Apostleship of Prayer

St. Clare was a contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi and was so impressed by him that she resolved to follow his way of life. She gave away all her possessions and received the religious habit from St. Francis in 1212. As other women joined her in a life of prayer, penance, and poverty—including her mother and two of her sisters—the Order of Poor Clares was formed. In 1958 Pope Pius XII named her the patron saint of television because of the tradition that when she was too ill to participate in the Mass in her convent chapel she was miraculously able to see and hear it on the wall of her room. As we pray that the human family may know how to respect God’s design for the world and be good stewards of creation, let us pray for an end to pollution—in the natural world and in the media. Our reflections for the next three days will be from Pope Benedict’s speech at the welcoming ceremony for World Youth Day on July 17.

For people of your age, however, any flight is an exciting prospect. But for me, this one was somewhat daunting! Yet the views afforded of our planet from the air were truly wondrous. The sparkle of the Mediterranean, the grandeur of the north African desert, the lushness of Asia’s forestation, the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, the horizon upon which the sun rose and set, and the majestic splendor of Australia’s natural beauty which I have been able to enjoy these last couple of days; these all evoke a profound sense of awe. It is as though one catches glimpses of the Genesis creation story – light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the waters, the earth, and living creatures; all of which are “good” in God’s eyes (1:1 – 2:4). …

And there is more – something hardly perceivable from the sky – men and women, made in nothing less than God’s own image and likeness (1:26). At the heart of the marvel of creation are you and I, the human family “crowned with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5). How astounding! With the Psalmist we whisper: “what is man that you are mindful of him?” (8:4). And drawn into silence, into a spirit of thanksgiving, into the power of holiness, we ponder.

What do we discover? Perhaps reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth: erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world’s mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption. Some of you come from island nations whose very existence is threatened by rising water levels; others from nations suffering the effects of devastating drought.

Today’s Readings: Ezekiel 1:2-5,24-28c;  Psalm 148:1-2,11-14;  Matthew 17:22-27

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