Missionaries of Love & Hope: Mission Sunday 2025
Sermon By Emmanuel Suntheni – Mission Sunday
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: Missionaries of Love & Hope! Missionaries Of Hope Among All Peoples!
Point of Reflection: In 1926, Pope Pius XI instituted the annual World Mission Sunday through a papal decree, dedicating a portion of the month of October to prayer and reflection on the missions. Every year since then, the universal Church has dedicated the month of October to reflection on, and prayer for, the missions. On World Mission Sunday, Catholics gather to celebrate the Eucharist and to contribute to a collection for the work of evangelisation around the world. This annual celebration gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of mission work for the life of the Church. It reminds us that we are one with the Church around the world and that we are all committed to carrying on the mission of Christ. What kind of a missionary am I since my baptism?
First Reading: Isiah 60:1-6
Psalm: Psalm 121:1–8
Second Reading: Rom 10:9-18
Gospel: Mt 28:16-20
Sermon (Reflection): We are all called to be true missionaries and be missionaries of hope! Jesus Christ, the first missionary, made a permanent arrangement for inviting all men throughout the ages to share God’s love and salvation: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19). This is why the Council Fathers of the Second Vatican Council declared that the Church of Christ “is missionary in its origin and nature.” God the Father sent God the Son, Incarnate in Jesus, His Christ, into the world with a message of God’s love and salvation. Thus, the evangelising mission of the Church is essentially the announcement of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, as these are revealed to mankind through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hence, it follows that the mission of the Church is the mission of every member of the Church, and is not reserved for the priests, the religious, and the active missionaries alone. Thus, every Christian is a missionary with a message to share, thus, the message of God’s love, liberation, and eternal salvation.
As Christians, we can ask ourselves! How should we evangelise as a missionary? We can think of three possible ways:
- By living an exemplary and transparent Christian life
- by prayer
- by financial support. The first and most powerful means of preaching Christ is by living a truly Christian life.
In the first reading of today, we encounter the aspect of prayer in the form of the prophetic role of Isiah. It is Isaiah’s divine call as a missionary prophet: Twenty-seven hundred years ago, a young man, Isaiah, was praying in the temple of Jerusalem. As he was immersed in deep prayer, he saw the Glory of God. Immediately, he became aware of his sinfulness and said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” At that moment, a seraph flew to him, holding an ember, and touched the mouth of Isaiah and said, “Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.” Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and Who will go for Us?” Immediately, Isaiah responded, “Here I am! Send me.” At that moment, Isaiah became a messenger of the Lord and a prophet to the people of Israel. He preached the word of God for many years among his people. In vivid language, this prophet Isaiah presented the Good News of the coming of the Messiah, the One who would suffer and die for the forgiveness of our sins. Later, in the fullness of time, Jesus, the Messiah and Saviour, was born in Bethlehem. He was a messenger of the Good News of our Heavenly Father’s love for everyone.
The second reading is reminding us the Good News is Jesus Christ and if anyone believes and in Jesus Christ will be saved, “if you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” It is the same saviour who is sending us all today to go and be missionaries
Reflecting on the Gospel reading of today, after his death and resurrection for our salvation, when it was time for Jesus to ascend to heaven, he gathered his disciples around him and said, “Be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. Teach them what I have taught you. Baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And I will be with you till the end of the age” (Mt 28: 19 -20). The Church, founded on the rock of Peter, has always been faithful in continuing the ministry of Jesus. The Church has always relied on its members to fulfill the mission given by Jesus. Today, the Lord is asking the same question he once asked young Isaiah, “Whom shall I send, and Who will go for Us?” Yes, the Lord needs each of us as a messenger to spread His word more than ever. He needs witnesses to go to the ends of the earth. As we celebrate World Mission Sunday today, let us promise the Lord will be His messengers and witnesses, starting from where we are.
Christian Act in Word of God “Be a missionary of hope”
We are all called to be missionaries of hope! Reflecting on the previous mission messages will help us understand the universality of the church on the tradition of mission Sunday. In his World Mission Sunday messages, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of Christian charity in action as the keynote of evangelisation. He encouraged Churches with a shortage of priests to get them from countries with many priests. In the Pauline Year, he encouraged everyone “to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel,” and he exhorted all Christians “to redouble their commitment to participate in the missionary activity that is an essential component of the life of the Church.”
Quite interesting, Pope Francis, in his first World Mission Sunday message, 2013, challenged us to proclaim courageously and in every situation the Gospel of Christ, a message of hope, reconciliation, and communion. In his 2014 Mission Sunday message, the Pope challenged the Church to become a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples, and the source of rebirth for our world through the intercession of Mary, the model of humble and joyful evangelisation. “The Church is on a mission in the world,”
On this Mission Sunday, let us learn to appreciate our missionary obligation and support the Church’s missionary activities by leading transparent Christian lives, by fervent prayers, and by generous donations. Pope Benedict XVI concluded his 2006 Mission Sunday message thus: “May the Virgin Mary, who collaborated actively in the beginning of the Church’s mission with her presence beneath the Cross and her prayers in the Upper Room, sustain their action and help believers in Christ to be ever more capable of true love, so that they become sources of living water in a spiritually thirsting world.”
Action: I will be a missionary of love and hope!.
Prayer: Almighty God, you gave us the Church as the Sacrament of Salvation for all nations. Send your Holy Spirit to be with us as missionaries of love and hope, so that Christ’s saving power may continue to the ends of the ages. We pray for ourselves that we may be true missionaries of love and spread the Word of God, we ask this through Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
- Missionaries of Love & Hope: Mission Sunday 2025 - October 17, 2025
- Gratitude to God: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 10, 2025
- Faith Can Move Mountains: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 3, 2025
