Diocese of Rockville Centre Pontifical Mission Societies and Mission Office
Rev. Joseph McCabe, MM Director jmccabe@drvc.org Jan./Feb. 2012
HCA Mission News
Volume 5, Issue 3
Words to Live by: “If anything matters, then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and servic e, seen or unseen, (God’s) purposes are accomplished, and nothing will ever be the same again.” William M. Young, “The Shack”
Announcing the DRVC Mission Art Contest! With the New Year upon us, we are announcing a new contest: the DRVC Holy Childhood Association is offering the chance for all students to take part in a mission art competition. We found a beautiful poem written in 2001 by a 16 year-old girl, which is printed on the back of this newsletter. Simply ask your students to illustrate the poem as they see fit — tell them to use their imaginations! We will judge them on their creativity and their interpretation of the poem.
Ash Wednesday is February 22 If you need HCA Lenten coin boxes/folders and have not yet ordered them, please call or send an e-mail. Here are some more ways to keep Lent and be mindful of the missions:
Teach your students the importance of abstinence and fasting - that it’s about more than giving up meat on Fridays. Explain to them how children in mission countries rarely eat three meals a day. Ask the older ones to skip a meal on Fridays in Lent to try and experience what hunger really is. When they are feeling their hungriest, ask them to say a prayer in solidarity for those children who feel that way every day.
Pray a decade of the World Mission Rosary with your class once a week, focusing on a different part of the world each time: Red for the Americas and islands of the Caribbean; Green for Africa; White for Europe; Yellow for Asia; and Blue for the Islands of the Pacific. You can make a World Mission Rosary out of construction paper loops for the classroom for this purpose, or order a rosary from the HCA Office at 1-800-431-222 or hcaorders@propfaith.org.
Ask the children to look for stories in newspapers or magazines about famine, wars, poverty, and people who need our compassion. Cut these out and create a collage in the shape of a cross. Pray for all these people during Lent. Remind the children that we may not know their names, but God does!
We will be awarding $75 gift certificates from Advent Religious Shops to the four winners. Advent Shops have several locations on Long Island (www.adventshop.com) and are regular contributors to HCA. The categories will be: Grades 1-2 Grades 3-4 Grades 5-6 Grades 7-8 Runners-up will receive award certificates from this office.
ALL ENTRIES ARE DUE BY FRIDAY, MARCH 2ND. PLEASE MAIL TO: Brenda Pistani DRVC Mission Office P.O. Box 9023 Rockville Centre, NY 11571-9023 We all need something fun to do in these dreary winter months, so let’s get those creative juices flowing - the students may use the back of this newsletter or any paper which lists their name, grade, teacher/catechist and school/parish. Good Luck to all!
CORRECTION! In the last newsletter we failed to mention one of the award winners at World Mission Sunday - St. Rose of Lima Faith Formation. We are SO SORRY - their parish is very active in mission work. Thank you, St. Rose students and staff!
DRVC Mission Contest: How would you illustrate this poem? “He prayed - it wasn’t my religion. He ate - it wasn’t what I ate. He spoke - it wasn’t my language. He dressed - it wasn’t what I wore. He took my hand - it wasn’t the color of mine. But when he laughed - it was how I laughed, And when he cried - it was how I cried.” Amy Maddox, 16
Name _____________________________________________________Teacher ___________________________ School or Parish ________________________________________________________________ Grade _________