The World Mission Day 2022 will be celebrated on Sunday, 23 October. In his message, Pope Francis urges all Christians to proclaim Christ's message of salvation in every aspect of our daily lives.
The celebration focuses on the theme: “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
The Pope reflected on three foundations of “the life and mission of every disciple”. The first, foundation of mission is “the call of every Christian to bear witness to Christ,” calling it the “heart of Jesus' teaching to the disciples.”
Editorial of Rev. Fr Isaac Ebo-Blay, in the issue: Our Mission: Our Witness.
Dear Brothers and Sisters
On the 22nd May 2022, I had the privileged of attending th e beatification of Pauline-Marie Jaricot in Lyon, France, which coincided with the annual General Assembly of the National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies. 120 directors gather each year for the General Assembly, usually in Rome, but this year the assembly was held in Lyon, to coincide with the beatification of our founder, Pauline-Marie Jaricot.
It was indeed a spirit filled occasion where we were able to walk in the footsteps of Pauline Jaricot; visit the churches where she worshipped and gave her life to the Lord; and experience some of the rich spiritual history of the church in Lyon.
Pauline was just 23 years old when her idea to engage all the baptised to pray for the mission of the church and to make a small monetary contribution, from their charity, to support the church in poorer countries, brought about a transformation in the life of the church. Her simple but passionate acts of charity in a small town in France blossomed into one of the most impactful missionary organizations in our world today, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies.
At the beginning of the General Assembly, Fr Tadeusz Nowak, the Secretary General of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith unveiled a new Icon of Pauline Jaricot, which was presented to the Pontifical Mission Societies by the PMS National Office in France.
We will take time to reflect on the highlights of the message offered by Pope Francis for World Mission Sunday 2022.
In this issue of Our Mission, Our Witness, we will have an opportunity to reflect on the life of Pauline Jaricot beginning with the message that Pope Francis wrote to the National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies who were gathered in Lyon for their annual assembly.
“Her simple but passionate acts of charity in a small town in France blossomed into one of the most impactful missionary organizations in our world today”
We will also take a look at the beatification ceremony, and share some of the insights of Cardinal Tagle, the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who presided at the Mass, and Archbishop Olivier de Germay, the metropolitan Archbishop of Lyon, who welcomed the beatification of Pauline Jaricot wholeheartedly.
We will conclude with a call for prayer for mission.
Yours in Mission,
Rev. Fr Isaac Ebo-Blay, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Ghana
