SOUTH OZONE PARK — The command is as old as the faith itself, as proclaimed in the “Great Commission” from the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.  

In Matthew 28:19-20, he told the apostles, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” 

This has often been dangerous work throughout time, and even today in countries like Nigeria, Pakistan, and Nicaragua — all modern hotbeds of religious persecution.   

Fortunately, in verse 19, Jesus also told the apostles, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” 

A major expression of the Lord’s presence is the ongoing support from the global Society for the Propagation of the Faith through its annual World Mission Sunday collections in parishes worldwide, including Brooklyn and Queens. 

World Mission Sunday is slated for Oct. 18 this year, marking its 100th anniversary, established by Pope Pius XI in 1926. 

Father Thomas Ahern, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in South Ozone Park, said the Church has always prioritized mission work. As proof, he noted, World Mission Sunday is one of only two “second collections” mandated by the Church through Canon Law (791); the other is the Good Friday Collection for the Holy Land.  

Father Ahern has deep knowledge of funding evangelization abroad; he is the director of the Propagation of Faith Office for the Diocese of Brooklyn.  

“Personally, I am inspired by the missionaries,” he said. “They are, overall, a group of very happy priests, religious, and lay people who are working in the missions in some of the most difficult circumstances.”  

As an example, he shared the story of Father Anthony Bature.  

This Nigerian priest previously was a summer-priest volunteer for St. Teresa of Avila-St. Anthony of Padua, also in South Ozone Park, a parish Father Ahern previously served. Father Bature also helped at OLPH before returning to Nigeria to build new parishes to meet the growth of Catholicism there.  

Father Ahern said Father Bature confirms that Mass attendance is at 80%, even in the strife-torn “Middle Belt” region where priests and parishioners are constantly attacked by marauding Fulani gunmen.  

“He’s a wonderful guy,” Father Ahern said of Father Bature. “But his life has been in danger. And right now, 16 priests are displaced because their churches were burned down just in his diocese.”  

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Still, growing parishes present new construction challenges — schools and new church buildings — plus needed catechesis materials.   

“Needs have increased, and it is incredible,” Father Ahern said. “And it is happening all over the world, in Asia and Africa, especially.”  

This fervor for the faith is mirrored domestically, Father Ahern said, in the various communities within the Diocese of Brooklyn, long known as the “Diocese of Immigrants.”  

The proof, he added, is in the vibrant activities of the diocese’s 19 ethnic apostolates, which have drawn numerous foreign-born priests to help Catholics in local parishes with large congregations of Haitian, Chinese, and various Latino groups, to name a few.  

Father Ahern said Catholics in Brooklyn and Queens have always been “quite generous” during the second collection on World Mission Sunday; he hoped they would do likewise this year.  

“When I hear about the Church growing and building and really flourishing in these places, it’s exciting,” Father Ahern said.

“And I think anyone who loves the Church should be excited that there are some very beautiful, wonderful things happening in missions of the world.  

“And we can help them.”