“For a shared mission” is the prayer intention chosen byPope Francisfor the month of October – a theme linked to the upcoming General Assembly of the Synod, about which Pope Francis reflects in his message entrusted to thePope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. He asks every Christian – laity, priests, religious – “to walk together, taking the path of synodality,” explaining that “we are co-responsible in mission, we participate and we live in the communion of the Church.”

Whether someone is a “bus driver,” a “farmer,” or a “fisher,” Pope Francis underlines that the mission is the same: “to witness with one’s own life,” “everyone contributing what they know how to do best.” We work together in this co-responsibility, regardless of each person’s vocation. “Priests are not the bosses of the laity, but their pastors. Jesus called us, one and others – not one above others, or one on one side and others on another side, but complementing each other,” he explains at the beginning of his message. He then adds a little later, “the laity, the baptized are in the Church, in their own home, and need to take care of it. So do we priests and consecrated persons.”