Prayer for Pope Francis

Today is the anniversary of the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to the Papacy.  He took the name Francis and asked all of us to pray for him after Benedict XVI retired.  Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, we ask you to bestow your grace and blessings upon Pope Francis whom you entrusted with the care of your Son's Catholic Church as His Vicar on Earth.  Give Francis the graces needed to do his Petrine ministry which is no easy task.  Give him the wisdom and knowledge to tackle today's errors and irrational ways of thinking.  Give him the strength to continue despite the stresses that will try to bring him down.

He has just completed one year on the journey as Pope and has done much in your name by making humility and poverty relevant again within the Church, reaching out to atheists, gays and others who are in defiance of you due to ignorance; as well as calling for renewal and Christian unity.  Continue to give him the grace that will allow him to bring more to the fold. To reach out to those far from you as he casts his net into the deep like St. Peter did as a fisherman.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen


*Pray 3 Hail Mary's asking for Our Lady of Lujan to pray for her Argentinian son.



      

World Youth Day 2013

World Youth Day was begun by Blessed John Paul II and has been a great success.  This week hundreds of thousands of youth will converge in Brazil for World Youth Day 2013.  Pope Francis will be presiding over it - his first one. 

This event is awesome and I highly recommend it.  However, like with any large event, things can go wrong.  There are sometimes people who attend for the wrong reasons.  Instead of going to grow in faith, some use the opportunity to do things they normally would not do at home.  This was documented in Madrid where atheists and secularists began to photograph World Youth Day pilgrims doing things that are not becoming of Catholics. 

It is important that priests and youth group leaders explain to pilgrims that their actions will be heavily monitored by locals and the media.  We are all sinners and I don't expect all pilgrims to be St. Dominic Savio or St. Maria Goretti, however, they are called to holiness and the avoidance of scandal.  I remember the last World Youth Day I attended, we were warned of the media and others who would be following us as if we were celebrities.  The youth must be careful not to cause scandal amongst one another and others.

World Youth Day must not become a "Woodstock" for young Catholics to get away from their homes and act wild.  Let us pray for those participating in World Youth Day.     

 

Catholic Witness

In this Year of Faith, Catholic witness is important.  Not only are we called to grow in faith; we are also called to be witnesses of Christ in the world.  We must show the world via our lives why it is worth it to be Catholic.  In today's world where doubt is growing; citing Scripture, Church dogmas etc, will not do much to sway harden hearts and minds.  When the Christian life is lived publicly, then this will sway many.

Human beings are wired to learn visually.  This is why it is important for children to use blocks and other objects that stimulate tactile and visual experience.  It is by this that we learn about the external world.  In child psychology, we learn that from about ages 2-4, children become "scientists."  They study everything and do their own experiments by testing how things work.  It is by this exploration that children begin to learn about the world and how they relate to it.

This does not end at childhood.  We still continue to learn in this manner.  Children learn the abc's and 123's faster with instruments that present these visually than by simply verbalizing them.  If I tell a child "A" or "1," my doing this will not guarantee that the child will learn what these are.  However, if I show them the letter A and number 1, then these images will remain in his/her brain and from there, he/she will be able to achieve mapping and encoding with them. 

Similarly, preaching the Word of God can only go so far unless we present it to people in a visual and tangible way. If I preach about love, then that message will come alive when those I preach to see me loving others.  If I preach about truth, then that message will come alive when people that I preach to see me telling the truth always.  If I preach about poverty and helping others, then this will come alive if people I preach to see me detached from material goods and see me provide for those in need.

This is why Pope Francis chose the name "Francis."  He wanted to imitate St. Francis who preached the Gospel not only with words, but through action.  Pope Francis has made it a mission to speak nearly daily on Christian behavior.  From saying not to be hypocritical, to having "funeral faces;" to recently stating that we must watch our tongues and how we talk about others; Pope Francis is reminding us the important of Christian witness.

As St. Francis is believed to have said: "Wherever you go, preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words."      

In His Presence

We have just celebrated the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Pope Francis had the first ever global Eucharistic adoration. 

Adoration is an act that all believers in God must do.  Our Lord awaits us in the Blessed Sacrament.  He is present in the Blessed Sacrament Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.  There is no better gift that to have direct access to the Creator in every Catholic Church and chapel throughout the world.

There is no reason why Catholics should skip spending time before the Blessed Sacrament.  Jesus asked His Apostles if they could watch for one hour. (Mark 14:37-38 )  They fell asleep instead of praying.  Our faith should not be asleep.  Every Catholic should try to make time to spend before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  Most parishes have separate adoration chapels where Catholics can come and visit Our Lord and spend time in adoration.

I'm sure Catholics can relate to this:  When I go to adoration, this sensation of peace and tranquility enters my heart.  The stresses of the day disappear.  Sometimes time seems to be suspended and I may find myself spending more than an hour before the Blessed Sacrament.

Jesus is truly there!  I invite you to go visit Him daily or as often as you can.  The Eucharist is a gift that our separated brothers and sisters in the Protestant faith deprive themselves of.  Catholics have it easy - God is among us in our Churches.