OCTOBER, A MONTH TO PRAY FOR THE MISSIONS AND REFLECT ON THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

St. Therese of the Child Jesus

The month of October starts with St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Having spent her youth in the monastery, she died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. In spite of  being closed in the monastery, her heart and mind were always open to world, offering her life for the salvation of all. She understood her limitations, but with simplicity and innocence threw herself like a child in God’s arms, accepting his love and allowing her heart to be inflamed with that love. 

Speaking of her own experience, she wrote: “I saw and realised that love sets off the bounds of all vocations, that love is everything, that this same love embraces every time and every place. In one word, that love is everlasting.

Then, nearly ecstatic with the supreme joy in my soul, I proclaimed: O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love. Certainly I have found my place in the Church, and you gave me that very place, my God. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and thus I will be all things, as my desire finds its direction.”

In the Church, the month of October is dedicated to reflection and prayer for the missions. Together with St. Francis Xavier, St. Therese of the Child Jesus is Patron of the Missions.

The Year of Faith and the Mission

As the Year of Faith draws to its conclusion, we must reflect on the implications of faith and on the call to give witness to Jesus Christ. Faith leads to the proclamation of the Gospel, so that others may encounter Jesus and recognise him as the Christ and the Saviour.

Below, you can watch a little presentation based on the logo of the Year of faith and on the message of Pope Francis for the Mission Sunday.

If we are Christians, we cannot hide the good news of Salvation in Jesus Christ. “We are all invited to walk the streets of the world with our brothers and sisters, proclaiming and witnessing to our faith in Christ and making ourselves heralds of his Gospel.” (Pope Francis)
The same presentation in Portuguese