Next week we will have the annual Mission Appeal collection. This year's guest will come from the Glenmary Missioners, a group of priests, brothers, and lay workers, founded in the USA in 1939 by Father William Howard Bishop, to work in areas of the country where Catholics are a minority. This area covers Appalachia and the South. In the region served by Glenmary there are 1.5 million people but only 11,000 Catholics.  Glenmary Missioners serve those Catholics and reach out to the unchurched people of that area. This is also one of the poorest parts of the country.

When we think of missions, we usually think of faraway places with strange-sounding names. But we have mission territory nearer than that. Catholics in these areas historically have suffered from prejudice and persecution. Providing the sacraments and Catholic teaching to them requires a special kind of missionary. Financially, this work depends on the generosity of Catholics in the more prosperous parts of the nation.  Glenmary is assisted by the Catholic Extension Society and the recently established national collection for home missions, as well as the Mission Cooperative appeal. Glenmary Magazine chronicles the exciting and difficult work of these missioners.

The Mission Cooperative annual appeal enables missionary groups to seek support from parishes throughout the diocese. The appeal is coordinated through the diocesan office for the Propagation of the Faith. Each parish is given one group each year, so that the all groups can have an opportunity to present their needs and parishes are not overburdened with requests. Traditionally, the funds have been pooled, so that all the groups share, whether their speakers come to small or large parishes.

Anyone with a mailbox knows the number of appeals which come daily from various charitable causes. The parish is not an exception. The Mission Cooperative appeal is a fair way for parishes not to be inundated by requests, while shouldering a reasonable part of the burden.

The document on missions of the Second Vatican Council states that the Church is by its nature missionary. The Good News of Jesus Christ is given to us not to keep but to share.  Until the whole world knows and loves Jesus and follows his Way, our task is unfinished. Our support of missionaries at home and abroad enables us to fulfill our vocation as a missionary people.

It seems that every year we also have emergency requests due to natural disasters, such as earthquakes and floods. St. Joseph Parish has always been very generous in responding to these various causes, along with the regularly scheduled special national or diocesan collections that occur at least monthly. This generosity is especially praiseworthy in these hard economic times. Thank you in advance for welcoming our Glenmary speaker, Father Francois Pellisier.