By EmmaLee Italia | Correspondent

Parishes of the Diocese of Trenton can expect to see some new faces visiting their parishes in the coming months. Missionaries who operate in all corners of the world will come to share their experience with the Diocese, in hopes of inspiring prayer and support for their work.

The missionary visits are coordinated via the diocesan Missionary Cooperative Plan 2016, which seeks to promote mission awareness by inviting missionaries to individual parishes.

“Being Catholic is universal – we help each other’s needs,” said Father Peter James Alindogan, diocesan director of missions and pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Cinnaminson. “Through the MCP, we are reminded of our connection and interrelatedness.”

The 107 parishes of Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties will all have a weekend opportunity to meet a missionary over the summer; in fact, some parishes have already had visits from their assigned missionaries. And historically, the visits have had a dramatic impact on the missions’ efficacy.

“Our parishioners have been very generous in supporting our missionaries,” said Father Alindogan. “Not only do they meet a missionary during these visits and listen to their stories and experiences, but they have the chance to interact with them and engage themselves in the missionary nature and culture of our universal Church.”

With so many domestic needs requiring the Church’s support in our own country, it can be tempting to assume that caring for the international poor is the responsibility of other nations. But the United States has a special relationship with missions, being partially a product of historic missionary efforts.

“Our Church in the United States developed through the help of foreign missionaries,” Father Alindogan explained. “Had they confined themselves to their needs at home then, we would not have benefited from the Catholic faith we now are sharing.”

Thankfully the Diocese of Trenton has embraced that call remarkably over the years, and will continue to do so with the help of its faithful.

“We are a very generous Diocese,” Father Alindogan affirmed. “It is not only because we know the hard work our missionaries are doing, but we also know that the support we give them goes beyond what our pockets hold. Any dollar we give now makes a big difference to the missions; any check amount we write for our missionaries extends beyond ours.”

And participation in missionary outreach is at the core of our Catholic faith, no matter the amount donated, as Father Alindogan reminds us.

“There is no one so poor that he or she cannot give; there is no one so rich that he or she cannot receive,” he said. “That is mission work, and that is also the spirit of the Church.”

Missionaries will visit parishes on the following dates:

June 11 and 12: Corpus Christi, Willingboro; St. Hedwig, Trenton

June 18 and 19: St. Denis, Manasquan

June 25 and 26: Nativity, Fair Haven; Visitation, Brick; St. Alphonsus, Hopewell; St. Anthony of Padua, Hightstown; St. Francis and St. Clare, Florence Township; St. James, Red Bank; St. Mary of the Lakes, Medford

July 2 and 3: Immaculate Conception, Eatontown; St. Anthony Claret, Lakewood; St. Mary of the Assumption, Deal

July 9 and 10: Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd, Trenton; St. Ann, Lawrenceville; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Maple Shade; Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony, Hamilton; St. David the King, Princeton Junction; St. Katharine Drexel, Burlington; St. Pius X, Forked River; St. Robert Bellarmine, Freehold; Korean Martyrs, Trenton - July 10

July 11 and 12: Precious Blood, Monmouth Beach

July 16 and 17: Divine Mercy, Trenton; Sacred Heart, Riverton; Sacred Heart, Bay Head; St. Catharine-St. Margaret, Spring Lake; St. Charles Borromeo, Cinnaminson; St. Jerome, West Long Branch; St. Joseph, Millstone Township; St. Joseph, Toms River; St. Veronica, Howell

July 23 and 24: Holy Cross, Rumson; Assumption, New Egypt; Mother of Mercy, Asbury Park; Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown; Our Lady of Good Counsel, West Trenton; St. Gregory the Great, Hamilton Square; St. Leo the Great, Lincroft

July 30 and 31: Epiphany, Brick; Incarnation-St. James, Ewing; Jesus, the Lord, Keyport; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Seaside Heights; Our Lady of the Angels, Trenton; Our Lady Queen of Peace, Hainesport; Sacred Heart, Mount Holly; St. Ann, Browns Mills; St. Anthony of Padua, Red Bank; St. Catharine of Siena, Seaside Park; St. Joan of Arc, Marlton; St. John Neumann, Mount Laurel; St. Michael, West End; St. Thomas More, Manalapan

Aug. 6 and 7: St. Luke, Toms River; Holy Family, Keyport; Sacred Heart, Trenton; St. Catherine of Siena, Farmingdale; St. James, Pennington; St. Justin the Martyr, Toms River; St. Maximilian Kolbe, Toms River; St. Raphael-Holy Angels, Hamilton

Aug. 13 and 14: St. Elizabeth, Avon; St. Gabriel, Marlboro; St. John the Baptist, Allentown; St. Monica, Jackson; St. Peter, Point Pleasant Beach; St. Pio of Pietrelcina, Lavallette

Aug. 20 and 21: St. Mary, Barnegat; St. Paul, Princeton; St. Rose of Lima, Freehold; St. Theresa, Little Egg Harbor

Aug. 27 and 28: St. Catherine Parish, Middletown; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Whiting