Msgr. Roger J. Landry
National Director, The Pontifical Mission Societies
Daily Reflection for October 8, 2025
Here is the video of today’s reflection:
The YouTube generated transcript for today’s reflection is:
I am Monsignor Roger Landry, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies coming to you from our chapel in Manhattan. It’s October 8th and in the Gospel today, one of the disciples having observed Jesus praying comes up to him and asks, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” And Jesus taught us how to turn to the father and pray ultimately the ‘Our Father’, which wasn’t a magical formula, but the types of things that should be coming to our conversation with God. During this month of October, World Mission month, we are praying for the missions. And what Jesus teaches us about the ‘Our Father” helps us to pray for the missions. First thing, we about Our Father and the whole world has got to know that we have a God who’s not just a distant force but somebody who loves us more than all the dads in the world have ever loved their sons. We ask that His name be hallowed. We want to make a name not for ourselves but for God to glorify His name. We pray ” thy kingdom come.” We want his kingdom not our fiefdom. We want to enter in and we want to bring others into his kingdom. That’s what missionaries do. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We absolutely want to help people to learn how to discern and do God’s will. This is the work of the church. And then we turn to our greatest needs. ‘Give us today our daily bread.’ And God the Father normally gives us so much more. And the mission of the church helps to fulfill those deepest hungers. ‘Forgive us our sins. Just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.’ How much we need God’s mercy.
And missionaries help bring the awareness of that need and how to receive that gift to the ends of the earth. ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,’ that we recognize that the devil’s out to attack us, to destroy God’s work in us and through us in the world. And so we ask for help and humility. Let us not fall when we’re tempted, but free us from the evil one. Not just in this world, but forever.
As we enter more deeply into World Mission Month, we’re only 11 days from World Mission Sunday. We’ve got to intensify prayer. We’ve got to turn to God the Father, the harvest master, just as Jesus said, and pray to him to send laborers for his harvest, more and more missionaries, and to pray likewise for that harvest. October 8th is the 27th anniversary of my diaconal ordination at St. Peters in Rome. It was a day in which I made a commitment to become a servant after Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the many. We pray for my 37 classmates that day as well as for all missionaries that we might work hard just like Jesus worked hard, just like the apostles worked hard in order to bring the treasure of the gospel and its eternal consequences everywhere.
God bless you.
The Gospel reading on which the reflection was based on:
Gospel
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”