FOR PRIESTS… POPE’S INTENTION FOR JULY 2018
In a special way, we join and ask for everyone’s prayers for the Pope’s monthly intention for July 2018:
“That priests, who experience fatigue and loneliness in their pastoral work, may find help and comfort in their intimacy with the Lord and in their friendship with their brother priests.”
“WHENEVER WE GET TIRED…”
“Let us go back to the Gospels and take a look at what St Matthew tells us in chapter twenty-one. He described how Jesus ‘returning to the city was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went up to it.’ How wonderful, Lord, to see you hungry! To see you thirsty, too, by the well of Sichar! I contemplate you who are perfectus Deus, perfectus homo, truly God, yet truly man, with flesh like my flesh. ‘He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,’ so that I should never have the slightest doubt that he understands me and loves me.
“‘He was hungry.’ Whenever we get tired — in our work, in our studies, in our apostolic endeavors — when our horizon is darkened by lowering clouds, then let us turn our eyes to Jesus, to Jesus who is so good, and who also gets tired; to Jesus who is hungry and suffers thirst. Lord, how well you make yourself understood! How lovable you are! You show us that you are just like us, in everything but sin, so that we can feel utterly sure that, together with you, we can conquer all our evil inclinations, all our faults. For neither weariness nor hunger matter, nor thirst, nor tears… since Christ also grew weary, knew hunger, was thirsty, and wept. What is important is that we struggle to fulfill the will of our heavenly Father, battling away good-heartedly, for Our Lord is always at our side.”
St. Josemaria Escriva
Friends of God, no. 201
POPE’S WORLDWIDE PRAYER NETWORK | APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
What is the process in the preparation of the prepared prayer intentions? The faithful from around the world suggest papal prayer intentions to the international office of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network in Rome. Through prayerful discernment the international office selects a large number of them and submits them to the Vatican for further selection, with the Pope making the final selection. The Vatican then entrusts to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network the official set of monthly prayer intentions, which are then translated into the major world languages and published in print and digital formats.