Scottish Catholic Observer

SOMETHING which can often be heard in homes across the land is ‘in this family we share.’ Sometimes it is said in a joking way, sometimes it is said to encourage a child to learn one of the basic elements about family life, and sometimes a parent will say it to make sure that everyone is treated equally and with justice.

‘In this family we share’ is what Mission Sunday and Missio is all about. Pope Francis frequently speaks of the Church as a family and on this Mission Sunday, we are invited to demonstrate that sense of family by sharing our prayers, our thoughts and our money with our brothers and sisters in the Church throughout the world.

What we possess, our abilities, our spiritual life and our possessions, have been given to us by God to look after and use for the common good of all members of the Church.

That sharing, that communion of spiritual and material goods, is one of the ways in which we bear witness to the Gospel in the world around us.

This goes back to the earliest days of the first Christian community in Jerusalem, where St Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles: “And all who shared the faith owned everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and distributed the proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed.” (Acts 4:32)

Our Catholic brothers and sisters throughout the world need the support of our prayers as we need theirs, but they also need our financial assistance.

This year, Missio Scotland continues to support the training of young men for the priesthood in Kaduna in northern Nigeria, where Christians have been experiencing a prolonged and terrible persecution.

In his message on this World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis calls on us to care for Christian communities who struggle to survive, but also to enable them to share in the Church’s mission to bring the message of God’s tenderness and compassion to the entire human family and to proclaim God’s mercy in every corner of the world, especially to the most vulnerable.

Practically speaking, this means that through Missio the Church in Scotland is helping the Church in poorer countries to help people in their own communities who are most in need.

In other words, a family which practices mercy also shows that mercy to others outside the family.

In the past year, the money you have given to Missio Scotland has enabled religious sisters, priests and parish communities to support vulnerable children in India and the Philippines and provided education and medical care for children and families in Zambia and Cambodia.

This year Missio Scotland is supporting the Little Angels Support Project run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Kericho in Kenya. The sisters—including Sr Placida McCann who is originally from Greenock—embarked upon an ambitious project to tackle the stigma associated with disabled children.

“Our job is to remove the stigma and to let people know that these children are blessings that bring out love in people,” Sr Placida said.

The project seeks to provide education for children and their parents; clothing and bedding; access to health services and medical aids such as crutches; play and exercise activities to reduce isolation and build confidence; and food and resources so that families can grow their own produce.

Please visit Missio Scotland’s website to learn more about the project and to see a video of Sr Placida speaking about the work she and her community are doing.

Thank you for the great generosity you have shown in past years through your prayers and contributions.

If you are a taxpayer we would be grateful if you would use a Gift Aid envelope when making your offering. We would ask everyone to please consider supporting Missio Scotland throughout the year either by sending donations to us directly or by using the ‘donate’ link on our website.

The prayers and money you give today deepen our sense of being a Church which is truly a family and renews our missionary vocation to share God’s mercy among ourselves and with the whole world. Once again, thank you for your kindness.

To learn more about Missio Scotland’s work in supporting life-changing services like The Little Angels Support Project, turn to pages 10-11 and discover how they are helping disabled children in Kenya. To donate to Missio—the Pope’s own worldwide mission charity—visit: www.missio.scot