EVERY YEAR, SOMETHING SPECIAL HAPPENS on the next-to-last Sunday of October. World Mission Sunday brings all Catholics of the world into one community of faith. At Mass that Sunday, we recommit ourselves to our common vocation, through baptism, to be missionaries, through prayer, participation in the Eucharist, and by giving generously to the collection for the society for the Propagation of the Faith.
This year Pope Francis addresses his World Mission Sunday message to us as we live out our baptismal call to proclaim what we have heard and seen. The mission is closely linked to the love of Christ which springs from gratitude. The Covid-19 Pandemic has made many people fragile, marginalized, and vulnerable. But the presence and compassion of Christ bring to our fragile world consolation and hope. Pope Francis calls us in his World Mission Day message to be ‘missionaries of hope” in a world that is so much in need of kindness, hospitality, mercy, and community.
The mission is to carry out every action of our life with the spirit of the Eucharist. It is to live a life of gratitude to God. This is the mission that all Christians have received, and God gives us the on World Mission Sunday here in Canada, we share in those celebrations taking place in every parish, school, seminary, and convent all over the world. Together with the Church of Christ on missions in the world, we cannot but speak out what we have seen and heard, providing the prayerful and financial support necessary to bring the Lord’s mercy and concrete help to the most vulnerable communities in the world.
United as we are to each and everyone of goodwill, the mission calls us to be signs of Faith, Hope, and Love. May the love for the church’s mission which is a passion for Jesus Christ and a passion for us all grow stronger every day. The missionary month of October and World Mission Sunday prescribes “prayer” and “sharing”, two vaccines to the baptized people for a successful mission.
In a world where so much divides us, we can rejoice on this World Mission Sunday in our unity as missionaries by our Baptism. In addition, it provides an opportunity to support the life-giving presence of the church among the poor and marginalized in more than 1,200 young dioceses.
Fr. Alex Osei, C.S.Sp. , National Director of the PMS English-speaking Canada
