For several LA parishes, World Mission Sunday meant a focus on family

In his videotaped message marking the 100th World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18, Pope Leo XIV noted that no baptized Catholic should feel exempt from the great mission of evangelization.

“Indeed, through baptism, each one of us becomes a member of the body of Christ and has a unique role in contributing to Jesus’ saving work,” the pontiff declared.

For Deacon Douglas Zuniga of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Sun Valley, he said many churchgoers hear the word “mission” and associate it with travelling abroad to spread “the great work that Christ has entrusted to his Church,” as Pope Leo put it.

But mission work can and should begin at home with families, Zuniga said.

“Mission doesn’t just mean sending people abroad to places like Africa and Asia,” he said. “It’s about promoting missions that start with the family, in our neighborhoods, and our country — whatever the need for the Gospel to shine and bring light to the lives of the faithful, that is mission territory.”

Zuniga had the opportunity to put his words into action as LA parishes celebrated World Mission Month locally.

In a collaboration with the Pontifical Mission Societies of Los Angeles, Zuniga helped organize a first-ever Family Mission Mass at Santa Rosa de Lima Church in San Fernando on Oct. 10.

Both Santa Rosa de Lima and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary are among 63 parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Pastoral Region, of which Zuniga serves as regional coordinator. A third parish in the region, St. Didacus Church in Sylmar, also participated in the Family Mission Mass that was followed by activities for families.

Separately, on World Mission Sunday, nearly 300 students and parents filled the pews of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Paramount to pray the World Mission Rosary.

Several of these events were co-organized by the Pontifical Mission Societies of Los Angeles, which is emphasizing mission work through parishes’ religious education programs, said the organization’s director, Sabrina Lopez.

“We’ve been promoting missions at the school level — there’s a lot of support there — but religious education programs are more of a challenge,” Lopez said.

She said the Family Mission Mass at Santa Rosa de Lima — which attracted about 100 parents and kids — was a great first step in her plan to grow the event to the size of the long-established Missionary Childhood Association (MCA) Mass, which took place this year at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Oct. 14.

The Family Mission Mass was particularly notable this October because it was held a few weeks after the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen in St. Louis, Lopez said.

After the Mass, presided over by Bishop Marc Trudeau and concelebrated by Father Patrick Ayala, Santa Rosa de Lima’s pastor, families enjoyed rosary-making and other crafts while learning about World Mission Sunday and the Sheen-designed World Mission Rosary, whose five colored decades represent a different global region to unite the world in prayer and missionary support.

They also had the opportunity to pray before a second-class relic of Sheen — a piece of his vestment.

Sheen was the voice of World Mission Sunday from 1950 to 1966 when he served as national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Jennifer Barajas and her son Isaiah, 7, attended the Saint Rosa de Lima Mass and activities and found the event rewarding.

“This was very beneficial and the service was beautiful,” Barajas said. “The number of participants was ideal because everyone had a chance to do all the activities and felt acknowledged. We were able to learn about the rosary and the different colors. It was a great experience.”

Veronica Martinez, director of religious education at Santa Rosa de Lima, said it was meaningful to foster these connections with families in a unique setting.

“Seeing our community come together and having other parishes join us as a large family was truly an amazing feeling,” she said. “From the early stages of planning this event, I could see how events like these can teach our families about the different resources out there and how to create a closer connection within our faith.

“It’s important for kids to see another side of sharing faith other than in the classroom. The kids learned that their involvement within our faith matters and that programs such as this are here to help them feel involved.”

That was especially true at the Oct. 18 event at Our Lady of the Rosary, which attracted 250 high school confirmation students.

“What a blessing it was to see the confirmation students gathered to pray the rosary and to hear the heartfelt petitions they prepared for each mystery,” said Magdalena Arellano, associate director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. “They are a beautiful witness of our young Church, responding ‘yes’ to Christ’s call to prayer, mission, and evangelization.”

Lopez said she hopes to plan special mission Mass events in all five regions of the archdiocese.

She recalls a remark made by Trudeau, who oversees the San Pedro region, as he watched families engage in the activities at Santa Rosa de Lima.

“You know what?” Bishop Trudeau told Lopez. “I want this in my region.”