EVERY YEAR, SOMETHING SPECIAL HAPPENS on the next-to-last Sunday of October. WORLD MISSION SUNDAY joins 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.
Pope Francis’ message for World Mission Sunday this year reflects on the theme: “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts4:20). He reminds us that, “as Christians, we cannot keep the Lord to ourselves,” as we “recall with gratitude all those men and women who by their testimony of life help us to renew our baptismal commitment to be generous and joyful apostles of the Gospel.”
On World Mission Sunday, we join our Holy Father in supporting missions. As we pray and respond here at home, we share in those celebrations taking place in every parish and sshools throughout the world. Together, through our prayers and financial support, we bring the Lord's mercy and concrete help to the most vulnerable communities in the Pope's missions.
In a world where so much divides us, World Mission Sunday rejoices in our unity as missionaries by our Baptism, as it offers each one of us an opportunity to support the life-giving presence of the church among the poor and marginalized in more than 1,111 mission dioceses.
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POPE FRANCIS' MESSAGE FOR WORLD MISSION SUNDAY 2021
Once we experience the power of God’s love and recognize his fatherly presence in our personal and community life, we can not help but proclaim and share what we have seen and heard...The history of evangelization began with the Lord’s own passionate desire to call and enter into friendly dialogue with everyone, just as they are (cf. Jn 15:12-17). The Apostles are the first to tell us this; they remembered even the day and the hour when they first met him: “It was about four o’clock in the afternoon” (Jn 1:39). Experiencing the Lord’s friendship, watching him cure the sick, dine with sinners, feed the hungry, draw near to the outcast, touch the unclean, identify with the needy, propose the Beatitudes and teach in a new and authoritative way, left an indelible mark on them, awakening amazement, expansive joy, and a profound sense of gratitude. The prophet Jeremiah describes this experience as one of a consuming awareness of the Lord’s active presence in our heart, impelling us to mission, regardless of the sacrifices and misunderstandings it may entail (cf. 20:7-9).
Love is always on the move and inspires us to share a wonderful and hope-filled message: “We have found the Messiah” (Jn 1:41). With Jesus, we too have seen, heard, and experienced that things can be different. Even now, he has inaugurated future times, reminding us of an often forgotten dimension of our humanity, namely, that “we were created for a fulfillment that can only be found in love” (FratelliTutti, 68). A future that awakens a faith capable of inspiring new initiatives and shaping communities of men and women who, by learning to accept their own frailty and that of others, promote fraternity and social friendship (cf. ibid., 67). The ecclesial community reveals its splendor whenever it recalls with gratitude that the Lord loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19).... To be ‘in a state of mission’ is a reflection of gratitude” (Message to the
Pontifical MissionSocieties, 21 May 2020).
MENSAJE DEL PAPA FRANCISCO PARA EL DOMINGO MUNDIAL DE LAS MISIONES 2021
“No podemos dejar de hablar de lo que hemos visto y oído” (Hch 4,20)“No podemos dejar de hablar de lo que hemos visto y oído” (Hch 4,20)
Cuando experimentamos la fuerza del amor de Dios, cuando reconocemos su presencia de Padre en nuestra vidapersonal y comunitaria, no podemos dejar de anunciar y compartir lo que hemos visto y oído...La historia de la evangelización comienza con una búsqueda apasionada del Señor que llama y quiere entablar concada persona, allí donde se encuentra, un diálogo de amistad (cf. Jn 15,12- 17). Los apóstoles son los primeros en darcuenta de eso, hasta recuerdan el día y la hora en que fueron encontrados: “Era alrededor de las cuatro de la tarde” (Jn1,39). La amistad con el Señor, verlo curar a los enfermos, comer con los pecadores, alimentar a los hambrientos,acercarse a los excluidos, tocar a los impuros, identificarse con los necesitados, invitar a las bienaventuranzas, enseñarde una manera nueva y llena de autoridad, deja una huella imborrable, capaz de suscitar el asombro, y una alegríaexpansiva y gratuita que no se puede contener. Como decía el profeta Jeremías, esta experiencia es el fuego ardientede su presencia activa en nuestro corazón que nos impulsa a la misión, aunque a veces comporte sacrificios eincomprensiones (cf. 20,7-9). El amor siempre está en movimiento y nos pone en movimiento para compartir el anunciomás hermoso y esperanzador: "Hemos encontrado al Mesías" (Jn1,41).Con Jesús hemos visto, oído y palpado que las cosas pueden ser diferentes. Él inauguró, ya para hoy, los tiempos porvenir recordándonos una característica esencial de nuestro ser humanos, tantas veces olvidada: "Hemos sido hechospara la plenitud que sólo se alcanza en el amor" (Carta enc. Fratelli tutti, 68). Tiempos nuevos que suscitan una fe capazde impulsar iniciativas y forjar comunidades a partir de hombres y mujeres que aprenden a hacerse cargo de lafragilidad propia y la de los demás, promoviendo la fraternidad y la amistad social (cf. ibíd., 67). La comunidad eclesialmuestra su belleza cada vez que recuerda con gratitud que el Señor nos amó primero (cf. 1 Jn 4,19)... “Ponerse en ‘estadode misión’ es un efecto del agradecimiento” (Mensaje a las ObrasMisionales Pontificias, 21 mayo 2020)