Hospital Hospitality Mission Week: One in Christ, United in Mission
Hospital Hospitality Mission Week begins on 12 October, an initiative that invites us to live out the meaning of mission together and culminates on 18 October with the celebration of the 100th World Mission Day.
This day is an opportunity for the whole Church to unite in prayer for missionaries and for the fruitfulness of their service and apostolic work. This year, Hospital Hospitality Mission Week invites us to experience this celebration from a perspective that is particularly meaningful for our Hospital Family: “One in Christ, United in Mission.”
The unity of the Church is born of communion with Christ and is also expressed through a shared mission. In this mission, Sisters and co-workers are called to contribute their part, placing their gifts and dedication at the service of others, especially those who are sick, vulnerable or in need.
Together with the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, we share the same spirit of Hospitality and a common calling to follow Jesus in serving those most in need.
Throughout these days, a shared prayer will accompany us, strengthening our communion and renewing our commitment to the mission. We will also share testimonies from Sisters and co-workers, bringing us closer to different experiences and ways of living out Hospitality in everyday life. We may have different faces, stories and places, but we share one mission: united in Christ to make Hospitality present in the world.
The Pope’s Prayer
Holy Father, grant that we may be one in Christ, rooted in his love that unites and renews. May all members of the Church be united in mission, docile to the Holy Spirit and courageous in bearing witness to the Gospel, proclaiming and embodying your faithful love for every creature each day. Bless all missionaries, sustain them in their efforts and preserve them in hope. Mary, Queen of Missions, accompany our evangelising work in every corner of the earth; make us instruments of peace and help the whole world recognise in Christ the light that saves. Amen.
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Day 1 – Mission Begins with an Encounter with Christ
In his message for World Mission Day, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, reminds us that mission originates in our union with Christ:
“Being Christian is not primarily a set of practices or ideas; it is a life united with Christ, in which we share in the filial relationship that he lives with the Father in the Holy Spirit. From this union springs mutual communion among believers, and all missionary fruitfulness is born.”
Today, we hear the testimony of our Sister Mercedes Menéndez, who is currently in Timor-Leste. Through her missionary experience in Colombia, India, Arroyomolinos (Spain) and now Timor-Leste, she has discovered that mission goes far beyond a place or a task: it is an ongoing encounter with God’s love, one that transforms our lives and moves us to reach out to others.
In Colombia, she learned that evangelisation begins with listening, drawing close to people and sharing in their lives. In India, cultural and religious diversity taught her to live out mission with humility, respect and openness, discovering Christ in every person, especially those who suffer most.
Her time in Arroyomolinos helped her recognise that mission is also present in everyday life: in simple acts of dedication, attentive listening and care for each person. Now, in Timor-Leste, she is experiencing in a particularly profound way that serving as Christ did means accompanying others, remaining close to them and never abandoning those who need support most.
Her encounters with people living with mental health conditions and their families remind her that every welcoming gesture, every word and every small act of service can express God’s love. Through this daily commitment, Sister Mercedes has also discovered that mission transforms both those who receive care and those who offer it as part of their vocation.
During this Hospital Hospitality Mission Week, her testimony invites us to return to the source of our mission: our encounter with Christ. It is from this union that we draw the strength to reach out to others, recognise their dignity and make God’s love present through Hospitality.
As Jesus reminds us in the Gospel of John:
“Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me” (Jn 15:4).
Day 2 – Communion Creates Mission
In his message for World Mission Day, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, reminds us that union with Christ is the source of communion among believers and the foundation of all missionary fruitfulness. As Saint John Paul II taught, “communion is both the source and the fruit of mission” (cf. Christifideles laici, 32).
Today, we hear the testimony of Brother Cyrille, from the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, who carries out his mission in Tanguiéta, Benin.
There, communion is lived out through working alongside co-workers, mutual respect and the support they offer one another every day. United by a shared purpose, they strive to provide compassionate care to patients and proclaim the Gospel of Christ, who is moved by compassion.
This shared mission goes beyond providing care: it seeks to recognise, respect and uphold the dignity of every person. Every act of collaboration and every expression of support help build a community where everyone can feel welcomed and valued.
Brother Cyrille’s testimony reminds us that Hospitaller mission is never lived in isolation: it grows when we share our lives, work together and place our gifts at the service of those most in need. In this way, communion becomes the strength that sustains our mission and makes Christ’s love visible.
As Jesus tells us in the Gospel:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in them bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).
Day 3 – We Are All Missionary Disciples
Mission is a call addressed to every baptized person, and we are invited to live it out through our own vocation, history and circumstances. Pope Leo XIV reminds us of this in his message for World Mission Day:
“No baptized person is a stranger or indifferent to the mission; all, each according to their vocation and state of life, participate in the great work that Christ entrusts to his Church.”
Today, we share the testimony of Luis Jaramillo, a lay member of the Hospitaller Family and a staff member at Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro Mental Health Hospital in Pasto, Colombia, whose professional journey and family experience have given profound meaning to the way he lives out his mission.
With nearly 36 years of medical practice, Luis has followed a path of continuous learning. However, his arrival in the field of mental health marked a turning point in his outlook and professional practice. There, he discovered the importance of recognising each person’s dignity and providing compassionate, personalised care, especially to those who need greater understanding, support and welcome.
Through his vocation as a doctor and his commitment as a lay member of the Hospitaller Family, Luis has made Hospitality a daily way of living and serving. His experience has shown him how care rooted in respect, empathy and deeply human treatment can contribute to the well-being of those he accompanies.
This sensitivity is also rooted in his own family story. Together with his family, he supports his 35-year-old daughter, who has developmental difficulties and requires ongoing assistance in her daily life. For Luis, this experience has been a true school of love, patience and dedication, enriching his understanding of vulnerability and shaping the way he approaches each patient.
In this way, his faith and profession come together in one mission: to care for life, recognise the dignity of every person and make Hospitality a tangible witness to God’s love. In his heart, mind and medical practice, respect, affection and empathy come together as part of a vocation renewed each day through encounters with others.
His testimony reminds us that mission is also built through everyday gestures, personal closeness and a commitment to those who most need our presence. For we are all called to be missionary disciples, wherever our vocation may lead us.
“Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15)
Day 4 – Hospitality without borders
On this day of the Hospitality Mission Week, the words of the Holy Father Leo XIV remind us that love is at the heart of every mission:
“If unity is the condition for mission, love is its essence. The Good News we are sent to proclaim to the world is not an abstract ideal. The mission of the disciples and of the whole Church is the continuation, in the Holy Spirit, of Christ’s mission; a mission that is born of love, lived in love and leads to love.”
Today, we reflect on the testimony of Brother Henry, from the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God, whose vocation comes to life in his daily encounters with each person.
Through these encounters, he discovers that unity gives meaning to the mission and that the essence of Hospitality lies in loving, welcoming and accompanying each person while recognising their dignity.
The Good News becomes present through concrete gestures: a gaze that recognises, a presence that accompanies and care that restores hope. In this way, Hospitality becomes a commitment born from the heart, placing each person at the centre.
For Brother Henry, transforming every experience of pain into an opportunity to love means living the very essence of the Hospitaller mission: bringing the love of Christ wherever it is most needed, without borders and with a heart open to every person.
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (Jn 20:21)
Day 5 – Serving as Christ did
In his message for World Mission Sunday, Pope Leo XIV invites us to remember that the missionary work of evangelisation is born of Christ’s love and sustained by Him.
“The love of Christ urges us on” (2 Cor 5:14). Driven by this love, the apostles proclaimed the Gospel and, throughout the centuries, countless Christians, martyrs, confessors and missionaries have given their lives to make God’s love known to the world. Thus, guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church’s evangelising mission continues until the end of time.
Today, we listen to the testimony of Sister Josefina Serrano, who has lived her Hospitaller mission in different places and cultures, discovering new ways of embodying the Gospel of mercy through each experience.
“Only the love of Jesus leads us into mission,” Sister Josefina shares. It is this love that inspires us to serve and make God’s mercy present wherever we are sent. Every place, every encounter and every person becomes an opportunity to learn and grow in our Hospitaller vocation.
In the Philippines, her experience alongside the people receiving care in the psychiatric unit of Cebu Hospital left a profound mark on her life. There, she experienced God’s compassion in a special way and gained a deeper understanding of her mission as a Hospitaller Sister. She witnessed genuine signs of mercy, discovered a unique vocational joy and, even amid difficulties, learned from her fellow Sisters and from the simplicity of the people with whom she shared her journey.
In India, many years of shared life filled her heart with hope and gratitude. Meeting the first Sisters and living alongside so many others, from whom she received valuable lessons, deeply shaped her journey. She remains grateful for their joy, courage and trust.
Looking back on the different places where she has served, Sister Josefina recognises Jesus as the true protagonist of her missionary journey. His faithful and unconditional love has sustained her in her fragility and renewed her desire each day to respond to that love, embracing mission as a gift and making Hospitality a concrete way of living the Gospel.
Ultimately, serving as Christ did means allowing ourselves to be transformed by His love so that we can bring it into every encounter, especially where human fragility calls for closeness, compassion and hope.
“I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15).
Day 6 – Walking together
On this penultimate day of Hospital Missionary Week, we pause to reflect on the message of the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for World Mission Sunday, which reminds us that mission is a shared responsibility to which we are all called to contribute:
“As I admire missionaries, I make a special appeal to the whole Church: let us all join them in the evangelising mission through the witness of a life in Christ, prayer and contributions to the missions… Let us all commit ourselves to contributing, each according to our vocation and the gifts we have received, to the great evangelising mission, which is always a work of love.”
Today, we share the testimonies of two members of our Hospitaller Family: Sister Isabel Martins, of the Hospitaller Sisters, and Brother Arockia, of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God. Two different vocations, one shared path: walking alongside others and bearing witness to God’s love.
Throughout her vocational journey, Sister Isabel has discovered that we can be missionaries wherever life leads us. The distant places she once dreamed of reaching have given way to a desire to draw ever closer to God and to our brothers and sisters, bearing witness to the merciful love of Jesus, especially alongside those most in need.
For Brother Arockia, his vocation as a Brother of Saint John of God means following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who taught us to live out mercy and compassion. Inspired also by the example of Saint John of God, he lives charity as a form of mission, placing himself at the service of the sick, the poor and those in need, and all those experiencing vulnerability.
Their testimonies remind us that walking together in mission means placing our gifts at the service of others, wherever we may be, making God’s love present through concrete acts of dedication, care and fraternity.
“As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10)
