How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!"

Today is the 80th World Mission Sunday, a day when we especially recall Jesus' command to the Apostles and Disciples to go out to the whole world to preach the Gospel. We especially remember in our prayers all those priests, religious and laity who are in the mission field, often in difficult or dangerous situations and who count on the support of our prayers.

World Mission Sunday is, as you might expect, a day especially dear to Dominicans whose very vocation is to preach the Gospel and there is a special resonance in the hearts of the contemplative nuns of the Order. For us, it is no surprise, that St. Therese, a cloistered nun, is the patroness of the missions.

While most of us are not called to go to places on the other side of the world to bring the Good News of Christ to others everyone by the nature of their baptism is called to share in the missionary nature of the Church. Each one of us is called to radiate Christ to those with whom we meet—to be Christ to them.

Our missionaries need the support of our prayer, especially. One of the most amazing things about being a cloistered nun is meeting friars from all over the world who share with us, first hand, their experiences. To sit in the parlor and here our brothers talk about life in Pakistan, India, Solomon Islands, Russia, South America, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Egypt and Africa can't help but spur us on to being their support, bringing their needs, frustrations, joys and feelings of inadequacy to the Lord. St. Dominic founded the nuns to be associated with the Holy Preaching of the Brethren and this continues to be something real and tangible to us.

Our missionaries need our financial support, too. Often they live in conditions that most of us would complain about if they were ours! So, this Sunday, if your parish is having a second collection for the missions, please be generous. They count on you!