Today, as the Church celebrates World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis canonized several men and women in St. Peter’s Square, including Father Giuseppe Allamano, the founder of the Consolata Missionaries who first suggested to the Pope having a day of reflection and giving for the missionary Church. His homily was a meditation on the essence of Christian mission: service, love, and humility, qualities exemplified by the lives of the newly canonized saints.
Pope Francis began by reflecting on a pivotal moment in the Gospel of Mark: Jesus’ encounter with James and John, where he asks, “What is it you want me to do for you?” (Mk 10:36). This question, the Pope explained, reveals the hidden desires of the disciples’ hearts, exposing their expectations for a powerful, victorious Messiah who would grant them honor and glory. But, as Pope Francis reminded us, Jesus counters these expectations with a challenge: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” (Mk 10:38).
Through this exchange, Pope Francis said, Jesus unmasks the disciples’ real desires and calls them to a different path: not one of power, but one of service. “Jesus is not the Messiah they think; he is the God of love, who stoops down to reach the one who has sunk low; who makes himself weak to raise up the weak, who works for peace and not for war, who has come to serve and not to be served,” the Pope said, quoting Mark’s Gospel. His words echoed the profound shift in perspective that Jesus invited his disciples to embrace—a shift that remains the heart of missionary work today.
Service, not power
Poper Francis said that service is the Christian way of life. It is not about a list of things to do, and we never reach a time in which we can say, “Now it’s someone else’s turn,” he said, to then argue that this is the mentality of an employee but not of someone witnessing Christ.
“When we learn to serve, our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God’s love. And so we continue Jesus’ work in the world,” Pope Francis said.
“In light of this, we can remember the disciples of the Gospel who are being canonized today. Throughout the troubled history of humanity, they remained faithful servants, men and women who served in martyrdom and in joy, like Father Manuel Ruiz López and his companions. They are priests and religious fervent with missionary zeal, like Father Giuseppe Allamano, Sister Marie Leonie Paradis and Sister Elena Guerra. These new saints lived Jesus’ way: service. The faith and the
apostolate they carried out did not feed their worldly desires and hunger for power but, on the contrary, they made themselves servants of their brothers and sisters, creative in doing the good, steadfast in difficulties and generous to the end.”
World Mission Sunday: A Day to Reflect on Mission and Service
This message of service takes on special meaning on World Mission Sunday, a day that unites Catholics around the world in support of missionary efforts, particularly in the poorest and most vulnerable regions. The day was first established in 1927 by Pope Pius XI, shortly after Father Giuseppe Allamano’s death, and is celebrated every year on the second to last Sunday of October. It is a day to remember that the Church’s mission is not rooted in power or prestige, but in the humble service of others. In 1925, St. Allemano had written to his peers in Italy’s missionary congregations, suggesting the went to the Pope to ask him to institute this day in support of the missionary efforts of the Church.
The roots of World Mission Sunday, however, run even deeper. Blessed Pauline Jaricot, the foundress of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies, was instrumental in mobilizing Catholics to support missionary work both spiritually and financially. Her vision laid the foundation for the global missionary movement that we honor today, a movement that Father Allamano himself furthered with his own life of service.
In his homily, Pope Francis honored Father Allamano and the other newly canonized saints for their commitment to living the Gospel through service.
The Legacy of Saint Giuseppe Allamano
Father Giuseppe Allamano’s canonization on World Mission Sunday is particularly significant, as he was one of the early advocates for such a day of reflection and giving. As Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, a Consolata missionary, explained, “In 1925, the year before his death, Father Allamano wrote to the superiors of other Italian missionary institutes, asking what they thought about proposing to the Holy Father a day dedicated to raising awareness for the missions.” Though Allamano did not live to see it, his vision was realized soon after, when Pope Pius XI instituted the first World Mission Sunday.
Allamano’s legacy continues through the Consolata Missionaries, who serve in some of the most remote and challenging mission territories today. His life of quiet, humble service reflects the heart of what it means to be a missionary. “He was a saint in the ordinary,” Cardinal Marengo said. “One of his mottos was to ‘do good well, without making noise.’”
In his homily, Pope Francis echoed this sentiment, reminding us that service is at the heart of the Christian mission. “Service is born from love, and love knows no bounds, it makes no calculations, it spends and it gives,” the Pope said. He emphasized that this kind of service is not occasional, nor does it seek personal gain. Rather, it is a reflection of God’s love, carried out with a heart renewed by that love.
A Call to Follow in Their Footsteps
As the Church celebrates the canonization of Father Giuseppe Allamano, Sister Marie Léonie Paradis, and Sister Elena Guerra, Pope Francis called on all of us to follow their example of humble service. “When we learn to serve, our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God’s love,” the Pope said.
This message is particularly poignant on World Mission Sunday, as we are reminded that the Church’s mission is not about seeking power or honor, but about serving others with love and humility. As Pope Francis put it, “Those who dominate do not win, only those who serve out of love.”
On this day, we confidently ask for the intercession of the new saints, that we too may follow Christ in service and become witnesses of hope for the world.
