Reflection

Here in Australia, October marks World Mission Month, a celebration of the global work of the Church and the dedication of missionaries, both religious and lay, as they reach out and support children and communities in need around the world.

On World Mission Sunday, which falls on 19 October 2025, parish communities around the world will gather to pray for and raise funds to support the work of thousands of crucial church-run programs. The following Wednesday, 22 October, is Children’s Mission Day, which you and your school can celebrate fully through Socktober.

Dearest God,… 

Open our eyes and our hearts so that we may see you in every one of your children.

May we embrace first ties that bind us to each other, and recognise that you created us into one family for compassion, caring and sharing.

From the time of birth, we need each other; other human hands lifted us from the womb. We rely on others to feed us, protect us, teach us, and love us into life.

Open our hearts to the needs of your innocent people suffering from the persistent burden of hunger and mobilise our spirits to respond to them. Counter the outrage and anger we feel against injustice with love.

Grant that is inspired by the vision of human solidarity, we may invest our material resources in bringing liberation to the despair of poverty and returning hope to your children. Stir our hearts to compassionate action that transforms suffering into redemptive love, now and forever more. 

Amen.

Prayer: Fr Ignatius Ikunza, Hakimani Jesuit Centre, Kenya.