Mission Appeal Project – May 30th and May 31st – All Masses
| Mission Appeal Project – Diocese of Parassala: Presented by Rev. Abraham Lukose who is a Catholic Priest from the Diocese Mavelikara, Kerala, India. The Catholic Diocese of Parassala is one of the newest dioceses in the Catholic Church The Diocese established the Mission Appeal Project in August 2017, and it lies towards the southernmost tip of India. The area of the diocese is one of the most backward in the whole of South India – economically, socially, and educationally. Most families in the diocese live from unskilled daily labor which is not so easily available. Parassala is a mission diocese in the sense that all the faithful of the diocese came to the Catholic faith in the past couple of decades from the lower classes of the Hindu religion. The socio-economic backwardness of the region can be overcome only by providing the children of this region with proper education and life motivation. Consequently, as a new mission diocese, we set education of our youth and children as our first pastoral priority. By the grace of God, in the past seven years, we have been able to create some substantial educational opportunities for our children and youth. But along with providing educational opportunities, it is deemed important to provide our children and youth with the proper motivation in life, especially in terms of their future employment opportunities. As a small but pertinent step in this direction, the diocese started a residential, integrated training program for girls who completed Grade X in the school. We have selected 20 girls from poor families, who are academically talented and have an aptitude to work later in the medical field, especially as nurses. This is because there is a rapidly growing need for medical professionals around the globe. The girls are put up in a hostel like facility near one of our Higher Secondary Schools. The girls spend three years in this facility. The first two years they do primarily their eleventh and twelfth Grade schooling. The final year is an intensive preparatory year in view of their future employment. The program aims at:· Helping the girls with a fruitful completion of their schooling.· Providing them with orientation and training in view of their future employment, especially in the medical field.· Attending to their integral human development. The academic training includes, besides the higher secondary schooling, special coaching in languages, especially English and German to help the girls qualify themselves for pursing their nursing studies either in India or in any of the English or German speaking countries as per the opportunities available. The average monthly expense of a student is around $ 100. Thus, the total expense of a student for three years is $ 3,600. We have in the first batch twenty girls and the total expense would be $ 72,000. The return of the mission appeal is meant to support this project. If some of you would like to sponsor the formation of a single girl by donating $ 3,600, you are most welcome to do so. We will be deeply grateful for any support that could be extended to us in this regard May God bless you all! There will be a second collection the weekend of May 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026. If you wish to write out a check please make it payable to: Our Lady of Mercy. |