October is Mission Month
World Mission Sunday- 18 October 2026
This year’s theme "One in Christ, united in mission," has been chosen to reflect global unity and shared responsibility.
Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, World Mission Sunday created an annual moment for the whole Church to unite in support of its missionary work.
As the Pope’s international mission agency, “The Mission” of Catholic Mission Australia is:
“ To respond to the call to love God and to love our neighbour by forming individuals and communities as missionary disciples of Jesus who share their faith in action and through prayer. We share in God’s mission to reach out, give life by sharing our personal and financial resources to: - proclaim the Gospel, - serve people in need, - act for peace, justice and creation; In partnership with local churches, so that all may have life in Christ.”
Catholic Mission Australia is an international organisation that partners with communities, helping them to flourish by supporting grassroots projects, including healthcare, education, and spiritual care. It has a network of religious and lay missionaries operating in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, the Americas. Catholic Mission’s work supports children, communities, and future Church leaders across education, healthcare, and spiritual care.
The Catholic school and parish communities of the Diocese of Ballarat have long been very generous and supportive in assisting the work of Catholic Mission Australia. This support and generosity brings to life our Christian obligation to help make God’s dream for the world a lived reality.
We are reminded at this time too that "The Preferential Option for the Poor" is a core principle of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) that requires society, individuals, and institutions to put the needs, well-being, and active participation of the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized first.
Catholic schools and parish communities participate in World Mission Month throughout October, culminating in World Mission Sunday (marked globally on October 18, 2026, which marks the 100-year centenary of the event).
These celebrations combine education, prayer, creative fundraising, and community outreach centred around global solidarity and the year's national campaign theme: "One in Christ, united in mission."
Prayer service to put two feet of love in action
(Catholic Mission)
Leader: Father, Son, and Spirit, we pray that you will help us to reflect today on how we can put love into action in our lives and in our communities.
Be with us as we listen and reflect on words from Scripture and Tradition on how we are called to put love in action.
Reader 1: "Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40)
All: Loving God, help us to put love into action.
Reader 2: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)
All: Loving God, help us to put love into action.
Reader 3: "The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brothers and sisters." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1397)
All: Loving God, help us to put love into action.
Reader 4: "A prayer that does not lead you to practical action for your brother or sister — the poor, the sick, those in need of help, a brother in difficulty — is a sterile and incomplete prayer. But, in the same way . . . When time is not set aside for dialogue with God in prayer, we risk serving ourselves and not God present in our needy brother and sister. (Pope Francis, Angelus Address, 7/21/13)
All: Loving God, help us to put love into action.
Reader 5: "A way has to be found to enable everyone to benefit from the fruits of the earth, and not simply to close the gap between the affluent and those who must be satisfied with the crumbs falling from the table, but above all to satisfy the demands of justice, fairness and respect for every human being." (Pope Francis, Address to the Food and Agricultural Organization, 6/20/13)
All: Loving God, help us to put love into action.
Reader 6: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs. The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity." (St. John Chrysostom, quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446)
All: Loving God, help us to put love into action.
Reader 7: "When God sends the prophet Jeremiah, God gives him the power to "pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" (1:10). It is the same for you. Bringing the Gospel is bringing God's power to pluck up and break down evil and violence, to destroy and overthrow the barriers of selfishness, intolerance and hatred, so as to build a new world." (Pope Francis, Homily on the Occasion of XXVIII World Youth Day, 7/28/13)
All: Loving God, help us to put love into action.
Leader: Loving God, guide us as we reflect today on how we are called to put love into action.
All: Amen.
Source: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The Feast Day St Teresa of Avila
On the 15 October, we will be celebrating the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) who remains one of the most compelling figures in Christian history.
What makes Teresa’s life so resonant is her striking humanness. Before becoming a renowned mystic, reformer, and Doctor of the Church, she was a lively, warm, and deeply relatable person who openly admitted to her own struggles with prayer, self-doubt, and worldly distraction
When her spiritual awakening fully took root, it blossomed into extraordinary action. Teresa viewed prayer not as a escape from reality, but as an intimate friendship with God that must bear fruit in love and service.
Ultimately, a reflection on St. Teresa of Ávila is a reminder that spiritual depth and real-world action are not opposites. Her life shows that profound faith does not require retreating from reality, but rather entering it more fully with courage, grit, and love.
Source: Blessed Among Us, Liturgical Press 2026.
Christ Has No Body but Yours
Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands.
Yours are the feet.
Yours are the eyes.
You are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Amen.
-St Teresa of Avila
Source: The image is from a stained-glass window located at the Convento de Santa Teresa (or the Convent/Basilica of Saint Teresa) built over her birthplace in Ávila, Spain.