Catholic Church marks Mission Sunday with appeal to prayer and giving
On Mission Sunday, Catholics worldwide are asked to pray and give to missionary work, a reflection built on Jesus's answer about paying taxes to Caesar.
Catholics around the world are marking Mission Sunday, a day set aside for prayer and financial support for the Church's missionary work. The observance, which falls on the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, is celebrated in 2026 as its 100th anniversary, under the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV: « One in Christ, united in mission ». The Church presents the day as a reminder that its life is missionary at its core.
The reflection for the day is drawn from the Gospel of Matthew, in which Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus with a question about whether it is lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar. Jesus asks to see the coin, asks whose image and inscription it bears, and answers: « Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God » (Matthew 22:15–21). The passage is presented in the source as a lesson about two kingdoms existing side by side: the Kingdom of God, whose seed on earth is the Church, and the kingdom of Caesar, whose aims and methods are often at odds with the Church's mission.
The commentary argues that the answer does not set civic duty against faith. Lawful taxes are owed to the government, the text says, but believers also owe God their adoration, prayer, Sunday worship, tithes and obedience to His commandments and those of the Church. Citing Matthew 6:33, it adds that those who seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness will find that their needs, including taxes and daily bread, are provided for.
Mission Sunday, according to the reflection, is a call to personal engagement with the missions. It points to St Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, who never left her convent yet is the patron saint of missionaries because she carried mission work in her prayers and taught that prayer is a real contribution to it. The text encourages readers to pray for the missions and to make financial contributions to mission work from time to time.
The article also notes that the Church dedicates October to the Holy Rosary, quoting the message attributed to Our Lady of Fatima in 1917: « Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world. » Readers are encouraged to pray the Rosary daily throughout the month.
Source: seekfirst.blogspot.com
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