Apostles for Today - October 2025

Apostles for Today

 

OCTOBER 2025

“Let these little ones come to me.”

Jubilee of the Educational World

October is a special time when we celebrate Missionary Month worldwide. We remember that the Church is present in different realities and missionary frontiers, proclaiming God's love, touching lives and hearts, reviving faith, love, hope, and transforming realities. As a Church, we will have the opportunity to celebrate several jubilees: the Jubilee of the Missionary World, the Jubilee of Migrants, the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, and, on October 31, the Jubilee of the World of Education, with the theme: Let the children come to me.

For us Brazilians, in addition to all this wealth, on October 12 we celebrate the patron saint Nossa Senhora Aparecida and Children's Day; on October 15, highlighting the importance of the educational mission, we celebrate Teachers' Day.

When I think about the world of education, the first image that comes to mind is that of children, as fertile and genuine ground where the entire educational journey begins. Who among us, in our reality, whether family or school, at work or on a mission, does not encounter a child? Who among us does not feel their heart warm and their eyes shine when they remember their childhood? What feelings are present in your heart at this moment? What do you remember most? What made the biggest impression? Who helped you take your first steps, holding your hand firmly? What can I learn today from the way of “being a child”?

Jesus teaches us, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (cf. Mt 19:14). In the historical context of this passage, children had a low social status. Jesus, with his divine pedagogy, reverses values and breaks the paradigms of the time, inverting the logic of the “important” people. The Kingdom is a gift, which is welcomed with trust, and the community must make way for it, not erect barriers (“do not hinder them”). This scene is an icon of grace, for the Kingdom is received, not conquered. It also expresses ecclesial hospitality: welcoming and protecting the little ones, learning trust from them, and making the ecclesial body a place where no one is prevented from coming to Christ. The Church's teaching tells us to go beyond the scene and bring this gesture of Jesus into our pastoral work, which is a beautiful example for every missionary apostle. “Let the children come to me” is a universal call to embrace “being a child,” and this includes humility, trust, and purity. The heart of a child is fertile ground for receiving the Word of Christ and his teachings, thus breaking down the barriers that form throughout life.

The mission of the Church is driven and enlightened by the Word of God, whose duty is to protect, educate, welcome, and love the little ones, recognizing the presence of God in every glance. As Christians, we are motivated to promote evangelizing actions, with safe places to educate in the faith, and to transmit the Good News of the Gospel to little ones, to open, beyond the doors of the Church and catechesis, the door of the heart to welcome God's grace where we are working in the evangelizing mission.

In this way, we can transform consciousness and freedom, cultivating the joy that comes from God, and promoting encounters that lead to encounters with God Himself. The Church learns a lot from children.

Saint Vincent Pallotti, in the heart of 19th-century Rome, saw the streets, parishes, and schools as places of education through his sensitive and active gaze. His pastoral vision united mercy, charity, hope, faith, and organization. Pallotti promoted catechesis, night schools, lively oratories, visits to families, and partnerships with benefactors to promote the education of the poorest. The goal was not only to transmit content, but to humanize and awaken the awareness that every baptized person is called to holiness and the apostolate. He educated by involving priests, consecrated persons, and laypeople, women and men as co-responsible, children and young people as protagonists, and charity as a living and effective method in the mission. His witness teaches us to love and serve with joy.

Pallotti articulated faith and life, prayer and social commitment, school of the soul and school of the hands.

His pedagogy was one of closeness, his language was accessible, he educated for freedom. He realized that true Christian education was when a person discovered their place in the Father's mission, allowed themselves to be shaped by Christ, and with him understood that “all are called” and all can cooperate in the mission of the Church.

As a Pallottine Sister, I have worked (and continue to work) in the field of education since I began my vocational journey with the Sisters. In the early years of my training, I worked as a young apprentice at a state school in Paraná, and I learned about different realities during internships at a daycare center in Rio de Janeiro, at the Instituto Apostolado Católico school in Argentina, and at the Colégio Cenáculo school in Porto Alegre. I have now been at Colégio Fátima in Santa Maria for three years, working in catechesis and school pastoral care.

I admit that I have always avoided being in schools because I did not feel capable of working in education, but the more I run away, the closer I get and the more I am enchanted by the beauty of this noble mission. Today, in my journey and in my educational life, I realize that educating in the Pallottine way means walking with your feet firmly planted in reality and your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Anchored in the Word, in the sacraments, and in community life, nourished by Divine grace through the action of the Holy Spirit, we can be great collaborators in creative and missionary action, in dialogue with digital culture, in cooperation between generations, and in sharing experiences of faith. In practice, education is a path of listening and welcoming, just like Jesus, cultivating a “pedagogy of tenderness” that unites love, gentleness, and firmness, where each activity is an experience of encounter (with God) and mission (with others). Thus, obeying the word of Jesus and inspired by the Pallottine charism, let us allow the little ones to come to Christ and, with them, we will rediscover the simple, light, and uncluttered path to the Kingdom of Heaven.

 Sr. Aline Cecilia Moreschi, CSAC

Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti, 204 00186 Roma, ITALIA

Tel: (+39) 393.5560794 E-mail: uacgensec@gmail.com