Msgr. Roger J. Landry
Mission Magazine
October 30, 2025 (for January 1, 2026)
As we begin a new civil year, it’s important for us to ponder why we say “2026 AD.”
As most are aware, “AD” is an abbreviation of the Latin annus Domini, which means “Year of the Lord.”
In various academic circles, some secularists and non-Christians, opposed to marking time with reference to Jesus, have tried to change the abbreviation “BC” (“Before Christ”) to “BCE” (“Before the Common Era”) and “AD” (“Year of the Lord”) to “CE” (“Common Era”).
I’ve always deemed that attempt doomed, because it obviously begs the question of why the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem would have inaugurated the “common era” and what would be common in this new era if not Jesus himself, the Church he founded, and the way he changed history. That’s one reason why that academic runaround thankfully hasn’t gained popular traction.
But it’s important for Christians not just to allow AD to remain a dating mechanism. It’s meant to influence the way we live in time. We’re called to make each year a year of the Lord, one centered on Jesus and on the way he — still very much Emmanuel, “God with us” — wants to accompany us throughout this new year and to help us to grow into deeper friendship with him, illumine the world with his Gospel, and help others come to know, love and follow him.
To make 2026 a true year of the Lord is to make it a year of faith and mission.
This year we’re marking a very important anniversary in the Church. On April 14, 1926, Pope Pius XI established World Mission Sunday as a “day of prayer and information for the missions to be celebrated on the same day in every Catholic diocese, parish and institute in the world.” He wanted the day to “foster understanding of the greatness of the missionary task, encourage zeal among the clergy and the people, offer an opportunity to make [the Society of the Propagation of the Faith] ever more widely known and encourage offerings for the missions.”
The new year that is just beginning is, therefore, an opportunity for the Church to put more emphasis on what we mark every World Mission Sunday: prayer for the missions, understanding of the greatness of our missionary calling, promotion of missionary zeal, gratitude for the Society of the Propagation of the Faith and the other three Pontifical Mission Societies, and generosity toward our brothers and sisters in missionary territories where the Church is too young, materially poor or persecuted to be self-sustaining.
Pope Leo is one who has already dedicated special effort to promoting World Mission Sunday. Last October 13, this former missionary priest and bishop became the first pope in history to record a video message for World Mission Sunday so that the message could be shown to Catholic parishioners before Mass, placed on parish and diocesan websites, shared in email blasts, and made to go viral on social media.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters,” the Holy Father began that one-minute message, “on World Mission Sunday every year, the whole Church prays, united, particularly for missionaries and the fruitfulness of their apostolic labors.”
Recalling his own experience for 22 years as an Augustinian missionary, he continued, “When I served as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru, I saw first-hand how the faith, the prayer and the generosity shown on World Mission Sunday can transform entire communities.”
He then asked pastors and parishioners to prioritize this annual day of prayer and support.
“I urge every Catholic parish in the world to take part in World Mission Sunday. Your prayers, your support will help spread the Gospel, provide for pastoral and catechetical programs, help to build new churches, and care for the health and educational needs of our brothers and sisters in mission territories.”
At the end of the message, he made clear that World Mission Sunday is a joyful day that assists him in his solicitude and care for all the Churches in the world.
This World Mission Sunday, he concluded, “let us commit ourselves anew to the sweet and joyful task of bringing Christ Jesus our Hope to the ends of the earth. Thank you for everything you will do to help me help missionaries throughout the world. God bless you all!”
I anticipate that in 2026, as we mark the centenary of World Mission Sunday, Pope Leo will urge everyone in the Church to grow in their commitment to the missions. He’s already released the theme of this year’s World Mission Sunday, which will take place on October 18: “One in Christ, United in Mission.” Later this month, he will release a Message reflecting on that theme, which is based on his papal motto, In Illo Uno, Unum, “One in the One Christ.”
This year’s theme is also based on Jesus’ words from the Last Supper, when he prayed that we, his disciples, might be one as He and God the Father are one in the Holy Spirit, so that the world would believe that God the Father sent Jesus and loves us just like he loves Him. The effectiveness of the Church’s mission, Jesus says, will flow from our unity. To live 2026 as a year of the Lord is to seek to live it united with each other and intent on trying to help unite the whole world in Jesus. I can’t wait to hear how the Holy Father is going to nourish us with that theme.
We also know that 2026 is a big year on account of another anniversary: the 250th anniversary of the United States on July 4. We give thanks for all blessings God has given us over the course of these last two-and-a-half centuries. We give thanks in a particular way for the American saints, famous and unknown, as well as our first native born Pope, a fruit of the mature faith of our country. This is a year to commit ourselves to sharing our faith with our fellow citizens and, united with Pope Leo in the one Christ, to help him help missionaries everywhere.
God bless you!