Bishop Egan reflects on Home Mission Sunday

BIshop Philip Egan - Screenshot

Sunday, 20 September will be Home Mission Sunday. This is the day in the Church's calendar when we especially pray for and support the vital work of evangelisation throughout England and Wales.

In a short filmed message, speaking on behalf of the Bishops, the Right Reverend Philip Egan, Bishop of Portsmouth, emphasised that many more people should come to know "the God who made them."

"Saint John Paul II once said, the greatest poverty of all was to lack God," said Bishop Egan. "As a bishop, it distresses me hugely that so many people today don't seem to know God. They don't know the God who made them. They don't seem to be friends with him. They're unchurched, adrift, without faith, without the hope of heaven.

"Home Mission Sunday reminds us of something Pope Leo said in his recent encyclical Magnifica humanitas that the desire for God is hardwired into every human heart. So on Home Mission Sunday, let's pray for the mission of the church in our land and for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that many more people may find their way to salvation in Jesus Christ and his church.

"There's also at Mass a second collection to support the work of the Bishops' Conference Mission Directorate. Please be generous and please hold this important work in your prayers. Thank you for listening."

LINKS

Watch Bishop Egan's reflection: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUoHMkmvMc8

Home Mission Sunday: www.cbcew.org.uk/home-mission-sunday/