This month is dedicated in a special way to the Mission of the Church. “The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father.” (Ad Gentes 2)

As Pope Francis states in Evangelii Gaudium, “if we want to advance in the spiritual life, then, we must constantly be missionaries. The work of evangelization enriches the mind and the heart; it opens up spiritual horizons; it makes us more and more sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit, and it takes us beyond our limited spiritual constructs. A committed missionary knows the joy of being a spring which spills over and refreshes others.” (272)

WUCWO women are aware of this commitment and want to contribute to spread the joy of the Gospel, no matter if we remain in our village, borough or city. St Therese of the Child Jesus never left her place, yet she was proclaimed Patroness of Missions by Pope Pius XI because of her continuous and tireless offering of her life for the mission of the Church. “The person who feels happiness in seeking the good of others, in desiring their happiness, can be a missionary.” (ibidem)

In such way St Therese participated to the missionary work of the Church.  

“I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world. We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing.” (273)

These words could be attributed to St Therese and can be assumed by each WUCWO woman to be witnesses of God’s love for every person in this world.

Prayer by St Therese of the Child Jesus

“In spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the Prophets and the Doctors. I have the vocation of the Apostles. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach your Name and to plant your glorious cross on infidel soil. But…one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only, but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages.”

Further readings:

Evangelii Gaudium, 262 – 283

Ad Gentes