World Mission Sunday - October 22

The annual celebration of World Mission Sunday on the next-to-last Sunday in October provides us, as members of the Body of Christ, an opportunity to show our solidarity with one another. In his 2017 message for World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis invites us “to reflect anew on the mission at the heart of the Christian faith.” As we know, mission is not an optional aspect of our vocation as baptized Christians; rather, sharing the gift of divine life and love received in Baptism is an imperative received from Christ.

Laity, Religious, and clergy alike strive to make “present in history the Kairos, the favorable time of salvation” in the more than 1,100 local churches throughout the world that the Pope’s Mission Societies support. Celebrated this year on October 22, World Mission Sunday allows us “to join in prayer, testimony of life and communion of goods” with those who so generously pour out their lives in service to Christ, and with our brothers and sisters who receive the fruits of their labors. Mission churches in Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and parts of Latin America and Europe cover more than half the territory of the globe and serve millions of people annually.

While missionary discipleship begins at home, it does not end there—nor at a border. We are called to be one in Christ who unites us in charity, a charity which is made effective in the sharing of our blessings. I invite you to ask our Lord to show you what he is asking you to do for Him through your support of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith on World Mission Sunday and on each day of your life through your prayers, sacrificial offerings, and charity.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
 
Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson
Archbishop of St. Louis