From today’s Scripture: “But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”—Lk 9:60

There is a reason that Pope Pius XI declared St. Thérèse to join St. Francis Xaiver as patroness of missioners almost 100 years ago. In naming both, he appreciated that there is more than one dimension to mission work. St. Francis Xavier, Jesuit, traveled far and wide spreading the Gospel. That’s obviously missionary work.

But St.Thérèse never left her home, her cloister. In fact, she devoted her life to small acts of love and to praying. Doing ordinary tasks with extraordinary love sums up her approach. And she loved missioners. She devoted her prayer, and small acts of love, to the missionary work of the Church. Those of us who can’t head off to the missions are called to do the same.

Let us pray: Lord, give me missionary spirit! Instill in me a desire to share your Word with peoples everywhere, and to support, through prayer and sacrifice, the work of “on the ground” missioners.

Today’s author is John Feister, a widely published writer in Catholic media and former Communications Director for Glenmary.

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