POLAND
There are 1903 Polish missionaries currently working outside of their land of origin, and among them are many Oblates. In addition to evangelization, they also work to improve the quality of life of the people they work with. To so many people around the world, missionaries are the only ones who not only help them spiritually, but also teach them new perspectives on life through education. It is in this perspective that supporting them with prayer becomes no less important.
“Missionary for Lent” is a project, initiated by the Oblate Province of Poland, to help these missionaries with prayers during the Season of Lent. Participants, through their fasting, prayer, and other good resolutions, are invited to become active collaborators in missionary tasks.
“The ‘Missionary for Lent’ is proof of the true mission of the Church, it is an act of mercy, laity praying for clergy”, commented Bishop Szymon Stułkowski (auxiliary bishop of Poznań, Poland) during the inaugurating event, which took place on Ash Wednesday. “We hear so much about material support for missionary activities. This is very pleasing, but the need for spiritual support is much greater. Prayer helps a lot for those who often work in extremely demanding conditions in different regions of the world”, explains Fr. Marcin Wrzos, OMI, editor-in-chief of the Oblate magazine “Misyjne Drogi”.
Through the website misjonarznapost.pl, participants choose a specific missionary and pray for him or her during Lent. Last year, more than 20,000 of the faithful took part in this campaign with great enthusiasm. This year, the seventh edition of the project, over 50,000 people are expected to join this effort and become “missionaries for Lent”.
