Missionary Of Mercy Plans Pilgrimage To Our Parishes

Vincentian Father Stephen Gallegos, chaplain at the Daughters of Charity Seton Residence on Evansville’s west side, soon will begin a pilgrimage to parishes across our 12 counties as one of the Missionaries of Mercy Pope Francis commissioned on Ash Wednesday to serve during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

Father Gallegos travelled to Rome for the Feb. 10 ceremony, where he joined hundreds of priests from around the world who were sent forth by the Holy Father to serve as missionaries during the jubilee.

“I ran into a young Chinese priest who is one of the missionaries,” Father Gallegos said, “and I was in Taiwan for many years. We had a great connection right away. I also got to know a priest from Sri Lanka, and we have stayed in contact via email.”

Those two encounters speak volumes about the nature of a worldwide Catholic community that numbers more than 1.1 billion. Even in such large numbers, spread across a planet with scores of countries on many continents, we are one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.

“Pope Francis met with us in a big room next to the Sistine Chapel … there were 700 of us (missionary of mercy priests),” Father Gallegos said. “His charge to us was simple: be kind and gentle with people. This is the theme of his life.”

Vatican Radio reported that Pope Francis closed his homily during the Feb. 10 ceremony by saying:

“Let us set out on this journey together, as a Church, receiving the ashes and keeping our gaze fixed on the Crucified One. Loving us, He invites us to be reconciled with God, and to return to Him, in order to rediscover ourselves.”

Although Father Gallegos didn’t say this specifically, it seems clear that he has taken the Holy Father’s words very much to heart.

He met with Bishop Charles C. Thompson following his return to Evansville, and the bishop blessed a stole Father Gallegos received during the ceremony. As the bishop of Evansville, he also commissioned Father Gallegos. After prayer and discernment, Father Gallegos said he met again with Bishop Thompson to discuss his plans, which the bishop supports.

Father Gallegos will visit our parishes this late summer and fall to distribute crosses to as many families as possible across our 12 counties. There are roughly 20,000 crosses on their way to Father Gallegos for distribution.

“I will be providing Crosses of Mercy to every family in the diocese,” he explained. Special services will be scheduled in our parishes so that Father Gallegos can offer a brief homily and distribute the Crosses of Mercy. The Message will publish information on the services as the schedule is confirmed.

At the Feb. 10 ceremony for the Missionaries of Mercy, Pope Francis encouraged the hundreds of priests from across the world:

“Dear brothers, you will be able to help open the doors of the heart, to overcome shame, to not flee from the light. May your hands bless and lift up your brothers and sisters with paternity; that through you the gaze and the hands of the Father might rest on His sons and cure their wounds!”

Taking that suggestion a step further in charity – and, one can argue, in mercy – Father Gallegos will provide our collective diocesan family with Crosses of Mercy to serve as a constant reminder of Pope Francis’ words from the Bull of Indiction for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy:

“Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person, reveals the mercy of God.”