Frontpage

During this month of May, may we entrust to the Blessed Virgin Mary our personal and family matters, as well as the suffering of those who fall victim to war. Let us pray together for the Church, all nations, and for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Pope Francis

I wish to convey to the people of Kenya my spiritual closeness at this time when a severe flood has tragically taken the lives of many of our brothers and sisters, injuring others and causing widespread destruction. I invite you to pray for all those who are suffering the effects of this natural disaster.

Pope Francis

My thoughts go especially to the victims of the many conflicts worldwide: Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon, Western Balkans Region, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan, Sahel, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique. Let us pray for all those who have lost their lives and implore the repentance and conversion of the perpetrators of those crimes. May the light of the resurrection illumine our minds and convert our hearts, and make us aware of the value of every human life, which must be welcomed, protected and loved.

Pope Francis

The coming months will lead us to the opening of the Holy Door, with which we will begin the Jubilee. I ask you to intensify your prayer to prepare us to live well this event of grace, and to experience the strength of God’s hope. Therefore, today we begin the Year of Prayer; that is, a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world.

Pope Francis

Holy Spirit, who motivates the Church so that, in her mission, She may bear witness and always proclaim with renewed enthusiasm, the joy that springs from the encounter with Jesus:

We pray to you today for religious sisters, religious men and seminarians. The response to their vocation requires throughout life a process of formation towards Christian maturity, which embraces all the dimensions of the person.

May the human aspect of their formation provide them with self-discovery, self-acceptance and self-mastery to reach a sufficient level of psycho-affective maturity, to be an authentic gift of themselves to others. May their pastoral formation open them to be available to service and collaboration with others, cultivating, after the example of Jesus, a special love and closeness to the poor and marginal people.

May their spiritual formation through prayer and accompaniment, open them up to God to know him more intimately, to love him more deeply and to follow him more closely, thus developing a deep and personal friendship with Jesus, and discerning God’s will in their lives. And that in their community life – school of holiness – may grow in their relationship with others in deeply listening to the problems, wounds and needs of today men and women. Amen.

Lord Jesus, you who have given us Mary as our Mother: today I want to be grateful, with the whole Church, for all women: mothers, daughters, sisters, wives; for the consecrated women, for women who work professionally… for all of them, in all the beauty and value of their femininity.

But I cannot forget the problem of discrimination women often experience That is why I ask You that every person, particularly, women, – who are more easily subject to violence and abuse- may be respected in their dignity and in their fundamental rights. Help me to make heard the voices of women who are victims of abuse and exploitation, marginalization and undue pressures and to speak out forcefully against the injustices to which they are subjected.

May we make room, Lord, for their actions, and orient ourselves to the protection of life in every state, in every age and in every condition, and that we may value women’s undeniable and unique contribution to the common good. And at this time, when humanity is experiencing such profound changes, may women assist mankind from degenerating. Amen.

Good and Loving Father,

Because we have been saved by your Son Jesus, the deceiver and father of lies hates us and stirs up persecution that, from the time of Jesus and of the early Church, continues to this day. The martyrs have had the grace to confess Jesus to the end, unto death. They suffer, they give their lives, and we receive God’s blessing for their witness.

May the memory of these ancient and recent heroic witnesses confirm us, O Lord, in the awareness that the Church is Church due to the sacrifice of martyrs. We pray to you today for the new hidden martyrs, those men and women faithful to the gentle power of love, to the voice of the Holy Spirit, who in their daily lives seek to help their brothers and sisters and to love God without reservation.

The Church needs those who have the courage to accept the grace to be witnesses to the end, even unto death. They are the living blood of the Church, they are the witnesses who lead the Church forward; those who attest that Jesus is Risen, that He lives. May we learn through their coherence of life that with the strength of love, with meekness, we can fight against arrogance, violence and war. and with patience we can achieve peace.

Amen

As I head off to my Pilgrimage and Journeying ‘experiment’ starting in Ponte de Barca, I reflect on the whirlwind of activities that has happened that past couple of days. In particular, I reflect on my experiences of my pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima. Fatima is a place … Read moreIn the Midst of Fatima: An Expression of Church Universal