On Sunday, October 16, 2016, during the Eucharist the priest announced that the collection from the faithful from all Masses would go towards the Missions.
Quickly my thoughts went down the memory lane to my little St Thomas’ Parish in a tiny village in the South. The parish is known for its contribution of religious and priestly vocations in the Diocese of Palai that has contributed the most religious vocations to the Church in India and abroad.
Mission Sunday did its contributions.
We had an association called the Mission League, founded by Bishop Sebastian Vayalil of Palai.
Every catechism student in the parish became a member of this association. Having received First Communion at the age of seven we all became its members. It was like a life time achievement for us little ones to be part of the Mission League.
Through this association the parish priest took the opportunity to impart to us human and religious formation.
We were given a small booklet marked with various religious practices beginning with mortification, rosary, visit to the Blessed Sacrament, ejaculatory prayers, helping the neighbor etc. Each Sunday the catechism teacher would take a look at it. At the end of the year we submitted the booklet to the parish priest.
Every Friday evening we would be at the parish on our way home from school for our weekly confessions. We would meet the parish priest waiting for us with a smiling face. And all together we would clean the church premises with the parish priest around. He would unfailingly reward us with a sweet at the conclusion of our “cleaning mission.”
On parish feast days it was the responsibility of the girls to move around in the crowd to collect cash for the mission. We were given incentive of prizes. On one such occasion my little brother dropped all his pocket money into my box thus helping me get the first prize for the maximum collection.
From home front too our parents were very encouraging to contribute to the missions. They would often remind us, “There are priests and sisters working in the remote villages of India educating, and caring for the less privileged. And it was our duty to help them.”
My mother and grandmother would each day keep a handful from the rice taken to cook for the family. Thus they spoke silently to us that we were to share from what we have even with a little deprivation.
On every Saturday morning as my father set out to the fields he would check whether we were ready for the morning Mass. It was never to be missed. And we would proceed to the church accompanied by my aunty.
Every Sunday my elder sister and myself, like the rest of the little girls in the parish, carried a matchbox filled rice each to the catechism class which would be collected to help the poor.
At the stroke of Angelus bell in the parish we would kneel beside our grandparents who would lead us in the night prayers. Though we slept through the long prayers, grandfather was happy that we were around.
And on Mission Sunday it was the turn of the boys to make their collections in cash and kind from every family of the parish. And they would give generously thinking of their “children in the missions far away.”
All this were introduced by Bishop Vayalil, who had a stint in the missions.
There he had come face to face with the illiteracy and poverty of the people. He knew the young people needed to be motivated to help this people to empower them and save them from their poor life conditions.
That was years ago yet the perfume of the encouragement we received at such a tender age still lingers in my mind to “fan into flame” the gift of faith imprinted in my heart.
The meaning of the sentence “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News” became a reality in my life when I climbed the Khasi hills in Shillong carrying God’s word in my bag to the families with a companion sister. In rain or in winter we carried it out with much joy.
Two days ago on I listened to Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi challenging the faithful ‘Today we have to ask ourselves, “Are our feet beautiful? Are we the message, are we messengers?
“We are busy with many other things except spreading the Good News of peace, Good News of salvation,” he reminded.
“The world that is advancing technically has drowned us, so that we are not able to proclaim the unfailing love of God for his people,” he added.
Living amid and with modern technologies, I reflect on the challenge of the cardinal: have the communication media drowned my eagerness to proclaim the Word? Do the very same instruments chosen by our Founder Blessed James Alberione, and which we professed to use for transmitting God’s Word hinder our evangelization efforts?
Am I content with what the media provides within the four walls of my comfort, making the world a global village?
St Paul’s voice echo in my heart: It is by grace that you have been saved through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God. We are God’s work of art; created in Christ Jesus for the works which God has already designated to make up our way of life.
A genuine faith is active and dynamic; it becomes faithfulness.