18 October 2026 - bulletin reflection - World Mission Sunday

Introduction: Today, with great joy, we celebrate World Mission Sunday. Pope Francis taught us that the missionary identity is the very essence of the Catholic Church, asserting that the Church is "missionary by her very nature.” We Catholics are to see ourselves as members of a community of "missionary disciples" who naturally share the joy they have encountered in Christ with others. As we celebrate together at Mass with God’s holy word and with Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, may we feel this missionary spirit all around us. 

Lord Jesus - you bring the world a missionary spirit. 

Christ Jesus - you sent out your disciples to continue your ministry. 

Lord Jesus - you are our savior and our redeemer. 

Priest: As we celebrate World Mission Sunday today, we bring our prayers before our heavenly Father: 

1. For the Universal Catholic Church. May every baptized Catholic answer the call to be a witness of Christ by word and deed, proclaiming the Gospel to all both near and far. We pray to the Lord.

2. For missionaries who leave their homelands to serve God and his people. For missionaries who work in the their own communities. May they be given courage, joy, and the strength of the Holy Spirit in their service to God and to his people. We pray to the Lord.

3. For communities in need. For communities suffering from war, violence, poverty, and persecution. May our prayers and material support bring them hope and relief. We pray to the Lord.

4. For our Holy Father Leo XIV and Bishop Kopacz. For all bishops, priests, deacons, and lay leaders. May they lead the flock with the servant-heart of Christ and inspire a zeal for the missions. We pray to the Lord.

5. For our local parish faith community gathered here at Mass today. May we open our hearts to the needs of the global missions and support them generously through prayer and sacrifice. We pray to the Lord. 

6. For Pope Leo’s October prayer intention. For the establishment and strengthening of mental health ministries throughout the Church. May we work together to overcome the stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental illnesses. We pray to the Lord. 

7. For our children, youth, and college students. May the Lord continue to accompany them in their studies and in their activities. We pray to the Lord. 

8. That during Respect Life month, we may unite our prayers with the prayers of our Blessed Mother Mary as we respect human life in our words and our actions. We pray to the Lord. 

9. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. For those who have asked for our prayers. We pray to the Lord. 

Priest: Out of the joy of our faith, and out our of missionary spirit, we present our prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN. 

Bulletin Reflection for World Mission Sunday - 18 October 2026

World Mission Sunday should resonate with us in different ways. I remember how it was about this time in the month of October back in the year 1992 that I traveled up to Winnipeg, Canada to serve as a lay missionary for two years, working in a food bank and an inner city soup kitchen. I remember visiting the Siloam mission soup kitchen for the first time, meeting the street people who were trying to survive just as the winter months were beginning in this cold Canadian city. We do not have to travel to a foreign country to be a missionary in spirit and to support the missions of the Church. St Therese, one of the patron saints of the missions, living out her missionary spirit and supported the missions as a cloistered nun in Normandy, France. I am thankful for all the ways our community here at Holy Savior supports missionary work in different ways. We also must never forget that we here in the Diocese of Jackson are designated by the Catholic Church as a mission Diocese, so this missionary spirit should always be a part of our daily identity. Have a blessed week everyone. Father Lincoln. 

16 October 2026 - homily for Friday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time - St Margaret Mary Alacoque - Ephesians 1:11-14

“I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the Heart of Jesus.” These were some of the last words of Visitation nun St Margaret Mary Alacoque, who died in the year 1690. She lived a holy life and had a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

Born into a large Catholic family in 1647 in France, she grew up with a special devotion to Jesus and the Blessed sacrament. She was bedridden by a mysterious illness at the age of 15. She prayed to the Blessed Mother, promising that if she was healed she would take religious vows. She was cured of her illness. 

Entering the convent at the age of 23, she had three apparitions from Jesus, revealing to her messages from his sacred heart, including the First Friday devotion of each month and an annual feast day of the Sacred heart, which have become popular devotions in the Catholic faith. She worked hard to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart, with the devotion first starting locally after it was approved by the local bishop, and then spreading throughout France. After her death, with books published about her life, the devotion became even more popular. In 1765, the devotion to the Sacred Heart was officially approved by Rome, and, in 1856, the feast of the Sacred Heart was made a universal solemnity by Pope Pius IX. St Margaret Mary is known throughout the world as the beloved disciple of the Sacred heart. 

These last couple of weeks, we’ve been hearing from St Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Yesterday, at daily Mass, we started hearing from his letter to the Ephesians. Paul had founded the Christian community in Ephesus on his second missionary journey. He later returned to Ephesus, where he stayed approximately 3 years. The letter to the Ephesians was written to that community while St Paul was in prison in Rome.  Scholars believe that in addition to Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were also written while he was in prison. The importance of praising God is a main theme of this letter. Paul praises God who is in the person and work of Jesus Christ and in the Gospel message.  After a brief greeting, Paul’s first words in his letter to the Ephesians begin,  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” 

May we give thanks to special messengers like St Margaret Mary and St Paul that God has sent to us throughout the ages. May there messages continue to resonate in us. 

16 October 2026 - prayers of the faithful for Friday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you call us to stand firm in our faith. 

Christ Jesus - you proclaim the kingdom of God. 

Lord Jesus - you are the word of God. 

Priest: In a spirit of trust and hope, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father: 

1. For a spirit of gratitude. May we recognize our gifts, possessions, and opportunities as blessings from God, that we may place each of them in the service of God. 

2. For all who are bound by a spirit of self-righteousness. That God will free their hearts, break down the walls of prejudice, and open them to the dignity of each person. 

3. For all who are suffering or being persecuted for their faith. That God will comfort and strengthen them and bring them safely through their trial. 

4. For greater respect for each person. That God will turn the hearts of all who rely upon violence and bring healing to all who have suffered harm, abuse or neglect

5. For healing for the sick and the afflicted. For healing in body, mind and spirit.  

6. For a greater love for the Eucharist and a greater devotion to Mary. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts.  

Priest: In unity with the community of saints, we present our prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.   

15 October 2026 - prayers of the faithful for Thursday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you call us to take up our crosses and to follow you. 

Christ Jesus - you call us to serve others. 

Lord Jesus - you are seated at the right hand of the Father. 

Priest: With humble hearts, we now present our prayers to our heavenly Father: 

1. For all who have helped to strengthen our faith. For parents, teachers, and those who give witness by the fidelity of their life, that they may continue to be examples of Christian discipleship. 

2. For students, that God will help them learn, stay safe, and find the resources they need to assist them in their studies. 

3. For justice and peace. That God will protect all who are experiencing warfare and injustice, particularly the people of Ukraine and the Middle East. 

4. That the Holy Spirit will help us to be better listeners, opening our minds and our hearts to what others have to say and to be attentive to God’s word that speaks to our hearts.  

5. For healing for all of us in body, mind and spirit.  

6. For the repose of the souls of our deceased loved ones and community members. For their entry into eternal life. 

7.  For respect life month in the month of October, that we may grow in our respect for human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. 

8. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. 

Priest: With joy in our hearts, we present our prayers today through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN. 

14 October 2026 - prayers of the faithful for Wednesday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time

Lord Jesus - you are the living word of God. 

Christ Jesus - you are our savior and redeemer. 

Lord Jesus - you are the beloved son of the Father. 

Priest:  In faith and hope, we now present our prayers to our heavenly Father. 

1. That we in Church may praise God when we gather for Mass, in our prayers, our words, and our actions.  

2. That our governmental leaders may lead us in justice and peace, working towards an end to war, terrorism, and violence. 

3.  For those who are battling addictions and mental health issues. For those who have lost hope and for those who are searching for meaning life. May God lead them to meaning and wholeness. 

4. For the sick and the afflicted. For healing of body, mind, and spirit. For their families and caregivers. 

5. For a welcoming and gracious spirit. May we reach out to the poor, the outcast, and the stranger.

6. That we may always foster a missionary spirit in our hearts. 

7. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. For their entry into eternal life. For the souls in purgatory. 

8. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts. For those who have asked for our prayers. 

Priest - In faith and hope, we present these prayers to you through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN. 

14 October 2026 - St Callistus I - homily for Wednesday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time - Galatians 5:18-25

St Callistus has a very interesting story. He was born into slavery in the Roman Empire. After he escaped slavery, he found himself in the service of Pope Victor around the year 199 AD. He served under several popes and was eventually ordained a deacon. He was put in charge of one of the catacombs where  the Christians were buried in Rome; that place is called the Catacomb of St Callistus. In the year 217 AD, when the current pope died, he was chosen as successor. He is said to have been a diligent evangelist, converting and baptizing many prominent citizens of Rome, including soldiers and senators, many of whom later died as martyrs. Like many Church leaders in that era, St Callistus was martyred during a series of persecutions around the year 223 AD. 

In our reading from his letter to the Galatians today, St Paul gives us a list of how the ways of the world can lead us away from the Gospel through things such as envy, idolatry, selfishness, and jealousy.  We can give way to temptation; we can give we to our humanness, our weaknesses, and our demons, going down a path that leads us to sin and away from God.  Yet, through God’s mercy and compassion, through the power of Christ’s cross and resurrection, we can come back to the faith, to conversion and repentance.

St Paul calls us to live according to God’s grace working in our lives rather than by our human desires and human self-interest, rather than a rigid legalistic view of the practice of our faith. As I mentioned in my homily last weekend, it is God’s grace that will help us and lead us and guide us on our journey faith, to God’s will and his calling for us in our lives.