Mary, Health of the Sick, help us to reach out to those who are vulnerable by our prayers and by our support for the work of Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Healthcare and other ministries. Intercede for all who are suffering from any illness or disability.
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (cf. Mt 22:34–40).
Today we honor St. Anthony Mary Claret who founded the Claretians for the work of evangelization. May his missionary spirit, and his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, inspire us to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations and peoples.
Mary, Mother of the Church, may we always look to you to inspire us with the courage, serenity and wisdom that comes from acceptance of God’s will for us.
There is one Body, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Let’s live together in unity and peace “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love” (cf. Eph 4:1–6). Saint John of Capistrano, pray for us.
Karol Wojtyla (Pope St. John Paul II) was a Spirit-filled evangelizer. His passion for proclaiming the Gospel was contagious, and throughout the world millions of people (especially young people) encountered Jesus through him. Pray for us, St. John Paul.
Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt. Mary, I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart. (Prayer of St. Louis de Monfort and motto of Pope St. John Paul II).
“God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the Lord,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation” (Is 12).
Let us be refreshed by the waters of salvation.
Mary, Consolation of the afflicted, embrace all your children in distress and pray that God will stretch out his all-powerful hand and free us from every evil. Holy Mary, pray for us.
Christ crucified is our peace. He tears down every wall that divides us, and He reconciles every one of us with God and with each other (cf. Eph 2:12–22). Saint Paul of the Cross, pray for us.
Our Lady of Peace, touch the minds and hearts of all your children with a deep-seated longing for peace with justice. May we resist the urge to demonize our enemies and, instead, find common ground and a path to achieving the common good.
Saints John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, and Companions, pray for us. Inspire us by your service to the native peoples of North America, and by your martyrdom, to be faithful missionary disciples and servants of all God’s people.
Pope Leo XIV has described our task as missionary disciples united in Christ: “To make Christ’s love visible.” Today is the 100th World Mission Sunday. The theme for this centennial observance is “One in Christ, United in Mission.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, help us to build bridges and achieve unity among all the nations and peoples of South and North America.
Reminder: All are invited to a Thanksgiving and Farewell Mass for Bishop Michael Saporito tomorrow, Oct. 17, at 5 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.
A reception will follow in the Archdiocesan Center Auditorium.
“I am the wheat of Christ to be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may be found to be pure bread” (St. Ignatius of Antioch). May the witness of this 2nd century bishop and martyr, inspire us to accept whatever suffering we must endure as missionary disciples of Jesus.
