Each year, Catholics around the world are invited to recommit themselves to the Church’s missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice by observing World Mission Sunday.

This year’s observance is Oct. 18 with the theme “Here I am, send me” from the prophet Isaiah.

“During the Mission Month of October, Pope Francis reminds us that, as baptized Christians, we are called personally to mission – especially at this time – to bring Christ’s love to those most forgotten around the world,” Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., says in his World Mission Sunday message.

In his message, Pope Francis says, “Understanding what God is saying to us at this time of pandemic also represents a challenge for the Church’s mission. Illness, suffering, fear and isolation challenge us. The poverty of those who die alone, the abandoned, those who have lost their jobs and income, the homeless and those who lack food challenge us. Being forced to observe social distancing and to stay at home invites us to rediscover that we need social relationships as well as our communal relationship with God.”

He continues, “Far from increasing mistrust and indifference, this situation should make us even more attentive to our way of relating to others. And prayer, in which God touches and moves our hearts, should make us ever more open to the need of our brothers and sisters for dignity and freedom, as well as our responsibility to care for all creation.”

Read through the World Mission Sunday section of the October Monitor Magazine for full messages from Bishop O’Connell, Pope Francis and Father Peter James Alindogan, diocesan director of missions. Plus, see which parishes and schools in the Diocese of Trenton have the highest contributions to missions this year.  Click to view 2019-2020 Missions Office Donation Report