High School Mission Reach-Out was a time to learn, say 'thank you'
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
It’s nice to hear a “thank you” and get a pat on the back for a job well done every once in a while.
And that’s exactly what students received from the three missionaries who presented workshops at the annual diocesan High School Mission Reach-Out held Oct. 28 in Mary, Mother of God Church, Middletown. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY
Oblates of St. Francis de Sales Fathers John Hurley and Charles Galiath and Sister Rosemary Hayes, a member of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, assured the gathering of high school students that although they might never see where their contributions of money, food or clothing go or who benefits from them, as missionaries serving in foreign countries, they do.
“On behalf of the people we serve, the people who have benefited from the charity, we’ve come here to say thank you,” said Father Hurley.
“We’ve been on the other side” when the donations arrive “and we’ve seen the looks on the faces of people that you’ve helped over the years,” he said. “On behalf of those thousands upon thousands of nameless and faceless people that you will never meet, we come to you today to simply say thank you and God bless you for what you have done.”
Held each year in October, which is designated as the “month of missions,” the Mission Reach-Outs for high school students are an occasion when representatives from a variety of mission-sending religious communities share exciting insights they have gained from their personal experiences serving in the missions.
Fathers Hurley and Galiath used a slide presentation to accompany their presentation on life in the Republic of South Africa.
Father Hurley, who began his work as a missionary in June, 1974 when he was assigned to begin ministry in Namibia, first talked about the “sophisticated” face of South Africa and listed some of the country’s more notable achievements: how the FIFA World Cup was held there for the first time this year; how it is the home of the world’s first heart transplant operation in Cape Town in 1967; it’s where 85 percent of America’s diamonds and gold are produced; it’s where seven nuclear weapons were developed between the 1960s and early 1980s, but then in the late 1980s the weapons were destroyed by the new governmental regime, and it’s even a country that managed to develop a nuclear bomb.
“Then, there are other parts of South Africa that are very poor,” he said, adding that within the African continent, it’s the country with the highest HIV/AIDS percentage.
Elaborating on South Africa in his homily during the Mass that was celebrated by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., Father Galiath opened with a greeting in Afrikaans, his native language, then stated boldly that the primary role of missionaries is to “Go out to the world and proclaim the Good News!”
When Jesus lived on earth, he encountered people of his time and shared with them the “love of his father,” said Father Galiath.
In doing so, however, Jesus “needed helpers,” and that is when he sought out his disciples.
Though the chosen disciples were ordinary men who probably felt unworthy to respond to the call by Jesus, Father Galiath said, yet, “here they were. They were commissioned by the father, commissioned by Jesus, to proclaim the message to the ends of the earth.”
“As Jesus depended on his disciples to spread the Word, each one of us is called to share in this mission,” Father Galiath said.
Father Galiath too extended his appreciation to the students for their generosity toward the missions. He told of how their monies will go toward a soup kitchen and a facility that houses 160 persons infected with HIV/AIDS – 60 of them are adults and 100 are children.
“We are moving mountains in Namibia and in South Africa,” Father Galiath said.
“Thank you for your support.”
Sister Rosemary was a missionary for many years, serving in Ghana as a teacher trainer, in Nigeria where she worked in pastoral ministry and Lesotho, South Africa, where she taught seminarians. She is now stationed in Dalton Center, her community’s mission house in Riverdale, The Bronx, where she coordinates mission appeals and missionary education efforts in parishes and schools.
She focused her presentation on education and the reasons why there are a reported 75 million children in the world who are not being educated, including women living in Bosnia and parts of Africa. She then led an interactive dialogue, asking the students to brainstorm about what the word “education” means to them; to think about what it would be like if they were not able to go to school, and what does it mean for them to be able to go to school.
Another topic Sister Rosemary centered on was the many people who don’t have access to clean water and are exposed to war and poverty.
Hearing the missionaries’ compelling stories made lasting impressions on the students and their mission moderators and they all agreed they came away with a renewed energy to enhance mission efforts in their own school communities.
Martina O’Connell has dual responsibilities at Mater Dei Prep, New Monmouth. She is the school nurse and at the start of the school year in September, she became the mission moderator.
O’Connell spoke of how the Mission Reach-Out gave her some food for thought for developing some new ideas.
“The Mission Reach-Outs are good because the kids can learn that their money goes to a good cause and it can do so much for people in the world who have so little,” said O’Connell.
The Upper School at Villa Victoria Academy, West Trenton, hosts missionaries speakers and uses the first three days of Lent as a time to have a “full push for donations” for mission money, according to Filippini Sister Lesley Draper, principal. This year, the students began holding “penny wars” and they can donate their spare change in the color-coded jugs that are set up around the building.
“I appreciate the diocese’s efforts to have this Mission Reach-Out every year that brings in missionaries and brings it together by the celebration of the Mass,” said Sister Lesley. “The bishop’s presence speaks volumes because it says that we’re all working together to help one another.”
Villa Victoria 10th graders Mary Ann Murtha and Karli Modafferie were inspired by the importance of mission awareness as well.
“I think that it is important for students to become involved in the missions,” said Murtha. “If we start getting involved now, that is something we can carry on for the rest of our lives.”
Karli Modafferie noted that her favorite missionary story was about the priest who helped the children soldiers find their families so they could go on to live a normal life. “It was very inspirational” to hear about a priest would go out of his way to try to help the children which would ultimately change their lives forever,” she said.
Modafferie added that “I believe that part of God's intention for us was to help others by putting them before ourselves,” she said. “Through mission efforts, even a small group can make a significant change in someone else's life.”
Click here to read about the grammar school Mission Reach-Out held Nov. 4
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It’s nice to hear a “thank you” and get a pat on the back for a job well done every once in a while.
And that’s exactly what students received from the three missionaries who presented workshops at the annual diocesan High School Mission Reach-Out held Oct. 28 in Mary, Mother of God Church, Middletown. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY
Oblates of St. Francis de Sales Fathers John Hurley and Charles Galiath and Sister Rosemary Hayes, a member of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, assured the gathering of high school students that although they might never see where their contributions of money, food or clothing go or who benefits from them, as missionaries serving in foreign countries, they do.
“On behalf of the people we serve, the people who have benefited from the charity, we’ve come here to say thank you,” said Father Hurley.
“We’ve been on the other side” when the donations arrive “and we’ve seen the looks on the faces of people that you’ve helped over the years,” he said. “On behalf of those thousands upon thousands of nameless and faceless people that you will never meet, we come to you today to simply say thank you and God bless you for what you have done.”
Held each year in October, which is designated as the “month of missions,” the Mission Reach-Outs for high school students are an occasion when representatives from a variety of mission-sending religious communities share exciting insights they have gained from their personal experiences serving in the missions.
Fathers Hurley and Galiath used a slide presentation to accompany their presentation on life in the Republic of South Africa.
Father Hurley, who began his work as a missionary in June, 1974 when he was assigned to begin ministry in Namibia, first talked about the “sophisticated” face of South Africa and listed some of the country’s more notable achievements: how the FIFA World Cup was held there for the first time this year; how it is the home of the world’s first heart transplant operation in Cape Town in 1967; it’s where 85 percent of America’s diamonds and gold are produced; it’s where seven nuclear weapons were developed between the 1960s and early 1980s, but then in the late 1980s the weapons were destroyed by the new governmental regime, and it’s even a country that managed to develop a nuclear bomb.
“Then, there are other parts of South Africa that are very poor,” he said, adding that within the African continent, it’s the country with the highest HIV/AIDS percentage.
Elaborating on South Africa in his homily during the Mass that was celebrated by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., Father Galiath opened with a greeting in Afrikaans, his native language, then stated boldly that the primary role of missionaries is to “Go out to the world and proclaim the Good News!”
When Jesus lived on earth, he encountered people of his time and shared with them the “love of his father,” said Father Galiath.
In doing so, however, Jesus “needed helpers,” and that is when he sought out his disciples.
Though the chosen disciples were ordinary men who probably felt unworthy to respond to the call by Jesus, Father Galiath said, yet, “here they were. They were commissioned by the father, commissioned by Jesus, to proclaim the message to the ends of the earth.”
“As Jesus depended on his disciples to spread the Word, each one of us is called to share in this mission,” Father Galiath said.
Father Galiath too extended his appreciation to the students for their generosity toward the missions. He told of how their monies will go toward a soup kitchen and a facility that houses 160 persons infected with HIV/AIDS – 60 of them are adults and 100 are children.
“We are moving mountains in Namibia and in South Africa,” Father Galiath said.
“Thank you for your support.”
Sister Rosemary was a missionary for many years, serving in Ghana as a teacher trainer, in Nigeria where she worked in pastoral ministry and Lesotho, South Africa, where she taught seminarians. She is now stationed in Dalton Center, her community’s mission house in Riverdale, The Bronx, where she coordinates mission appeals and missionary education efforts in parishes and schools.
She focused her presentation on education and the reasons why there are a reported 75 million children in the world who are not being educated, including women living in Bosnia and parts of Africa. She then led an interactive dialogue, asking the students to brainstorm about what the word “education” means to them; to think about what it would be like if they were not able to go to school, and what does it mean for them to be able to go to school.
Another topic Sister Rosemary centered on was the many people who don’t have access to clean water and are exposed to war and poverty.
Hearing the missionaries’ compelling stories made lasting impressions on the students and their mission moderators and they all agreed they came away with a renewed energy to enhance mission efforts in their own school communities.
Martina O’Connell has dual responsibilities at Mater Dei Prep, New Monmouth. She is the school nurse and at the start of the school year in September, she became the mission moderator.
O’Connell spoke of how the Mission Reach-Out gave her some food for thought for developing some new ideas.
“The Mission Reach-Outs are good because the kids can learn that their money goes to a good cause and it can do so much for people in the world who have so little,” said O’Connell.
The Upper School at Villa Victoria Academy, West Trenton, hosts missionaries speakers and uses the first three days of Lent as a time to have a “full push for donations” for mission money, according to Filippini Sister Lesley Draper, principal. This year, the students began holding “penny wars” and they can donate their spare change in the color-coded jugs that are set up around the building.
“I appreciate the diocese’s efforts to have this Mission Reach-Out every year that brings in missionaries and brings it together by the celebration of the Mass,” said Sister Lesley. “The bishop’s presence speaks volumes because it says that we’re all working together to help one another.”
Villa Victoria 10th graders Mary Ann Murtha and Karli Modafferie were inspired by the importance of mission awareness as well.
“I think that it is important for students to become involved in the missions,” said Murtha. “If we start getting involved now, that is something we can carry on for the rest of our lives.”
Karli Modafferie noted that her favorite missionary story was about the priest who helped the children soldiers find their families so they could go on to live a normal life. “It was very inspirational” to hear about a priest would go out of his way to try to help the children which would ultimately change their lives forever,” she said.
Modafferie added that “I believe that part of God's intention for us was to help others by putting them before ourselves,” she said. “Through mission efforts, even a small group can make a significant change in someone else's life.”
Click here to read about the grammar school Mission Reach-Out held Nov. 4