Contributions of PARISHES
from Parishes and Schools 2023-2024 – PDF
Contributions of YOUTH
from Parishes and Schools 2023-2024 – PDF
October 1 is the Feast Day of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. She and St. Francis Xavier are the two principle Patrons of the Missions. The young saint’s freedom and her heart for God’s Church could not be contained by her cloister walls. From behind them her little acts of extraordinary love have animated the work of Catholic missionaries and evangelists around the world. The pie charts to the left disclose projects you helped through the missions in the fiscal year 2023-2024.
WORLD MISSION SUNAY: In the same month of October on the penultimate weekend each year, every Catholic parish around the world becomes remarkably mission-oriented. In our own little way we conduct this extraordinary act of Communion in the Mass. Worship and prayer is raised in song and petition. Thanksgiving is offered to the Father in our remembrance of the passion, death and resurrection of His Son. An envelope collection is also taken up to be made available to Catholic institutions struggling under the weight of poverty, persecution and financial dependence. October 20, 2024 marks the annual event for our parishes in the Diocese. Our gratitude and prayer for you is raised before, during and after the event.
Also marking this annual event and our gratitude for parish commitments to the mission of the Church through the Pontifical Mission Societies and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, we offer the financial disclosure. Each parish is tabulated with the figures we have from you, our records and our national office. We invite you spend time with the spreadsheet and pray for the missions represented.
MISSION COOP PROGRAM: Each summer missionaries are especially active sharing their work and ministry and inviting donors to support the people they serve. They stand before us at prayer in the name of Jesus Christ and tell the stories of their hearts. Who is it they represent in the name of Christ? What is the work they do? How can we participate in helping to fund the responsibility they have in the Church? The personal connection we feel makes a difference. It can be very moving to come to know someone from another place in the world so different from our own. Then, in Jesus Christ, we find our oneness with one another and respond with joy in sacrifice.
MISSIONARY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION: Children helping children was the idea of Blessed Pauline Jaracot in Lyon, France. Her action and thought was also the inspiration behind the creation of the Roman Office, The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. But her inclusion of children in the Church’s mission found support in the power of their prayer, the enthusiasm of their faith and the divine effect of their sacrifices. Each year our children are invited to grow in the same fashion through the Lenten Mite Box program. Funds are forwarded to help Catholic programs for children in need wherever there are missionaries to help them.
OTHER DESIGNATED DONATIONS: One privilege we have in the Mission Office is having the 30,000 foot view of the good happening all around the diocese. Many parishes honor a single relationship with a Catholic institution in the mission field. Whether its a parish, a school, a medical facility, a catechetical center or a convent of holy sisters, there are so many cherished relationships of faith. We celebrate these with you and thank you for going above and beyond the call of Catholic duty into the realm of Christ-centered beatitude. Mission focused relationships, as Fr. Joe Walijewski so strongly believed and promoted, have a give and take, a two way communication, which he named “reverse mission.” As we give, we receive. What we receive we in turn give away again. That is the economy of love and faith. In the charts are numbers sent to us. If you find some any discrepancies, please let us know. We want to be informed, spread the good news, and be of assistance as we are able.
The Propagation of the Faith – a Pontifical Mission Society
The Mission Office assists the faithful of the Diocese of La Crosse in carrying out Jesus’ directive to his apostles before his ascension into heaven … to go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Faith must be kept and guarded in our souls, but it must also be generously passed on to every person in the world. The Church must be missionary if she is to be the faithful spouse of Christ.
Pontifical Mission Societies
The Pontifical Mission Societies consist of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Holy Childhood Association, the Society of St. Peter Apostle and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious. The Pontifical Mission Societies have, as their primary purpose, the promotion of a universal missionary spirit – a spirit of prayer and sacrifice – among all baptized Catholics.
Fr. Joseph Walijewski Legacy Guild
Is an association of people dedicated to furthering the cause of the Servant of God, Father Joseph Walijewski, and providing continued support for the legacy he left behind. Padre Jose’s spirituality is rooted in seeing Christ crucified in everyone he met; especially the orphans, the abandoned, the marginalized and the poor.
Those devoted to Father Joseph Walijewski are encouraged to join the Guild and regularly say the prayer for his canonization, which is available online and on a special prayer card. Members are asked to pray for Father Walijewski’s canonization, report favors received and assist in the advancement of the cause.
To learn more about the life and works of Father Joe Walijewski and the cause for his Beatification and Canonization, please visit Father Joe’s Guild.
Mite Box Lent
World Mission Sunday Resources
Mission Coop Program
Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II
What does the Mission Office do?
- Coordinates the Mission Cooperation Program for visiting missionaries in Diocesan parishes.
- Distributes Mass stipends to retired and missionary priests.
- Supports the Father Joseph Walijewski Legacy Guild and the Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II Orphanage in Lurin, Peru.
- Coordinates La Crosse Diocesan student Lenten Mite Box collections.
- Promotes the annual fundraising benefit dinner for Casa Hogar Orphanage.
- Coordinates and promotes the annual Monsignor Anthony P. Wagener Mission Awards.
Appeals made through the
National Office
- World Mission Sunday – for the propagation of the Gospel in mission territories.
- Christmas and Lenten Appeals – for those in most need in the developing world.
- St. Peter Apostle – education and formation of men and women who have been called to serve the Lord as a priest or member of a religious order in a developing country.
For more information go to: www.onefamilyinmission.org
From Sister Carla Harrison (Daughters of Our Lady of the Pieta) in Peru:
We have many plans, projects, and needs at this time, but today we must listen to the heart which tells us what is most urgent. At this time of the pandemic, our greatest need is to help save the most fragile who suffer and are suffering because they are in need of oxygen (because of Covid-19).
Heartfelt thanks to you! Because of your generosity, we have been able to buy and supply oxygen for the elderly and vulnerable in our retirement home, who urgently need this support. In recent months we have suffered greatly because the oxygen cylinders were not available due to the great demand and need here in Peru. Those that were available were 3 to 4 times greater the cost, but when it comes down to saving a soul, there was no questioning. Despite the cost, we were able to purchase 2 cylinders of oxygen, but when the patient is on 15 liters, not even a large cylinder lasts long, so trying to find places throughout Lima that would fill the tank meant large lines, long waits, and lots of expenses. We were also able to buy 2 oxygen concentradors, which help for not having to continuously fill the tanks and scramble to find where they are filling them…. unfortunately the consentrators only reach to 10 liters maximum (so still didn’t meet the needs to increase their oxygen saturation)
Thank you for your generosity!
I have had you close in prayer and in gratitude, and still do, for allowing me to do God’s work with love.
May we continue to pray for and support one another during this hard time for us all.
In Christ,
Sr. Carla
Mission Outreach Spotlight – Catholic Life Published 2016
Donations for Sister Carla’s mission can be sent to:
Daughters of the Pieta
Mission Office – Diocese of La Crosse
PO Box 4004
La Crosse, WI 54602-4004
Catholic Life Articles
Here are a few Catholic Life articles. To read the full article, click on the blue colored title.
“There will always be poor people in the land – Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy …”
Deuteronomy 15:11
Contact Information
Mission Office
Phone: 608-791-2676
Rev. Woody Pace, Director
Marga Apel, Administrative Assistant