Why Support the Society for the Propagation of the Faith?

"Why support the Society for the Propagation of the Faith ?", was a question that was almost universally asked and answered annually in Catholic parishes across the U.S. as long ago as the 1950's. As a child I well recall sitting through the sometimes long, sometimes hard to understand but always emotive sermons given by representatives of missionary societies who visited our parish each year. Through the auspices of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith these orders would ask for support for their particular work usually done in a country that was unfamiliar to even the adults who were listening.

At the end of the sermon we generally understood the pitch that was being made but we seldom knew any more about the mysterious organization called the Society for the Propagation of the Faith that seemed to have orchestrated the visit. People knew when they heard "Society for the Propagation of the Faith " they would be asked to pray for and give financial support to missions. Beyond that the identity of the Society was a rather a blur.

Filling in a few blanks through listening and reading I came to learn that the Society for the Propagation is actually a very unique body. Within the Catholic Church there are many missionary orders or groups like Maryknoll, the Columbans or the St. James Society who take up different aspects of foreign missionary work. Some are involved in education, some work with native seminarians, still others are involved in community health and wellbeing. The extent of their efforts is limited by what the number of their workers and their available financial resources will allow. In short this usually means various missionary groups select out specific countries or areas where their work can be most useful and concentrate their efforts there.

The work of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith is much broader than that of any of these individual missionary orders. If you are wondering why you should bother to direct some of your annual giving to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith you might want to consider the following.

The Society is one of only 4 pontifical missionary organizations and it works under the direction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome. This is not a small missionary group working in two or three villages. It is a worldwide network for mission development and support that is directly tied to the Pope.

Like a good administrator the Society for the Propagation of the Faith takes on the work of connecting missionaries in the field in Third World Nations with those of us living in Catholic Christian communities in First World nations. The result is an improvement of understanding and compassion in First World nations and an increase in material and spiritual assistance in foreign, impoverished lands

Our local diocesan priests have a full plate of their own local parish work to attend to. Saying mass, dispensing the sacraments, visiting the sick, looking after the local religious education of his parishioners. These priests rely upon the Society for the Propagation of the Faith to keep the conduits of understanding and encouragement open between their parish and the fledgling but growing parishes of impoverished areas around the world

For Catholics who believe that theirs is meant to be a universal faith, the work of evangelization is central. Getting out the Gospel message after all was Jesus instruction to his first followers. The Society for the Propagation of the Faith takes up the challenge of continually reminding us all that it is not enough to be strong in our local parishes, to build new schools or hospitals and to support the diocesan relief efforts. We must also look to the larger church, the church beyond our national borders. Today it is precisely in those nations that the modern church is experiencing its greatest and most encouraging growth.

The responsibility for prodding us to remember the international evangelization work of the Church is taken up in good measure by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Working with the many small missionary orders the Society works to keep us all aware of and open to how the church is developing and what its ongoing needs might be.

Working both sides of the street as it were, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith can help you and your family to better understand the work of missionary societies in foreign lands. By orchestrating presentations and sharing printed materials the Society for the Propagation of the Faith gives all those who wish to support the mission cause an avenue through which to offer financial and spiritual assistance. In turn the Society directs proceeds from its many collections to meet the many needs of foreign missioners.

Put succinctly, if you are wondering why you should support the work of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith with financial aid or the power of your personal prayer, it is perhaps because the Society does for the many on the ground missionary societies, what they cannot due for themselves or among themselves. It helps to organize and coordinate their work and directs it in ways that will best complete the worldwide mission of the church. And it gives us all the chance to understand and be a part of that important work.

Sources

www.missionsla.org