Multicultural liturgy marks World Mission Sunday celebration
Missionaries of Charity Sister M. Sumati, left, and Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Sabeena Mary pray during the World Mission Sunday Mass on Oct. 21 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis.
By Mary Ann Wyand
Their daughter is a lay missionary in Uganda so St. Roch parishioners Bud and Theresa Meyer of Indianapolis keep her in their prayers.
They also prayed for her during the archdiocesan World Mission Sunday Mass on Oct. 21 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis.
During the festive multicultural liturgy, their daughter, Sherry Meyer, was one of six Catholics honored by the archdiocese with certificates of appreciation for distinguished service to God and the Church.
Meyer’s family accepted the award on her behalf because she is half a world away serving the poor and teaching the Catholic faith in East Africa.
“We’re very proud of her,” Theresa Meyer said after the Mass. “Very proud. I talked to her [long distance] this morning, and we’ll talk to her tonight [to tell her about the liturgy].”
Sherry Meyer was honored for 16 years of pastoral ministry in the Arua Diocese in Uganda, where she has coordinated catechetical programs and now ministers as station manager for Radio Pacis, the new diocesan radio station.
She was able to make a monthlong home visit to Indianapolis last summer after Radio Pacis was honored by the British Broadcasting Corporation as “Best New Radio Station in Africa” on May 26.
The other honorees serve those who need help in home missions in the archdiocese.
St. Paul Catholic Center parishioner Kelly de Souza of Bloomington was recognized for coordinating the Bloomington tri-parish community’s participation in the Walk for Life for several years. This year, Bloomington Deanery Catholics raised more than $2,000 to benefit the Crisis Pregnancy Center ministry there.
Gary Favrot of Zionsville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, was honored for his longtime volunteer service at the Cathedral Kitchen in Indianapolis, where he helps homeless and low-income people with meals and other assistance.
St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception parishioner Patricia Gerke of Aurora was commended for her volunteer service as secretary for the Right to Life Office of Dearborn County and Ohio County.
SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral parishioner Marjorie Pike of Indianapolis was recognized for her dedicated volunteer service as director of the Cathedral Kitchen for the past two years.
Sister Demetria Smith, a Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa who served as a nurse and midwife in Africa for 20 years and now ministers as mission educator for the archdiocese, was honored for her longtime service to the missions at home and abroad.
Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general and director of the archdiocesan Mission Office, was the principal celebrant for the Mass then presented the awards on behalf of Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein.
The vicar general also thanked the Missionaries of Charity from India, the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary from India, the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy from Nigeria, and priests from Korea, Africa and India for their ministries in the archdiocese.
Drummers and choir members from Holy Angels Parish in Indianapolis provided music for the Mass and children from several center-city parishes in Indianapolis danced to African music during the processional.
The prayers of the faithful were offered by Catholics in the English, African, Spanish, French, Filipino and Burmese languages.
“Prayer has power,” Msgr. Schaedel said in his homily. “Prayer is talking with God, who is all powerful.”
Quoting from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Msgr. Schaedel said prayer is “the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God” (#2559).
“We pray when we need something,” he said. “Yet we have no idea how powerful prayer is.”
World Mission Sunday was established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, Msgr. Schaedel explained. One year later, the pontiff named St. Thérèse of Lisieux—who lived from 1873 until 1897 and was known as “the Little Flower”—as the patron saint for foreign missions.
“She died at age 24 in a cloistered convent in France,” he said. “A woman who was never a missionary—yet St. Thérèse loved the missions. She prayed for missionaries. … As she prepared to die, she promised her prayers, even from the other side. She said, ‘I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.’ ”
Going to the missions is wonderful, Msgr. Schaedel said, and donating to the missions is commendable.
“But nothing means more to missionaries than prayer and sacrifice,” he explained. “Because of her prayer, the Little Flower is the patron saint of foreign missions. Prayer packs more power than anything. … Christian faith calls us to pray always.” †
