Remembering Those Who Served in Mission
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us* and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
USCMA believes it is important to remember those who have gone before us in mission. Those in mission know, in their bones, that they “stand on the shoulders of giants” who have paved new paths for mission – everywhere in the world.
Here, in this place, we do what little we can to honor their memory and steward their legacy. Here we want to remember the lay women and men, the religious, and the ordained who have served mission.
All the faithful are baptized and sent. Some have heard the call to mission, gone beyond themselves, outside of their comfort zones, crossed some type of border, to be with and for others, in their context, to continue the mission of Jesus in the world.
Please, if you know someone who has served in mission, and you want to honor their memory and steward their legacy, share their story with USCMA (uscma@uscatholicmission.org).
With deep sadness, United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA) announces that Father Thomas Craig has passed. He died on January 5, 2019 – at age 66 – due to a sudden illness, surrounded by his brothers in Christ.
Fr. Tom was born in Midwest City, OK and moved to Wichita Falls, TX with his family. Prior to joining the seminary, Fr. Tom served in the United States Coast Guard reserve for six years, during the height of the Vietnam war. He was ordained on June 26, 1982.
He served 36 years as a priest for the Diocese of Fort Worth. Previously, he served as a pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Arlington, Texas, for 15 years. He joined in 2001, at a challenging time for the parish, according to John Pearson, who served as business manager during Fr. Tom’s years. While at St. Vincent de Paul, Fr. Tom joined the parish’s mission work in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch in 1998. His passion for mission work grew, and he became the chairman of the Diocesan Mission Council in 2011. In 2016, Fr. Tom became the full-time Director of the Propagation of the Faith and Director of the Diocesan Mission Council.
Fr. Tom is remembered for being a gentle, compassionate pastor and a dedicated mission worker. He loved traveling around the world; he visited nearly 20 countries – including Italy, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Scotland – to name a few.
He is survived by his mother, his siblings (5 brothers and 3 sisters) as well as his God-daughters, nieces and nephews. USCMA will send a letter with our condolences to Bishop Olson. USCMA will name its’ Resource page in honor of Father Tom Craig.
“Father Tom was a true missionary – giving himself over to Jesus, his people, and the Church he founded to continue his saving mission in the world,” said Dr. Donald R. McCrabb, Executive Director of USCMA. “Fr. Tom gently called us to include schools in our institutions we reach out too because he knew that children needed to learn about mission. We are dedicating our resource webpage to his honor because of his generous and scholarly work on all the Church documents that speak to mission.”
It is with great sadness that USCMA announces the death of Fr. Gerry Kelly, MM.
Fr. Gerry Kelly, MM served as a missionary-disciple accompanying countless short-term mission trips and work along the U.S. Mexico Border after years of mission in South America. Fr. Gerry served in the Maryknoll Mission Center in Texas, was a founder of the Texas Mission Council, and a leader in the Third Wave of Mission.
Fr. Dave LaBuda, MM called last night to inform us that Fr. Gerry had died March 7, 2021 after battling liver cancer.
We call upon on missionary-disciples who knew Father Gerry to send stories, testimonials, pictures, and tributes to me to honor his “fatherhood” in mission, to celebrate and remember his passion for mission, and to embrace his legacy.
In 2017, USCMA awarded its Pope Francis Mission Award, its highest honor, to Fr. Gerry for “embodying mission.”
Once we have Fr. Gerry’s official obituary, and learn from Maryknoll about final arrangements, we will send another email out to all the membership. USCMA will grieve Fr. Gerry, as we celebrate his life, ministry, and mission, on USCMA’s webpage.
As we adjust to the shock and sadness of Fr. Gerry’s passing, our hearts and prayers turn to our Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, the Maryknoll Sisters, and the Maryknoll Lay Missioners who are grieving Father Gerry’s death. Our deepest sympathies go out to them and to Fr. Gerry’s family and friends. May his memory animate us, and bless us, for mission.
REV. GERRY KELLY, M.M. Biography
Written by: Alfonso Mirabal
October 5, 2016
Roger P. Schroeder in his book, "What is the Mission of the Church? A Guide for Catholics, Orbis Books, 2008) defines Mission as "proclaiming, serving and witnessing to God's reign of love, salvation and justice." (p. 3)
Fr. Gerry Kelly's whole life in mission and Maryknoll exemplify this definition of mission. How? His biography and list of activities show how he has lived this definition of mission to the fullest.
Fr. Kelly was ordained in 1967 and assigned to Chile. Learning Spanish, he worked with the Mapuche Indians in Chile for 10 years. This indigenous group in southern Chile lost two-thirds of their lands in the late 1880's and were placed on reservations. Due to this resettlement much impoverishment resulted. Working with Franciscan Sisters in 16 one-room schools and two boarding schools, Kelly immersed himself in the Mapuche culture. He formed "animators of the faith" and initiated several agricultural projects, raising pigs and cattle and forming cooperatives. It was during this time that the military coup occurred putting severe strains on the whole community.
Fr. Kelly's next mission was in St. Michael's Parish in Talcahunao, Chile. A bedroom community for workers in the steel plants and fishing industry, Kelly developed family catechetical and youth programs in the community. Key to his ministry was the development of Base Christian Communities.
This was followed by Kelly becoming the Regional Coordinator for Maryknoll-Chile. Maryknoll moved into newer commitments where the Chilean Bishops asked for assistance. As coordinator, Kelly traveled the twelve countries where Maryknoll ministered. Central America was experiencing tumultuous times during these years. Many new apostolates including the increase of activity by the Maryknoll Lay Missioners, emerged.
After 25 years of ministry in Latin American, Kelly returned to Boston where he was assigned to the Promotion Department. In his new capacity he worked with the Global Village programs; worked actively with the Peace and Justice team of the Archdiocese and joined the Haitian and Colombian Solidarity teams.
In January of 2002, Kelly moved to Houston, Texas. In this role, Kelly has had an impressive impact on mission activities in the Southern Region. He guided his promoters in New Orleans, Jacksonville, San Antonio and North Texas to new levels of mission education and involvement in local ecclesial structures, e.g. Diocesan Mission Councils, Parish Mission Councils, Diocesan Peace and Justice activities.
Besides providing visionary, creative and supportive guidance to his team, he threw himself into the challenge of mission in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He was instrumental in forming the Galveston-Houston Mission Council. He personally accompanies a number of mission trips to Central America providing formation, spiritual guidance and overall direction to what mission is all about. His involvement has been across cultures, languages and classes in Houston. One example is he has accompanied a group of young Hispanic adults for years, providing spiritual and theological formation as preparation for their annual overseas mission trips they make to a number of South American Countries. He is active in the Diocesan Vocation Committee, a member of Houston Peace and Justice and Pax Christi.
One signature characteristic of Kelly's mission ministry is his full commitment and support of the Maryknoll Affiliates. The southern region has an impressive array of Maryknoll Affiliates throughout the southern region. Kelly understood early on that the Maryknoll Affiliates is one effective way of forming communities of missionary disciples especially for people who have experienced often the transformative nature of a short-term mission trip..
Kelly is tireless but always ready to take on a new mission challenge. He has been the key person to keep alive the Texas Mission Conference (the only type of Conference in the US!). The Conference has representatives from most of the Texas Dioceses, and has an episcopal liaison from the Texas Conference of Bishops. The Conference sponsors an annual Mission Conference where theological speakers provide insights on mission; participants pray, plan and laugh together.
The Spirit appears to provide time, energy and never-ending vision to Kelly's mission life. His most recent accomplishment is his organizing of the Third Wave Institute (one of the four teams of the newly restructured Church Engagement Division Program (CED). The Third Wave of Mission Institute was formed to respond to the needs of the recent emergence of Catholics involved in short-term mission and parish efforts. The Institute has produced several videos with accompanying booklets to help groups prepare for the increasing numbers of people going on short-term mission trips.
Back to our definition of mission: "Mission is proclaiming, serving and witnessing to
God's reign of love, salvation and justice. Kelly has PROCLAIMED loudly and consistently the Gospel message of mission; he has SERVED in so many capacities thru his 50+ years of ministry to further the Gospel mission message and he has WITNESSED through his own life and his influence on scores of others the call to do mission! His LOVE of people, his commitment to the SALVIFIC mission message of the Gospel and his long history with JUSTICE issues, makes him a MAN OF MISSION!
May Fr. Kelly have multos annos!
Links:
Fr. Dave LaBuda's video tribute.
Fr. Gerry's Last Words to USCMA.
Dear Sisters, Family and Friends,
We come together today to mourn the death and celebrate the life of our Sister and friend Janice McLaughlin. Janice died on Sunday, March 7, 2021, at 4:00 A.M., ending a life fully lived. She was 79 years old and had been a Maryknoll Sister for 60 years. Desiring to be of service in death as she had been in life, she generously donated her body to science. Janice was gifted in many ways but what we remember best today is how she deeply touched our lives and the lives of so many people, especially in Africa.
Janice McLaughlin was born in Pittsburgh, PA to Mary Louise (Schaub) McLaughlin and Paul McLaughlin on February 13, 1942. She had one sister, Mary Ellen Mansfield who predeceased her.
Janice attended both Elementary and High School in her home parish of St Lawrence O’Toole in Pittsburgh, graduating in 1960.
On September 2, 1961, after only one year at St. Mary of the Springs College in Columbus, OH, she entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Maryknoll, NY. She made her First Profession of Vows on June 24, 1964 at Maryknoll, NY and, that same year, earned her Associate of Arts Degree at Mary Rogers College, also at Maryknoll, NY. Janice made her Final Vows in Kitale, Kenya on June 24, 1972.
After First Profession, Janice was assigned to work in the Communications Office at Maryknoll. In 1967, she attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts in 1969, graduating Magna Cum Laude.
Always hoping to go to Africa, Janice was more than ready to receive her first mission assignment to Kenya. While studying Kiswahili at the Language School in Musoma, Tanzania, finding herself on the shores of Lake Victoria, she reflected that a childhood dream had come true, a dream that had grown out of a punishment in fourth grade when she had been caught talking in class. Telling this on herself, she said she had been made to copy a page from her geography book many times. “As I gazed at the photo of elephants and giraffes grazing at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro,” she said, “I vowed I would one day see this scene in person. Sixteen years later this dream came true.”
After language school, in 1970, Janice’s first assignment was as Communications Coordinator for the Catholic Church in Kenya, where she was responsible for press, radio, television and audio-visuals. In 1977, she received a request from the Rhodesia Catholic Bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission to go to war-torn Rhodesia to serve as Press Secretary. After much reflection and discernment with her community in Nairobi, she went with their support, blessings and prayers, arriving in Rhodesia on May 30, 1977.
Part of her work was communicating the situation to the wider world and she therefore, immediately began compiling a series of fact papers about the war, published as “Rhodesia – the Propaganda War.” The Smith regime soon enough closed in on the activities of the Catholic Commission and, on September 1, 1977, Janice was arrested together with her colleagues, all of whom were granted bail except herself.
Before Janice died she had left a note in her file, to be opened at her death.
“I want to share one of the most significant experiences in my life. I only told a few people about it as I felt that to talk about it would somehow dilute it or draw attention to me.
“It happened in September 1977, a few days after I was arrested and detained in Chikurubi Prison. One night I lay on my bed, feeling very helpless, scared and miserable. I tried to recall what I had written in my diary that had been seized by the police. I worried that I might have gotten others into trouble through my naivety and stupidity. I started to cry, deep, wrenching sobs from the deepest part of my being. The tears would not stop.
“As I lay there sobbing, I noticed a dim yellow light in the corner of the room. It moved closer to me and became brighter and I could feel a warmth and peace flowing from it. The light, a kind of misty, hazy golden glow shaped like a halo around a person, stopped by the right side of the bed. A voice came from the light, saying ‘You are the stupid, silly little girl whom I love.’ I did not hear the words spoken aloud but within me. I felt a great peace and comfort. All fear and self-pity left me. Gradually the light moved back to the right hand corner of the room until it faded away completely.”
On September 13, she was charged with violations of the Law and Order Maintenance Act. The trial was set for September 29, but before it could happen, most likely because of International pressure—many people from all over the world had been urging her release—the charges were suddenly dropped and she was deported.
Back in the United States, Janice lobbied against local Pittsburgh corporations that violated UN sanctions against Rhodesia. Seeing the amount of negative publicity Janice received in the local media, her mother asked, in her usual forthright manner, “When are you going back to Africa?” The perplexed expression on her daughter’s face prompted her to continue: “Well, when you speak out in Africa, you’re a hero. When you do it here, you’re only a trouble-maker.” After serving one year in the Washington Office on Africa, Janice was ready to return to Africa. Her life-changing prison experience had prepared her for the changes that lay ahead. In 1979, she was called to accompany Zimbabwe refugees living in Mozambique. This ministry enabled her to use her many gifts in the field of education, development and leadership training.
In 1991, she was assigned to serve as Communications Coordinator for the Maryknoll Sisters. With the completion of that contract, she returned to Zimbabwe to be a training coordinator for Silveira House, a leadership training and development center run by the Jesuits for the poor and marginalized.
Janice earned her Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Zimbabwe, in 1992. Her Thesis, “The Catholic Church and Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation: 1972-1980”, was published by Baobab Books, Zimbabwe, 1993.
In 2008, when Janice was elected President of the Maryknoll Sisters for a six-year term, her good friend and colleague, Bishop Dieter Scholz, SJ, offered her this advice from his own experience: “Ultimately the only wisdom guiding our reflection and decisions which makes sense is the ‘foolishness of the cross’.” During her time in office, Janice received two honorary doctorates, one from Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, in 2010, and the other from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT, in 2014. Among the many awards Janice received, the South Africa Council of Churches recognized her in 2008 as follows: “In appreciation for the sacrifices that you and your family made in the struggle for freedom, justice and democracy in South Africa.”
In 2009, Orbis Books published her bestseller, Ostriches, Dung Beetles, and Other Spiritual Masters for which the U.S. Catholic National Press awarded her first Prize in 2010.
On completion of her term of office at Maryknoll, she returned to Africa, continuing to offer her service to the peoples of Zimbabwe. She also chaired the Africa Forum for Catholic Social Teaching (AFCAST), an Association of Justice and Peace Practitioners throughout East, Central and Southern Africa.
This letter barely touches the richness of Janice’s legacy. She will live on in our hearts through her own words on her Golden Jubilee: “Let us continue to raise each other up as God has raised each of us and enabled us to stand on many mountains and cross many seas to do things we had never imagined possible in so many parts of the world.”
Sr. Janice’s ashes will be interred in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery at Maryknoll, NY at a later date.
We thank Rev. Raymond Finch, MM, Superior General of the Maryknoll Society, for presiding at this Mass of Resurrection. Gratitude to Sr. Mary Ellen Manz, who read the letter, and those who made the virtual participation possible from here in Annunciation Chapel.
In Our Lady of Maryknoll,
Sisters Josephine Kollmer and Claudette LaVerdiere
Condolences can be sent to: Mrs. Didi Streit
12 Perky Road
Key Largo, FL 33037
Tony, a member of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost (Spiritans), authored Living Mission Interculturally – Faith, Culture, and the Renewal of Praxis, published by Liturgical Press in 2015. Born in Manchester (England), Tony lived among the Mende people of Sierra Leone, West Africa (1972-1980) as a missionary pastor, linguist, and ethnographer. From 1980 to 1984 he was Formation Director in London and lectured at the Missionary Institute. Since then, he has done missionary anthropological work in several countries beyond Africa, including Pakistan, Kiribati, and the Trobriand Islands. During a visit home, he died surrounded by his siblings on May 15, 2023
Tony was the author of eighteen books on theological and anthropological topics, and on mission and spirituality. They include Ministry At The Margins: Strategy and Spirituality for Mission (Orbis, 2002); Where There’s Hope, There’s Life. Women’s Stories and Practical Theology (Liguori, 2006); Called to be Sent: Co-Missioned as Disciples Today (Liguori, 2008). Living Mission Interculturally (Liturgical Press, 2015), The Way of Jesus: Women, Men, and Today’s Call to Mission (Liturgical Press, 2016); Courage and Conviction: Unpretentious Christianity (Liturgical Press, 2018).
He taught at Catholic Theological Union from 1984-2012 and held the Bishop Ford Chair of Mission Theology from 1999-2008.
During "retirement," Tony offered retreats, parish missions, workshops, and short courses, keynotes and conferences, on a full-time basis, nationally or internationally. He is especially interested in working with groups of religious (both women and men), clergy (including bishops), and adult laity in parishes. His topics included “Discipleship,” “Mission and Culture,” “Living as a Eucharistic People,” “Mission Spirituality,” and “Intercultural Living.”
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