World Mission Sunday

To: Clergy, Religious and Laity in the Archdiocese of New Orleans

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Pope Francis had designated this October to be the Extraordinary Missionary Month and October 20 is the culmination as we celebrate World Mission Sunday throughout the world. The theme this year is Baptized and Sent.

Pope Francis invites us to see this October as a special moment to live out the mission we share through our baptism as God ’ s children, that is to bring the Gospel of Christ to the world. He invites us to pray and act so that the mission of the Church will continue as Jesus commanded.

World Mission Sunday gives us the opportunity to experience that we are in solidarity through our prayer and sacrifice with the universal Church so that the name of Jesus and his message will reach to the “ ends of the earth ”.

Your gifts will help build local churches and foster vocations. It will sustain priests, religious and lay pastoral leaders in more than 1,100 mission dioceses in Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and parts of Latin America and Europe. Your prayers and gift will send a missionary to an area where there is no Catholic presence. It can give a child a bible and help parents share faith with their children.

May your commitment to the missionary work of the Church be a blessing in your life. Please know my personal gratitude for your generous response on this day. May this be an extraordinary month of blessing and renewal for you, your family and your parish community.

Wishing you God ’ s blessings, I am
Gratefully in Christ,

Most Reverend Gregory M. Aymond
Archbishop of New Orleans