News

Our March newsletter includes an interview with Lydia Gamboa of The Pontifical Mission Societies in Los Angeles, a reflection about Compassionate Listening from Fr. Chris Saenz and details about our upcoming webinar on leadership.

"Go Forth" is a new initiative to amplify, proclaim, and explore the call to mission made possible, in part, by a generous grant from the Catholic Communications Campaign. Join us for a 90 minute webinar to explore how we can animate the call to mission through our witness and reflection on how Jesus invites us into his vineyard through the Sunday readings.

The feature story in this month’s ENCOUNTER reveals how Sr. Helen Murage and her congregation bring hope to God’s people here in the United States and in their African homeland. Then we turn our eyes to the universal call to mission and our hope of resurrection by reviewing the World Mission Day messages of Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis reflects on three key aspects of the Emmaus story in the Gospel of Luke. He writes, "By meditating on these three images, which reflect the journey of all missionary disciples, we can renew our zeal for evangelization in today’s world." It is a beautiful and inspiring read!

Happy New Year! Our first issue of 2023 includes the story of Brother Tobias, a German Benedictine on mission in Nebraska, and our look back at all the amazing work we did for God's mission last year.

We are pleased that Fr. Dinh Anh Nhue Nguyen, OFM Conv, General Secretary of the Pontifical Missionary Union, will join us from Rome to discuss how Ad Gentes continues using the World Mission Day messages of Pope Francis as our lens. Sign up now, and check out our past webinars!

Recently at our convention, we experienced so many forms of joy as we looked forward to the future of our organization. This month’s newsletter includes an overview of the event featuring Sr. Nancy Schramm, Kelli Nelson and Dr. Megan Mio and a reflection from board member Wesley Cocozello.

Thanks to the Office of Mission in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, we have recordings of key events during our recent convention. The links wll take you to the Facebook livestream recordings. We hope you will enjoy this opportunity to participate in our Grace Filled Future.

As part of our restructuring, we sought participation from members during several town hall gatherings in mid-2022. You're invited to review the reports from those events now.

We meet Fr. John Paul Herman, the new editor of SEDOS (Service of Documentation and Study on Global Mission), and review input from mission leaders who participated in our town halls about restructuring.

Our theme will be “A Grace Filled Future: 10 Years of Animating the Joy of Gospel.” We have a date and a place to gather, to celebrate the Eucharist, and to move forward in our organizational work of networking, formation, and advocacy for God’s mission. Register now!

Register for the evening session on October 6 and/o the afternoon session October 11 and mark your calendar! In order to appropriate USCMA's new vision and mission, implement its restructuring plan, and prepare for the upcoming national convention, the USCMA Board is hosting a series of town hall gatherings. These town hall gatherings will use a simple synodal conversation to surface a path forward together.

This edition of our newsletter looks at the parish twinning experience of St. Joseph in Medor, Haiti and Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington, Virginia. Our reflection from Don McCrabb explores how our USCMA mission statement encourages each of us to grow through networking, advocacy and formation, not alone as individuals but as a community of faith leaders strengthened through encounter.

Our September 2022 newsletter features two women mission leaders and how their work is centered on Jesus, faith, and relationships. As Marilyn Santos says in our front-page article, “When we receive the Lord in the form of Eucharist, the mandate is to go and be the Lord for others. The Eucharist is mission.” Janice England of the Lay-Mission Helpers Association shares her grace filled experience resuming mission visits to Central America and Africa after pandemic travel restrictions changed.

We are committed to meeting in person, likely in a Midwestern city. Please hold October 26 through November 2 as we work to lock in our target dates of October 28-30. Stay tuned for the final announcement!

A missionary in his home territory, James gave his life for the Lord. How can you imitate the zeal of St James and his closeness to Christ in order to serve in the spirit of the Beatitudes?

We are a community of faith leaders engaged in advocacy for God’s mission. We share a dream for a missionary church with Pope Francis. To be sent, we need to follow, and to follow, we need to walk. The idea behind WALK is to encourage people to reflect on their lives, encounter Jesus, follow him, and answer the call to mission. As faith leaders, we want to accompany others in their journey of faith. There is no journey, there is no accompaniment, unless we walk.

Columban Fr. Chris Saenz shares his experiences abroad as a missionary and in a new role of director for the U.S. region. This month's reflection focuses on the Living Bread of the Eucharist, and the explores the unique role missionary communities could play during the current Eucharistic Revival.

As our implementation committee gets to work, we're committed to updating the website with news for our members about how we will live our new mission statement: USCMA is a community of faith leaders engaged in networking, formation, and advocacy for God’s mission.

The Parish Twinning Program of the Americas is holding its national conference in Nashville, TN. The conference begins on Friday, August 26th, at 12:30 pm and concludes on Sunday, August 28th, at noon. Featured speakers include Msgr. Raymond East, Gandy Thomas, Kim Lamberty, Bruce Compton, Chuck Dietzen, Cardinal Oscar Rodriquez Maradiaga, Bishop Mark Spalding, Sr. Larraine Lauter, Don McCrabb, and Kelli Nelson. Cost is $300 for the conference - click to learn more and get the registration link.