Fil-Mission Auxiliary Association (FMAA)

Today, July 30, 2017, you will meet young, not so old, and a little old senior citizens at Church doors.

“Today is Fil-Mission Sunday po. A once-a-year event to help support and send off our own Filipino missionary priests to all corners of the world. Tulungan po natin sila (let us help them). Daghang salamat (thank you) Sir/Ma’am,” as they hand you an envelope.

Yearly, these people knock on the generosity of mass goers in different parishes. They faced not just the heat and tiredness, but also the unsmiling, look-the-other-way, sometimes brazen refusal or offended look of parishioners as they avoided the extended love offering envelopes.

They are the FMAAers, the Fil-Mission Auxiliary Association, mission partners of the Mission Society of the Philippines, a non-political and a non-profit organization which has existed for more than 40 years.

As lay mission cooperators, they are Catholic, Marian, and Church-sacrament based who come from all parishes. The original purpose of FMAA is to make the lay faithful aware of their responsibility in the missionary apostolate of the Catholic Church. Through regular group holy hour, silent worship before the Blessed Eucharist, praying the Rosary, confession and holy mass, FMAAers hope to grow in personal conversion and sanctification, witnessing of Christian life, and thus be credible and effective intercessors for increased missionary vocations, and continued faithfulness and holiness of priests. Given a name of an MSP priest, they become the personal prayer partner and sponsor of that priest.

The Filipino Youth with a Mission (FYM), FMAA’s counterpart, together, promote missionary cooperation by giving spiritual, moral, material support to MSP priests all over the world. Aside from the sacraments, these young people grow to be evangelizers through formation, retreats, team-building seminars and campaign awareness programs.

The FMAA Handbook states that any Catholic man or woman who is willing to sacrifice and be partners in mission can become a member. The FMAA office is at the MSP house in Skyline, Catalunan Grande.

Everyday grace to be alive, active, having enough or more than enough come from GOD, all for free! WITHOUT COST YOU HAVE RECEIVED, WITHOUT COST YOU ARE TO GIVE (Matthew 10:8). With St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose feast day is July 31, let us go out and set the world on fire for love of GOD. Come, travel, live, love, serve, bless and be blessed, and glorify our loving GOD with our Mission Society of the Philippines priests in 14 countries now! (Bella A. Sarenas, FMAA member)