"Going Forward, Two by Two"

Something truly inspiring and exciting is happening among young people in our country and in our Church, and it is about to occur in just a few weeks. As the school year ends, a large cadre of high school and college graduates and undergraduates will choose to give a significant amount of their time during the summer months or for the next year or two of their lives in service projects across our country and around our world.

Filled with a true mission spirit and blessed with youthful energy and enthusiasm, they are choosing to move beyond the privileged enclaves of family and school and willing to walk with the poor of our land and our world.

You will find some of these teens and young adults working as Catholic Extension volunteers. As part of a new initiative of our Parish Partnership Program, they will be heading to the Gulf Coast, to the Dakotas and to New Mexico, helping to rebuild homes and neighborhoods while building up communities of faith and hope and compassion and love.

Father Frances Kelley, Catholic Extension's founder, must be very proud! His great hope was to "awaken the missionary spirit in the Catholic people of America." He was convinced that the spirit of the missioner is inside each one of us just waiting to be stirred. He would be the greatest cheerleader of our young people as he watches them following in the footsteps of the Lord, Who has come among us "as one Who serves."

I am certain that he is also cheering you on as a member of the Catholic Extension Family. You already have generously responded to the call of Jesus Who sent His disciples out in mission "two by two." Wherever there is a missioner or volunteer serving in our country's home missions, you are the other disciple. Through your continuing support of Catholic Extension, you are walking side by side with a missioner, sharing and embodying the good news of God's love. You are the faithful companion holding your mission partner in your prayers and providing for his or her daily needs.

Harvest is rich

However, we also need your voice to help awaken that missionary spirit in others. No missioner can truly walk alone. Whether a new young volunteer, a newly ordained priest, or a seasoned laborer in the mission field, the wisdom of Jesus keeps reminding us that "we have to do this two by two."

Wherever you are and whatever your circumstance, could I ask you to talk to someone this week about becoming a mission partner? Tell them about the work of Catholic Extension. Share this magazine with them. Invite them to walk "two by two" into America's missions, where the harvest is rich and the laborers few.

Next month we begin a special jubilee year commemorating the birth of St. Paul, the Church's first great missioner. Nobody knew better than Paul the wisdom of companions in mission. What an appropriate year for us as the Catholic Extension family to awaken the missionary spirit in the United States and to renew our commitment to be co-workers in the vineyard and partners in mission!

Please consider making a gift to the Mission Church in America. I ask you as part of the Catholic Extension family to respond generously to this effort and make your safe and secure donation now. Thank you.

Go to the May 2008 issue of EXTENSION Magazine online.
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