Apostleship of Prayer

In our General Intention this month we are praying with Pope Benedict that the human family may know how to respect God’s design for the world and become more aware of the great gift that God has given us in creation. Concern for creation, for the environment, is not some passing fad. It is part of our responsibility as stewards of creation. This concern is so important that Pope Benedict even wrote about it in his Apostolic Exhortation about the Eucharist—“Sacramentum Caritatis”. The following is from Section 92, entitled “The sanctification of the world and the protection of creation.”

Finally, to develop a profound Eucharistic spirituality that is also capable of significantly affecting the fabric of society, the Christian people, in giving thanks to God through the Eucharist, should be conscious that they do so in the name of all creation, aspiring to the sanctification of the world and working intensely to that end. The Eucharist itself powerfully illuminates human history and the whole cosmos. In this sacramental perspective we learn, day by day, that every ecclesial event is a kind of sign by which God makes himself known and challenges us. The Eucharistic form of life can thus help foster a real change in the way we approach history and the world. The liturgy itself teaches us this, when, during the presentation of the gifts, the priest raises to God a prayer of blessing and petition over the bread and wine, “fruit of the earth,” “fruit of the vine” and “work of human hands.” With these words, the rite not only includes in our offering to God all human efforts and activity, but also leads us to see the world as God’s creation, which brings forth everything we need for our sustenance. The world is not something indifferent, raw material to be utilized simply as we see fit. Rather, it is part of God’s good plan, in which all of us are called to be sons and daughters in the one Son of God, Jesus Christ. The justified concern about threats to the environment present in so many parts of the world is reinforced by Christian hope, which commits us to working responsibly for the protection of creation. The relationship between the Eucharist and the cosmos helps us to see the unity of God’s plan and to grasp the profound relationship between creation and the “new creation” inaugurated in the resurrection of Christ, the new Adam. Even now we take part in that new creation by virtue of our Baptism (Colossians 2:12ff.). Our Christian life, nourished by the Eucharist, gives us a glimpse of that new world – new heavens and a new earth – where the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven, from God, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).Today’s Readings: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-17;  Psalm 96:10-13;  Matthew 23:23-26

Hippolytus was a theologian and Pontian was pope. Unfortunately, they were enemies. Hippolytus struggled with several popes whom he thought were too lenient in dealing with heretics who repented. He even allowed himself to be elected the first “anti-pope.” But then they were both exiled to the island of Sardinia where they were reconciled and died from the mistreatment they received. In our reflection today, we conclude Pope Benedict’s remarks at the opening ceremony for the recent World Youth Day. His words remind us to pray that all may know God’s plan for humanity and for creation; may the knowledge of God’s plan and the Holy Spirit help all to become holy.

Dear friends, life is not governed by chance; it is not random. Your very existence has been willed by God, blessed and given a purpose (Genesis 1:28)! Life is not just a succession of events or experiences, helpful though many of them are. It is a search for the true, the good and the beautiful. It is to this end that we make our choices; it is for this that we exercise our freedom; it is in this – in truth, in goodness, and in beauty – that we find happiness and joy. Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth. Christ offers more! Indeed he offers everything! Only he who is the Truth can be the Way and hence also the Life. Thus the “way” which the Apostles brought to the ends of the earth is life in Christ. …

My dear friends, God’s creation is one and it is good. The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God himself and thus inviolable. Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises. Our hearts and minds are yearning for a vision of life where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. This is the work of the Holy Spirit! This is the hope held out by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is to bear witness to this reality that you were created anew at Baptism and strengthened through the gifts of the Spirit at Confirmation. Let this be the message that you bring from Sydney to the world!

Today’s Readings: Ezekiel 9:1-7, 10:18-22;  Psalm 113:1-6;  Matthew 18:15-20

Humanity, made in God’s image and likeness, was designed by God to care for creation, to be stewards of creation. But because we have not followed God’s plan, a great moral as well as environmental pollution has resulted. Let us pray that the human family may learn to respect God’s plan for the world and care for creation as God’s gift. Our reflection continues Pope Benedict’s speech at the beginning of World Youth Day 2008.

What of man, the apex of God’s creation? Every day we encounter the genius of human achievement. From advances in medical sciences and the wise application of technology, to the creativity reflected in the arts, the quality and enjoyment of people’s lives in many ways are steadily rising. … All of us, young and old, have those moments when the innate goodness of the human person - perhaps glimpsed in the gesture of a little child or an adult’s readiness to forgive - fills us with profound joy and gratitude.

Yet such moments do not last. So again, we ponder. And we discover that not only the natural but also the social environment – the habitat we fashion for ourselves – has its scars; wounds indicating that something is amiss. Here too, in our personal lives and in our communities, we can encounter a hostility, something dangerous; a poison which threatens to corrode what is good, reshape who we are, and distort the purpose for which we have been created. Examples abound, as you yourselves know. Among the more prevalent are alcohol and drug abuse, and the exaltation of violence and sexual degradation, often presented through television and the internet as entertainment. I ask myself, could anyone standing face to face with people who actually do suffer violence and sexual exploitation “explain” that these tragedies, portrayed in virtual form, are considered merely “entertainment”?

Today’s Readings: Ezekiel 2:8-3:4;  Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131;  Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

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