Faith

Maureen Crowley
Heil

The first time I heard Pope Francis proclaim these words through one of his social media accounts early on in his pontificate, my first thought was, "Well, yeah..." It seemed like pretty basic theology coming from the Supreme Pontiff, from whose chair I had come to expect a bit more complexity.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized how incredibly profound his statement was -- and how few people really understand what it means.
We are taught from a very early age that when someone does us a favor, or goes out of their way for us, we should look for a way to pay them back. Somehow, we should be settling any debt of kindness, whether rendered in goods or services, of which we have been on the receiving end.
It is truly one of the hardest parts of the way the Pope's Missions, The Pontifical Mission Societies, function, because it is based on the supposition that people will give to the poor and struggling mission Church because it is the right thing to do, not because they'll get a plaque with their name on a school or chapel in some distant place.
Because we promote the idea in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:44-45) that all goods -- all gifts to our Societies -- should be gathered and put at the service of those who are in most need, I can't tell you exactly where your donated dollars go. I can tell you down to the penny what projects are funded in which mission lands, I just can't say it was the one you gave. All our donations are gathered into one fund and disbursed yearly according to the needs spread across one third of the Catholic Churches in the world. You read that right -- when you count all the Catholic Churches worldwide, in mission territories or not, our Mission Societies are the mainstay of a full third of them.
Our ministry is two-fold: to educate Catholics about the needs of the young, developing mission Church, as the U.S. was until 1908, and to give people the opportunity to put their faith into action by helping others. We ask you by direct mail four times a year, and other occasions in between, to read and act on those humble, simple words of Pope Francis that we have emblazoned across all our donor envelopes.
To change the world, we must be good to those who cannot repay us. Heed the words of the late Holy Father. It's an incredibly liberating way of life!

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.

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