This weekend, we celebrate World Mission Sunday, a special day that unites Catholics worldwide in prayer, solidarity, and support for the Church’s mission efforts, which is crucial for sustaining the Church’s outreach in over 1,150 mission territories. World Mission Sunday reminds us that we belong to a worldwide Church, which is not often in the forefront of our minds.

Every session of the Second Vatican Council began with the prayer Adsumus Sancte Spiritus, the first word of the Latin original meaning, “We stand before You, Holy Spirit,” which has been historically used at Councils, Synods and other Church gatherings for hundreds of years, being attributed to Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 4 April 636).

This weekend we celebrate Respect Life Sunday, which begins Respect Life Month. The U.S. bishops have affirmed that, while it is important to address all the ways in which human life is threatened, “abortion remains our pre-eminent priority as it directly attacks our most vulnerable brothers and sisters, destroying more than a million lives each year in our country alone.”