societies in the Czech Republic
