World Mission Sunday:
Bread broken for the life of the world

		Propagation  of the Faith  Msgr. Delbert  Schmelzer

As reported by Catholic News Service, Pope Benedict XVI invited young first communicants to the Vatican in October to help him close the Year of the Eucharist.

Speaking at a noon blessing June 12, the pope said he wanted to hold a "special encounter of catechesis" with children who received their First Communion in 2005, in order to highlight the role of the Eucharist in the spiritual growth of young people.

He set the encounter for October 15, a date that falls during a Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, which will close the special year. That synod ends on October 23 - World Mission Sunday.

World Mission Sunday

World Mission Sunday, organized by the Propagation of the Faith, is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the church's missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice.

Annually, World Mission Sunday is celebrated on the next-to-last Sunday in October. As described by Pope John Paul II, World Mission Sunday is "an important day in the life of the church because it teaches how to give: as an offering made to God, in the Eucharistic celebration and for all the missions of the world" (see Redemptoris Missio 81).

Pope John Paul II has also spoken of the Propagation of the Faith's general fund of support, calling this a "central fund of solidarity." In a message delivered on a recent World Mission Sunday, the pope said: "The offerings that will be collected [on World Mission Sunday] are destined for a common fund of solidarity distributed, in the pope's name, by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith among the missions and missionaries of the entire world."

Mission needs grow

Every year the needs of the Catholic Church in the missions grow - as new dioceses are formed, as new seminaries are opened because of the growing number of young men hearing Christ's call to follow him as priests, as areas devastated by war or natural disaster are rebuilt, and as other areas, long suppressed, are opening up to hear the message of Christ and his church. That is why the involvement and commitment of Catholics from around the world is so urgently needed.

Offerings from Catholics in the United States, on World Mission Sunday and throughout the year, are combined with offerings to the Propagation of the Faith worldwide. Mission dioceses - about 1,100 at this time - receive regular annual assistance from the funds collected.

In addition, these mission dioceses submit requests to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples for assistance, among other needs, for catechetical programs, seminaries, the work of Religious communities, for communication and transportation needs, and for the building of chapels, churches, orphanages, and schools. These needs are matched with the funds gathered in each year.

The world's national directors of the Propagation of the Faith vote on these requests, matching the funds available with the greatest needs. These funds are then distributed, in their entirety, to mission dioceses throughout the world.

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.

Consistent life ethic:
A valuable tool in advocacy

		Eye on the  Capitol  John Huebscher

October is Respect Life Month. As such it is a good time to reflect on one of the most useful Catholic contributions to public policy conversations - that of the consistent life ethic.

Put simply, a consistent life ethic calls us to evaluate our choices in light of their impact on human life and dignity. When we make life the foundation for our decisions, we affirm life is sacred.

Respect life habit

We Catholics often define a virtue as a good habit. To the extent we persuade the community that the life and dignity of the human person deserves respect whenever it is threatened, we can make respect for life "habit forming" in our public policies.

The point of a consistent life ethic is not that all issues are equal. The point is that when we stand up for the value of life in one way we become more inclined to do so at other times.

A policy on the minimum wage may not have the same moral implications as a policy on embryonic stem cell research. But both give us a chance to affirm that human beings have a transcendent value that far exceeds economic factors. The more we affirm that understanding of the worth of human beings, the more likely it is that our policies will follow suit.

All human life

In their 1998 statement, Living the Gospel of Life, the bishops of the United States said it quite well:

"Opposition to abortion and euthanasia does not excuse indifference to those who suffer from poverty, violence, and injustice. Any politics of human life must work to resist the violence of war and the scandal of capital punishment. Any politics of human dignity must seriously address issues of racism, poverty, hunger, employment, education, housing, and health care . . . But being 'right' in such matters can never excuse a wrong choice regarding direct attacks on innocent human life. Indeed, the failure to protect and defend life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the 'rightness' of positions in other matters affecting the poorest and least powerful of the human community."

Lincoln's credibility

In the 19th century, Abraham Lincoln rooted the anti-slavery cause in the proposition that all men and women shared an inherent dignity. In the 21st century, a consistent life ethic is a reaffirmation of that self-evident truth - that all human life, no matter how broken, deformed, disabled, or desperate that life may seem, has an inalienable right to society's protection.

The example of Lincoln offers another lesson for us today. His opposition to slavery was mirrored in the compassion and kindness he displayed to others. His consistency enhanced the credibility of his message and his argument. A consistent life ethic can do the same thing for us today.

So, as we renew our commitment to the sanctity of human life this October, we would do well to appreciate the value of regularly bearing witness to the dignity of the human person in public policy debates.

John Huebscher is executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.

A month on the job:
Getting adjusted to way of life

		Notes from  The Gambia  Tom Brodd

Nanga def (a greeting in Wollof, the language spoken in Banjul). I have been here just over a month now and am slowly working my way into the way of life here in The Gambia and in the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) office.

One of the more interesting things that I did during the last month was to go into the countryside for a week to help with a survey that is being done to collect data for CRS proposals for funding from USAID, the American foreign aid agency. This will give me the opportunity to be your tour guide for part of The Gambia.

Ferry ride in Gambia

At the start of the trip up country, we had to take the ferry to the north bank of the country. As you may not know, The Gambia is a very small country about the size of Delaware, which is divided in two by the Gambia River.

The river by the capital city Banjul is very wide and there is a regular 20-minute ferry service across to the other side. The ferry affords a nice view of Banjul and Barra, the city on the north side of the river, along with a cool breeze coming off the ocean, which is always a welcome treat.

Food survey

After landing in Barra, it was up to a town called Kerewan to organize the next day's survey activities. The survey is to find out from the villagers in the area about food security issues, as many farmers cannot grow enough food to last them the year. It is also to find out what types of crops are raised to be sold and how and where those crops are sold.

CRS wants this information to find out how the people cope with the food shortfall and in what ways we could help with crop production to reduce hunger and also increase income. This information will also be used to see if there are other potential avenues for food production and income generation.

People here grow rice and millet for their daily food needs along with some corn and vegetables. The main cash crop is peanuts which are called "groundnuts" here. In many of the peanut fields there were scarecrows, not to keep away birds but to scare off monkeys, as they love to eat peanuts.

Seeing countryside

The next day I helped coordinate the survey teams as they went about their work. Unfortunately, the mobile phone system was down in the outlying parts of the country so we had drive around the country to check up with the survey teams.

This gave me a chance to see the country and some of the wildlife. The Gambia has a large variety of colorful birds and you also see the occasional monkeys by the side of the road.

The roads to the villages were not in too bad of shape, as they do not get that much traffic and being made of a very sandy dirt, there were not too many mud holes. However, one section of the main roads was almost impassible because it had rained the night before.

Even with the four-wheel-drive vehicle it was difficult to get through. It took almost three hours to go 45 miles and we were about the only car on the road - it made me quite happy not having to travel this road in the public transport.

Farther up the road we had to cross the river again but this crossing was at an inland, so you need to use two ferries. One is rather sizeable and is motorized and can take about three vehicles. The other is more of a barge and it is not motorized so all of the men have to pull on a cable to get across while the women ride on the other side of the ferry.

If there are not enough men at the landing, you have to wait for more to come before you are able to cross, so you spend a lot of time waiting. But time here does not have the same urgency that it has back in America.

Weather and food

As for the weather up-country, think of the hottest, stickiest day in July and multiply it by 10 and that is how uncomfortable it is. It makes the hot weather in Banjul where I live feel downright cool and comfortable.

The food was quite good, although it is very spicy. The main food during this trip was rice served with spices, vegetables (potatoes, squash, bitter tomatoes), and either meat or fish. The one thing that is different is that everyone eats out of the same bowl and if there are no spoons available, you eat with your hands.

The most different food I had was day-old raw cow's milk, which at these temperatures curdles very quickly. It was mixed with bread and sugar and was our breakfast on our last day in the countryside. It tasted like yogurt and again we all ate out of the same bowl.

Then it was back to the city and time to fill out all the paperwork for the survey.

Jaama rek. (All is peaceful.)

Tom Brodd of Madison is living in The Gambia, West Africa, as one of 16 participants in the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Volunteer Program, which provides U.S. Catholics with opportunities to share their skills through CRS and to live in solidarity with their brothers and sisters around the world.

Halloween scares: Not just limited to children

		Grand Mom  Audrey  Mettel Fixmer

It's that time of year now when we talk about scaring kids with stories of ghosts and witches and goblins, our standard Halloween fare. It's all make-believe and just for fun.

Well, how about scaring our elder citizens with stories of terrorists and tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes? They are all real, and no fun at all. One cannot turn on the TV or open a newspaper or magazine without being pummeled with this reality.

Didn't we have enough to worry about with terrorist attacks? Why has God suddenly barraged us with so many natural disasters, one right after another? Is he trying to tell us something?

"I think God may be telling us the end of the world is coming," said one elderly woman in our Scripture study group this week.

"Probably some of the victims of Hurricane Katrina thought that's exactly what was happening as they watched everything they owned float away," said another.

Test of love

One can point out some of the evil practices of a portion of New Orleans, like voodoo and witchcraft, but we can never believe that God sends punishments for our sins which would destroy the good with the evil.

"I think God is testing us," said Sister Jean. "Don't you know how he always asked, 'Do you love me?' I think that's what he is asking us now: 'Do you still love me?'"

It seems to me that the only way we can answer that question is through prayer. We must pray for all of the victims whose lives were taken away or threatened or changed forever through these disasters. As much as we would like to dig in and personally help those people, for most of us our productive years are behind us, and praying is all that is left for us to do. Praying and helping out financially, of course.

Disaster-proofing

Just today a bulletin arrived put out by the AARP, and in it I found an article entitled, "What If?" listing seven ways to disaster-proof your life.

The first suggestion was to prepare a "Grab and Go" Case. This should contain all of your legal, financial, and insurance paperwork; birth certificates; estate planning; insurance policies for home, auto, life, and health; Social Security cards; a list of all our prescriptions; copy of driver's license; and some emergency cash. Egad! I don't think I'd be able to lift it, much less run with it.

The second item was to make a contact list of friends and relatives with their phone numbers and addresses to let them know you are safe and to ask for help. (That's assuming they survived long enough to worry about you.) This list should also include the "trusted professionals" who can help you put your life back together: physician, attorney, financial adviser, accountant, insurance agent, and banker. I think I'd like to add to that a prescription for tranquilizers good "any time."

Peace of mind

I had to quit reading this article when it came to the third item, which warns us to take an inventory of everything in the house! Along with photographs yet! That's so you won't forget anything for the insurance company to reimburse you for.

Should I count the paper clips in my office? The dishes in my cupboards? The doggie toys? I don't think so. By the time I did all that, I wouldn't need a natural disaster to wipe me out. I'd be all done. Period. Amen.

I do appreciate AARP's concern for giving the elderly folk like me peace of mind. But as for me, I can get far more peace of mind by praying daily, receiving the sacraments daily, and paying my insurance premiums monthly.

Fearing not

The nice thing about growing old is having the satisfaction that you have already enjoyed most of the greatest experiences that life has to offer. And if you have true faith, you need not fear death. The most comforting words I know are those attributed to Alfred J. Barrett, who said it so well:

    There lies between our dreaming and our seeing
    One pulsing continuity of being.
    Ah, when the life of glory we achieve,
    Why grieve?
    We only lose our having to believe.

"Grandmom" likes hearing from other senior citizens who enjoy aging -- contact information.