World Mission Sunday
“[The king] said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.” – Matthew 22:8-10
Pope Francis has selected the theme: Go and invite everyone to the banquet for our celebration of World Mission Sunday. He reminds us of the parable of the wedding feast. This story informs and encourages all of us to go forth in mission tirelessly. He says, “The Church… will continue to go to the ends of the earth, to set out over and over again, without ever growing weary or losing heart in the face of difficulties and obstacles.”
Every baptized Christian is called to take part by offering our own witness to the Gospel in every context. We offer our prayers and activities, material offerings, and our very lives. On World Mission Sunday we pray and reflect on the mission of the Church and our own personal call to mission. We are also invited to support the Pontifical Mission Societies, which foster missionary cooperation on both the spiritual and material levels for the areas of our world most in need of the Good News of God’s love.
Thank you for your participation in the World Mission Sunday celebration. Please click the button below to make an online donation.
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About 75% of the collection supports over 1,100 mission dioceses through the Pontifical Mission Societies, particularly in the rapidly growing churches of Africa and Asia, as well as under resourced parts of Latin America and the Pacific Islands.
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9% of the collection supports the work of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, which works to alleviate poverty and affirm human dignity, build up the church and promote Christian unity and interreligious dialogue in the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe.
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Approximately 15% of the WMS supports the operations of the Global Mission Office, which is funded entirely through this collection and the summer Mission Co-op.
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The World Mission Sunday (WMS) Collection is held on the second-to-last weekend of October each year.
- The Global Mission Office will send to each parish:
- A letter from Cardinal Blase J. Cupich encouraging participation
- Copies of a poster to promote awareness of the collection
- Announcements and promotional materials for the bulletin
- Liturgical helps to foster missionary spirit during the weekend services
- A remittance card and return envelope for processing the collection.
- How to encourage participation:
- Share the Cardinal’s letter with your congregation, by putting it in the bulletin or sharing parts of it in announcements or liturgical reflections
- Include announcements and ads in your parish bulletin, social media and website
- Hang the posters supplied by the Global Mission Office in prominent church locations
- Include prayer intentions for our global sisters and brothers in the Prayer of the Faithful
- Offer additional opportunities to learn about and pray with the global Church by leading a world mission rosary or offering a meditation on missionary saints
- Contact the Global Mission Office to arrange a special WMS speaker.
- After the collection is taken up, it is counted and deposited into the parish account following best practices.
- The parish prepares and sends a check to the Global Mission Office. It should be made payable to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith with “WMS-(calendar year)” in the memo line. Please use the grey remittance card and mail checks to Global Mission Office, 3525 S. Lake Park Ave. Chicago, IL 60653.
- It’s very important that the Global Mission Office receive your donation by December 31. The financial year of the Global Mission Office ends in December each year. The office must report our donations to the national office of the Pontifical Mission Societies by the end of the calendar year.
If you need additional materials, please feel free to contact the Global Mission Office.
