Diocese promotes mission efforts
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
While many people say that ordinary people can have a positive impact on those who might live thousands of miles away, the Stovell-Mulholland family of High Bridge and Maryknoll Father Peter Le Jacq can demonstrate that message first hand.
The sharing of their experiences as missionaries were part of the Oct. 23 diocesan celebration of World Mission Sunday.
Their presence also provided living witnesses to the main goals of World Mission Sunday, which is to bring mission awareness to families and encourage them to be missionaries.
Msgr. Richard A. Behl, diocesan director, Office of the Pontifical Mission Societies, provided a prayer and opening remarks in St. Joseph High School, Metuchen, where the celebration began.
“We thank you Lord, for giving us the gift of your spirit, to lead us, to guide us,” Msgr. Behl said. “We think of the words of your son, ‘Go out to all the nations, announce my Gospel, Baptize in my name.’”
With the help of a slide show, 15-year-old Brian Stoyell-Mulholland described how he convinced his family to get involved with missionary work.
When he was in kindergarten at Immaculate Conception Parish, Annandale, Brian and his classmates were visited by Jesus of Our Hope Sister Clare Yosco, former diocesan assistant director, Office of the Missions. Her talk inspired Brian, who told his mother he wanted to do something to help the poor.
Encouraged by his mother, Brian organized a shoe/sneaker drive for the poor in Quito, Ecuador and that was the beginning of his family’s missionary work. Barbara Stoyell-Mulholland spoke of how her family decided to travel to Ecuador in 1997, while her husband, Paul, recalled how he was reluctant to go, but had a change of heart after meeting the people there.
After they returned home, Brian, together with his sister, organized a toy drive. It netted $1,700 for a heart operation for Jenny, a child they had met in Quito.
The Stoyell-Mulholland family’s current project is raising money to help train teachers in Quito. They recounted the many spiritual benefits they have received as missionaries.
“These experiences were an eye-opener for me,” Mr. Stoyell-Mulholland said. “Sometimes it takes the heart of a child to see the possibilities.”
“The greatest thing that a missionary can do besides mission work is plant a seed in another person’s heart,” Sister Clare said.
As a symbol of how many people around the world walk to go to church, Going the Extra Mile allowed people to walk from St. Joseph High to St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen, where Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski presided at the noon Mass.
In his homily, Father Le Jacq, who worked as a doctor in Tanzania for more than 10 years, described how he had to amputate the leg of a boy who had been mauled by a crocodile. Years later, the boy, who had been fitted with an artificial leg, visited Father Le Jacq to thank him. Father Le Jacq told him all Catholics deserved his thanks because they helped pay for his vocations, which allowed him to become a priest, and other missionaries to work around the world.
During the Mass, recognition for outstanding commitment to the Church’s missionary activity was made to: St. Helena School, Edison; St. Francis Cathedral School, Metuchen, and St. Matthew School, Edison, and the religious education programs in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Woodbridge; St. Mary Ostrabrama, South River, and Our Lady of Fatima, Piscataway.
Also recognized were: Holy Childhood Association Christmas Card Art Contest winner Jessica R. Bolluyt, eighth grade, St. Philip and St. James Parish, Phillipsburg, and Ana Diaz, Christ the King Manville, also eighth grade, honorable mention.
A lunch of bread and soup was served after Mass to symbolize what many people around the world eat daily.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law