03/09/2013
The Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for the Month of September 2013
General: That people today, often overwhelmed by noise, may rediscover the value of silence and listen to the voice of God and their brothers and sisters.
Missionary: That Christians suffering persecution in many parts of the world may by their witness be prophets of Christ's love.
REFLECTIONS ON THE POPE'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2013
1) General Intention - Value of Silence
That people today, often overwhelmed by noise, may rediscover the value of silence and listen to the voice of God and their brothers and sisters.
When Pope Francis was elected on March 15 this year, he immediately asked the people gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray for him. He said: “I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me: the prayer of the people asking the blessing for their Bishop. Let us make, in silence, this prayer: your prayer over me.” And then he bowed his head.
Pope Francis, like all people of faith, knows how essential silence is for prayer.
Yet we live in a noisy world. We listen to music and talk radio in the car. We turn on the television at home. Through the internet we fill our minds with news, opinions, and images. Pope Benedict called this “torrent of words and images” the enemy of prayer. “Inward and outward silence are necessary if we are to be able to hear this word….Ours is an era that does not encourage recollection; indeed, one sometimes gets the impression that people are frightened of being cut off, even for an instant, from the torrent of words and images that mark and fill the day.”
The antidote is silence. “The very fact of enjoying silence and letting ourselves be ‘filled,’ so to speak, with silence, disposes us to prayer. God speaks in silence, but we must know how to listen.”
Rather than isolate us, silent prayer actually increases our loving service to others. Pope Benedict said: “Silent contemplation immerses us in the source of that Love who directs us towards our neighbors so that we may feel their suffering and offer them the light of Christ.”
We join Pope Francis in praying that all people may rediscover the value of silence so that God’s love may flow through them and into the world.
REFLECTION: How is being silent in the presence of another a sign of deep love?
SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 19:11-13 God is present in “a tiny whispering sound.”
2) Mission Intention - Persecuted Christians
That Christians suffering persecution in many parts of the world may by their witness be prophets of Christ’s love.
There were more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries combined. The 21st century has continued this terrible trend. Earlier this year Archbishop Silvano Tomasi reported to the United Nations that over 100,000 Christians are killed every year for their faith.
Pope Francis calls us to prayer for the persecuted. “Our own brothers and sisters. They are suffering! They carry their faith even to martyrdom.” What should be our response? Pope Francis answered: “We try to make these brothers and sisters of ours aware of how deeply united — deeply united! — we are with their situation….”
To be united with the persecuted we must stay informed and pray. Pope Francis challenged us to do so: “I put a question to you: do you pray for these brothers and sisters? In our daily prayers let us say to Jesus: ‘Lord, look at this brother, look at this sister who is suffering so much, suffering atrociously!’ They experience the limit, the very limit between life and death. And there are consequences for us: this experience must spur us to promote religious freedom for everyone, everyone! Every man and every woman must be free in his or her profession of religion, whatever it may be. Why? Because that man and that woman are children of God.”
Nor should we allow our hearts to grow bitter over persecutions. Our hearts must respond as the Heart of Jesus does. Pope Francis continued: “Christians must always have this attitude of meekness, humility…. A Christian must always know how to respond to evil with good, even though it is often difficult.”
May persecuted Christians feel the living and comforting presence of the Risen Lord.
REFLECTION: How does the Sacred Heart of Jesus help me to respond non-violently to people who have hurt me?
SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 If one part of the Body of Christ suffers, all the parts suffer with it.
Prayer of the Month
Mary, woman of listening, open our ears; grant us to know how to listen to the word of your Son Jesus among the thousands of words of this world; grant that we may listen to the reality in which we live, to every person we encounter, especially those who are poor, in need, in hardship.
--from Pope Francis on May 31, 2013
