Dear Friends,

Every October the Universal Church celebrates World Mission Month, a time to highlight the work of missionaries around the world, but also to remind us of the baptismal call to mission of each and every Christian.

This year, Pope Francis chose as the theme of his World Mission Sunday Message: ‘Go and invite everyone to the banquet’ (Mt 22:9).

Taken from the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, it is a call to action for us all.

“Reflecting on this key passage in the context of the parable and of Jesus’ own life, we can discern several important aspects of evangelisation. These appear particularly timely for all of us, as missionary disciples of Christ, during this final stage of the synodal journey that, in the words of its motto, “Communion, Participation, Mission”, seeks to refocus the Church on her primary task, which is the preaching of the Gospel in today’s world," the Pope writes.

Pope Francis then goes to underline for us what we are called to do: “Go and invite!”

Note the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence. The Holy Father means business about this! As Christians we are required to go and invite others to share in the Good News of Jesus Christ, both in community and at the Eucharistic table. And in case we missed it, Pope Francis reminds us the parable urges us to invite “everyone”. No-one is to be excluded.

As the final Assembly of the Synod on Synodality concludes in Rome, we are being asked to bring fresh eyes to what it means to be Church. How can we not only invite people to join us, but also invite those already part of the Church to be more actively involved? We each have a role to play and Pope Francis is calling us to step forward with our gifts and talents and be part of his Synodal vision of Church.

As missionaries, we are committed to taking up this challenge with fresh vigour, never growing tired of inviting those we encounter to the banquet of Christ’s love and always providing a warm welcome to those who come, as well as ongoing friendship and accompaniment to those we hope might join us in the future.

Go and invite everyone to the banquet. A challenge and a mission for us all to take up, wherever we might find ourselves in life.

Yours in the Word,

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,

Provincial.