The theme for World Mission Sunday 2018 is “With Youth we proclaim the Gospel to all.” Pope Francis writes, “The Synod to be held in Rome in October offers an opportunity to understand more fully, in the light of faith, what the Lord Jesus wants to say to young people and through you to all Christian communities. The Church, by proclaiming what she freely received, can share with you young people the way and the truth which gives meaning to our life on this earth. Jesus Christ who died and rose for us, appeals to our freedom and challenges us to seek, discover and proclaim this message of truth and fulfillment. Do not be afraid of Christ and His Church! For there we find treasure that fills life with joy. From my own experience, thanks to faith I found the sure foundation of my dreams and the strength to realize them. I have seen great suffering and poverty mar the faces of so many of our brothers and sisters. Many men and women and young people have generously sacrificed themselves, even at times to martyrdom out of love for the Gospel and service to their brothers and sisters. From the cross of Christ we learn the divine logic of self-sacrifice as a proclamation of the Gospel for the life of the world. To be set afire by the love of Christ is to be consumed by that fire, to grow in understanding by its light and to be warmed by its love. At the school of the saints, who open us to the vast horizons of God, I invite you never to stop wondering, ‘What would Christ do if He were in my place?’ ”