Mission Sunday:
All baptized called to be missionaries

		Propagation  of the Faith  Msgr. Delbert  Schmelzer

The people are beside themselves with joy," says Bishop Francis Lodonu of the Diocese of Ho in Ghana.

Their joy stems from the completion of a church for a small mission parish in Tokokoe.

"There was no proper place to celebrate the Eucharist," Bishop Lodonu says. The people had spent several years struggling on their own to build a church. Finally, their dream was realized, and they celebrated with a Mass of "drumming, dancing, and general rejoicing."

Witness to faith

The Catholics here no longer had to worry about the rainy season, when storms would end Mass abruptly. But the new church meant even more than this.

"A church built in the village is a consolidation of their faith," Bishop Lodonu explains. "There is their faith, visible in concrete, so to speak, for all to see."

Catechists also are a visible presence of and a witness to the faith for the people of Tokokoe. In a diocese where there is one priest for every 3,900 Catholics, "the catechists," Bishop Lodonu says, "are the extended arms of the priest. They keep the faith alive in the community of believers; they are accepted and respected by both priest and the faithful."

Message of peace

Throughout the developing world, missionaries proclaim Jesus' message of peace and love to those who suffer with devastating poverty and the violence of war. In his catechesis for this year's celebration of World Mission Sunday on October 22, Pope Benedict XVI encourages us to reflect on the impact of God's love for each one of us:

"God's love, which gives life to the world, is the love that was given to us in Jesus, the Word of Salvation . . . It was after His Resurrection that Jesus gave the Apostles the mandate to proclaim the news of this love, and the Apostles, inwardly transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, began to bear witness to the Lord who had died and was risen.

"Ever since, the Church has continued this same mission, which is an indispensable and ongoing commitment for all believers. Every Christian community is therefore called to make known God Who is Love."

Reaching out to all

"What keeps me going is my knowledge that Jesus too underwent difficulties," notes Sister Arapan, a religious Sister in the Diocese of Berhampur in Eastern India, as she speaks about her work - and sometimes persecution - in a predominately Hindu area.

"What I face is nothing new," Sister Arapan continues. "Whatever comes my way, I will keep on doing this for Jesus. I am doing this for Jesus in my people - to show Jesus and His love to the poor."

Working in the villages, Sister Arapan and the other Sisters in her local religious community pray together and with the people, encouraging family prayer. "We listen to their joys and sorrows and help them in whatever way we can," she says.

While visiting the Catholics in Berhampur, Sister Arapan reaches out to all, regardless of their faith: "My work with the Hindu people and for them has proven to them the joy, love, and salvation of Jesus Christ. The people in the villages often request to speak to me about Jesus. Some who come for various vocational training programs go first to the church to pray. They tell us that when they come to be treated by us at our clinic, they witness the great love and care we give to them all in the name of Jesus."

Call to be missionaries

World Mission Sunday, celebrated each year on the next-to-last Sunday of October, commemorates the common call to all the baptized - the call to share our faith, to be missionaries, to make a Christ-filled difference in the world. World Mission Sunday takes place in every parish throughout the United States and in the world.

In Tamale in Ghana, Fr. Carolus Gambogi tells that the people in his parish of St. Theresa's have a special Mass on World Mission Sunday in which "we remember all our pioneer missionaries - those gallant men and women who left the shores of their comfortable homes to bring the Word of God to us. We recall their zeal, dedication, commitment, and sacrifice.

"We also recognize the work and contributions of missionaries throughout the world today. And this brings us to reflect on our own mission as Christians and the need for us to pray and make sacrifices for the success of mission work."

Father Gambogi and his flock truly have grasped the concept that the Church is universal. So is its mission. And so is World Mission Sunday.

On World Mission Sunday, we join Catholics of the world at the Eucharist in celebrating our common mission vocation. We offer prayers for the Church's missionary efforts in more than 1,150 dioceses throughout the developing world.

And too, we offer our financial help, through the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, to support all those who day after day bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all nations and peoples - to support those who "make known God Who is love."

Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer is director of the Propagation of the Faith for the Diocese of Madison. Contributions to the Propagation of the Faith may be made at the parish or may be sent to: P.O. Box 44983, Madison, WI 53744-4983.

Alphabet songs for seniors: Wit and wisdom

		Grand Mom  Audrey  Mettel Fixmer

Bob and I have been to so many doctor's appointments lately that I finally have figured out the chief cause of death for senior citizens: Doctoritis!

Leave it to my husband to come up with something that was difficult to diagnose but impossible to ignore. The shooting pains in his jaw that sent him into wild spasms every time he sat down to eat sure put a crimp on every dining experience, regardless of how much effort had gone into each meal.

Dentists, oral surgeons, internists, ear-nose-throat doctors, and a CAT scan over a period of three weeks turned up nothing. Finally a neurologist diagnosed a neuralgia and prescribed yet another pain killer. That makes 12 prescriptions he takes each day.

No wonder then, that when someone sent me this "New Alphabet" from "Whimsical and Wacky Wits" complete with clever illustrations on the Internet, I felt it was meant for me and for all of you out there who are over 55 (see poem at bottom left).

This wacky bit of humor is making the rounds among the e-mailers, but since many senior citizens don't indulge in e-mail I thought it appropriate to share this little gem with you. Actually, I am thinking about writing a Catholic version, kind of a Catholic Alphabet for Seniors. It will go something like this: (see poem at bottom right).

E-mailed alphabet song: A is for apple and B is for boat That used to be right but now it won't float. Age before beauty is what we once said, But let's be a bit more realistic instead. A's for arthritis, B's the bad back, C's the chest pains, perhaps cardiac? D's for dental decay and decline E is for eyesight, can't read that top line! F is for fissures and fluid retention G is for gas which I'd rather not mention. H is high blood pressure - I'd rather it low; I is for incisions with scars you can show, J is for joints, out of socket, won't mend, K is for knees that crack when they bend. L is for libido, what happened to sex? M is for memory, I forgot what comes next. N is for neuralgia, in nerves way down low; O is for osteo, the bones that don't grow! P is for prescriptions, I have quite a few, Just give me a pill and I'll be good as new! Q is for queasy, is it fatal or flu? R is for reflux, one meal turns to two. W is for worry, NOW what's going 'round X is for X ray and what might be found. Y is another year I'm left here behind. Z is for zest that I still have - in my mind. I've survived all the symptoms, my body's deployed, And I am keeping twenty-six doctors employed!

Grandmom's alphabet song: A's for Angels who come to my aid, B's for the Blessings I've already paid C is for Church where I go every day I'm "Cramming for finals" as they say D's for our Duty to serve God and man E is for Eucharist to help with this plan F is for Fridays; now we eat meat But that's what the doctors forbid us to eat! G is for Grace. Now aren't we just full? H is for Heaven, We're feeling the pull. I's for Indulgence. What happened to those? J is for Jesus. Only He knows. K is for Kids which we had in masses L is for Latin we learned in our classes. M is for Mary who gave us her Son, N's for No Wonder she had only one. O is for Old wives; I'm proud to be there P is for Penance; I've had my share. Q is for Quiet, more welcome each day. R is for Rest, "the best part," I would say. S is for Spirit who comes when I call. He gives me the words that I need most of all T's for Thanksgiving, my favorite prayer Remembering all I've been given to share. U is the Ultimate goals I have set V is for Victory. I'm not there yet. W's for the Wisdom I hope to achieve. A reasonable goal for all I believe X is for Extreme good luck that I've had Having ten great children and their wonderful Dad Y is the Youth I've survived at last, Z is for the Zany years of my past. And so in conclusion, this Alphabet Soup Shows my love for my Church, my favorite group. I'll just keep my fork, if you'll excuse me. 'Cause I know there's a dessert just waiting for me.

"Grandmom" likes hearing from other senior citizens who enjoy aging at P.O. Box 216, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538.

Culpable or not: Consequences of sin still harm

		A Culture  of Life  Fr. Eric Nielsen

It is sometimes said that, "everyone knows it's a sin for Catholics to contracept, except Catholics."

Over the years, because of a mistaken understanding of the freedom of the individual conscience, Catholics have gotten the impression that contraception will not hurt them as long as they think in their heart it is okay. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all, while other religions may now consider contraception morally neutral, that doesn't make it so, even for them. Contraception is not like meatless Fridays, but rather, the evil of contraception is part of the natural moral law that applies to all people at all times. Whenever we break a law of nature, we pay the consequences.

Evil is evil

Our ignorance of nature may reduce our moral culpability, but ignorance will not make the evil of anti-nature acts go away. For example, I may think using cocaine every Friday night is not a sin, and perhaps my ignorance truly absolves me of guilt, but my ignorance will not keep me from suffering the damages of drug abuse.

It is the same with contraception. It is not spiritually or physically healthy to artificially block one of the two natural ends of the marriage act, and doing so will always exact a price. The old saying, "God easily forgives, Mother Nature never does" is always true.

Misunderstood freedom

Furthermore, freedom of conscience is not the freedom to determine for one's self what the moral law is. It is God who determines the moral code, not us. Freedom of conscience means that a person is free to determine for oneself a right moral action in light of God's law.

As Catholics we are particularly blessed to have God's law given to us in a very clear and defined manner, thus giving us the freedom to know how best to act in most common circumstances of life. To depart from this would not exhibit a more mature ability to choose, but rather a desire to stubbornly remain in ignorance - to our own detriment.

Cannot excuse

Misunderstandings in this area often arise when Catholics go to confession asking a priest, not to forgive sin, but rather to excuse it. It goes like this, "Bless me Father for I have sinned. I am using the pill, but these are my reasons, please tell me it is okay."

A priest can never excuse sin, he can only absolve it. Not even the Pope can make an evil act "okay." If a priest does inform a penitent that it is okay to contracept, the penitent may indeed walk away using contraception in good conscience, but it will still harm his or her marriage and relationship with God.

Do not fear

While no one has the ability to make a contraceptive act good, priests do have the authority, under certain circumstances, to absolve a married person using contraception, but only with the understanding that they will work to stop what remains a destructive practice.

The particular reasons by which a priest may do this are clearly outlined in the Vatican's 1997 Vademecum for Confessors [available online] and include such things as a long habit based on faulty moral instruction or an uncooperative spouse.

The bottom line is that no one should fear confession because of the use of contraception. The priest is there as the representative of Christ to compassionately help move us from destructive habits of sin to what allows us to live with the joy and freedom of the children of God.

Fr. Eric Nielsen is pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians Parish, Sullivan, and St. Mary Parish, Palmyra. This column is syndicated by www.OneMoreSoul.com