An estimated two-thirds of the earth’s surface is water. For most of us all we need to do is turn on a tap for clean water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Water seems so cheap and available that we tend to take it for granted and waste it. Yet lack of access to water kills more children annually than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. The United Nations declared 2005 to 2015 as the “International Decade for Action: Water for Life.”

This month Pope Benedict draws our attention the need to take care of this precious resource so that all people will have the water they need to live. The Holy Father maintains that access to water is part of every person’s right to life. In a message for the 2007 World Water Day he wrote: “Water, a common good of the human family, constitutes an essential element for life…Access to water is in fact one of the inalienable rights of every human being.” He repeated this message a year later saying that water is not “an economic commodity” and the right to water “is founded on the dignity of the human person.”

Water also has a profound religious significance. The Sacred Scriptures use water as a symbol of purification and of life. God, the Creator, uses water to sustain and clean all that lives. In Baptism water purifies from sin and gives new life.

We pray this month that the nations, communities, and people of the world will value God’s gift of water and use it in a way that makes it accessible to every one of our brothers and sisters in the human family. We join St. Francis of Assisi in his prayer: Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

Reflection: In what ways do I value and conserve the water that I consume each day?

Reading: Ezekiel 47:12 Wherever the river flows every sort of living creature shall live.

MISSION INTENTION: Health Workers. That the Lord may sustain the efforts of health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world’s poorest regions.

Every year on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11, we celebrate the World Day of the Sick. On this day we pray for our brothers and sisters who are carrying the cross of illness.

With that in mind, this month Pope Benedict asks us to join him in praying also for health workers, especially those in the poorest regions of the world. Health workers in poor countries are truly missionaries as they offer people the Gospel not so much with words as with their actions of love.

Caring for the sick is extremely challenging. The work is hard, especially without adequate medicine and equipment. The work is also dangerous, as health workers are continuously exposed to infectious diseases. Even diseases that are easily prevented and treated are rampant in many of the poor areas of the world. Health workers in these areas are often exhausted and tempted to hopelessness. We join Pope Benedict in praying that God may sustain them.

Blessed John Paul II called the work of health workers “the apostolate of God’s mercy.” Health care is, in Pope Benedict’s words, “central to the mission of the Church.” In some areas of the world, the only health care available is provided by the Church. The Church as the Body of Christ carries on Jesus’ healing ministry for the benefit of all, without discrimination.

Jesus commanded us to care for the sick when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan and said: “Go and do likewise.” We pray that the Lord may strengthen health workers to continue to serve God’s poorest children throughout the world.

Reflection: What are some of the qualities that you have appreciated in health care workers who have cared for you or a loved one?

Reading: Luke 10:25-37 You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

God is Love, so why is the beautiful world God created subject to natural disasters like droughts, floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis?
There must be a good answer to this question, but we don’t have it. Perhaps we are simply incapable of understanding God’s reasons. Through the Prophet Isaiah, God said: “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts” (55:9).
We lack full understanding, but we can use natural disasters as an opportunity to live out our faith in a loving God.
After one disaster Pope Benedict said, “I would like to assure the people of my closeness in concern and prayer. May God, in his goodness, take pity on his people and hear the voices of those who call him (Psalm 5:3) and implore his aid! And with the Psalmist I say: Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted (Psalm 10:12).”
We rejoice to be a part of a great outpouring of assistance immediately after a disaster. And we bring glory to God when we continue to remember those who suffer a long time after a disaster.
We pray with the Holy Father this month that victims of natural disasters may receive what they need to recover. Each natural disaster is an opportunity for us to pray, to work, and to give generously to help disaster victims rebuild their lives.
We may not understand why our loving God allows natural disasters, but we do know how we are called to respond—with love.

Reflection: Have you ever experienced a natural disaster? How was that disaster an opportunity to respond with love?

Reading:Romans 8:18-25 All creation is groaning in labor pains even until now.

MISSION INTENTION: Dedication to Peace. That the dedication of Christians to peace may bear witness to the name of Christ before all men and women of good will.

Pope Benedict has repeatedly condemned violence in God’s Name. This month he calls us to dedicate ourselves through prayer and action to bearing witness to the world that the name of Christ means peace.
Praying and working for peace is essential to spreading the Gospel. Christians dedicated to peace are a powerful witness to the world that the true face of God is Christ. Jesus told the apostles at the Last Supper: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27).
Yet it is evident in our world, in our communities, and even in our families that the peace of Jesus brings conflict. Jesus himself said: “I have come to bring not peace but the sword” (Matthew 10:34)
The two quotations may seem contradictory, but they are not. Jesus knew that he and his teachings would divide people. His life, teaching, works, death, and rising reconciled us to God and to one another. Jesus has given us peace beyond anything the world could give. Yet from the beginning many have rejected his peace, disbelieving that he was the Messiah and refusing to repent.
In the midst of a quarreling world, we Christians dedicate ourselves to Christ’s way of peace by doing his will—the only basis for a just order that leads to peace.
This month we may be moved to pray especially for peace within in the Body of Christ. In January Christian churches of all kinds celebrate a week of prayer for Christian unity. Only through the union of all Christians will we be able to witness to the world that the name Christian means unity not division, peace not war.

Reflection:In what ways can you express the peace of Christ in the ordinary events of your daily life?

Reading:
Ephesians 2:14-18 He came and preached peace.

Peace among All Peoples. That all peoples may grow in harmony and peace through mutual understanding and respect.

During Advent as we prepare for Christ-mas, we also pray for the coming of God‟s Kingdom. We commit ourselves to prepare the world to receive its Savior, not only in the present, but at the end of time. Only when the world receives Christ and his Kingdom is fully established will there be true peace in the world.
In the meantime, we live in a kind of “armed stand-off” of powers. In 1986 Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote that devo-tion to the Heart of Jesus is the key to over-coming violence in our world. He said that through this devotion, “on the ruins accu-mulated through hatred and violence, can be built the civilization of love so greatly desired, the kingdom of the Heart of Christ.”

This month of Advent and Christmas we pray with Pope Benedict that all people may grow in harmony and peace through mutual understanding and respect. Peace will come only when all people recognize the God-given rights of each person. Only through genuine dialogue will we grow in mutual understanding that leads to harmony and peace.

In a Christmas message, Pope Benedict said: “God is not distant: he is „Emmanuel,‟ God-with-us. He is no stranger: he has a face, the face of Jesus…. „Emmanuel‟ has come as King of justice and peace.”

May the Heart of Christ reign over every human heart so that the daily prayer which Jesus taught his disciples and us may be fulfilled: “Thy Kingdom come!” Then we shall have peace.

Reflection
How can you promote mutual understanding and respect among the people in your community who are in conflict?

Scripture
Ephesians 2: 14-17 He is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh.

MISSION INTENTION

Children and Youth. That children and young people may be messengers of the Gospel and that they may be respected and preserved from all violence and exploitation.

A few years ago at Christmas Midnight Mass, Pope Benedict said: “In every child we see something of the Child of Bethlehem.” Unfor-tunately, many in the world do not see Christ in every child; they do not see human dignity in those to whom the Christ Child joined himself.

The Holy Father went on to pray specifically for “children who are denied the love of their parents,” for “street children who do not have the blessing of a family home,” for “children who are brutally exploited as soldiers,” and for “children who are victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse.”

Pope Benedict called for the safety of every child saying: “Only through the conversion of hearts, only through a change in the depths of our hearts can the cause of all this evil be overcome.”

So we join the Holy Father this month in praying for conversion. We pray that all children and young people may be respected and pre-served.
Part of our respect for children is the recognition of the essential role they play in spreading the Gospel. Jesus blessed children and pointed to them as an example of how to receive the Kingdom of God.

When Pope Benedict met with children who are part of the Pontifical Society of the Holy Child-hood, a missionary group, they asked him: “How can we children help you to proclaim the Gospel?” He he told them to pray, listen to Jesus, share with others, and help people who are “disagreeable.” He continued: “Sharing, …prayer, reciprocal listening, and solidarity [are] missionary work because [they help] to make the Gospel a reality in our world.”

Reflection
How can the children and young people of my community become more involved in parish life and evangelization?

Scripture
Matthew 18: 1-5 Whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

Prayer of the Month
Lord Jesus, Emmanuel, in your Heart we find the eternal love that urged you to descend into human misery to redeem us from sin, the cause of injustice and conflict. For thousands of years humanity was far from God in the shadows of death. You crossed over the wide abyss of sin which separated us from our Creator. On the cross you have reconciled us with God and one another. Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, have mercy on us. Amen

That the Eastern Catholic Churches and their venerable traditions may be known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure for the whole Church.

In a 1995 Apostolic Letter entitled “The Light of the East,” Blessed John Paul II said that “the venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ’s Church” and that “the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition.” In his Encyclical Mother of the Redeemer, Pope John Paul said that Roman Catholics should experience the riches of Eastern Christianity so that “the Church can begin once more to breathe fully with her ‘two lungs,’ the East and the West.”
Pope Benedict shares his predecessor’s deep desire for unity between Catholics and Orthodox Christians who share the rites and traditions of Eastern Christianity. A year ago he encouraged “all the Eastern Churches to preserve their own identity, which is at the same time both Eastern and Catholic.” Thus we pray this month that these traditions may be better known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure of the whole Church.
Reflection:What do you know about the Eastern Catholic Churches? Are there particular traditions and practices that you find helpful to you?
Reading:
1 Corinthians 12:1-6 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit.

MISSION INTENTION-Justice and Reconciliation in Africa

That the African continent may find strength in Christ to pursue justice and reconciliation as set forth by the Second Synod of African Bishops.

The 2009 special Synod of African Bishops meeting in Rome took as its theme: “The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice, and Peace.” Pope Benedict asks us to pray this month that the graces of that Synod may spread throughout Africa.
At that Synod, the African Bishops addressed the entire Church: “Science and technology are making giant strides in all aspects of life…, [but in Africa] the tragic situations of refugees, abject poverty, disease and hunger are still killing thousands on a daily basis.”
Such suffering may be hard for us to imagine. If thousands of people were dying every day in our own country, we would clamor for our government to do something. Yet the policies of developed nations, including our own, actually lie behind the tragedy of African suffering.
Speaking to the “great powers” of this world, the African Bishops pleaded: “Treat Africa with respect and dignity. Africa has been calling for a change in the world economic order, with unjust structures piled heavily against her. Recent turmoil in the financial world shows the need for a radical change of rules. Many of the conflicts, wars, and poverty of Africa derive mainly from these unjust structures.”
Let us hear the pleas of both the African Bishops and Pope Benedict. Let’s pray that we, through our prayers and our work for a more just world, may help our African brothers and sisters “find strength in Christ to pursue justice and reconciliation.”
Reflection:Can you give an example of our country’s policies that may have an adverse effect on the people of Africa? How might you do something to work for a change in those policies?
Reading:1 Corinthians 12: 12-26 “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it…”

PRAYER OF THE MONTH

O Master, Christ God, King forever, Maker of all things, I thank You for all the favors You granted me, and particularly for having given me your pure and life-giving Mysteries. I pray You, O gracious God and Lover of Mankind: keep me under your protection and under the shadow of your wings; grant that, until my last breath, I may worthily receive your holy Mysteries with a clear conscience, for the remission of my sins and for life everlasting. Amen.

- from the Byzantine Liturgy, Thanksgiving Prayer of St. Basil the Great

Terminally Ill. That the terminally ill may be supported by their faith in God and the love of their brothers and sisters.

This month’s prayer intention is appropriate for October, Respect Life Month. Our culture tends to see the terminally ill as a burden. There’s this attitude: “They’re going to die soon anyway; why not euthanize them?” (Truth be told, we are all going to die sooner or later.)

We like to disguise the fact that we are talking about killing another person. We call it euthanasia (Greek for good death) or mercy-killing. If we cannot kill a person’s pain directly, this logic goes, we should kill the person, as if pain is the ultimate enemy.

In February 2009, Pope Benedict called euthanasia “a false solution to the drama of suffering, a solution unworthy of man. Indeed, the true response cannot be to put someone to death, however “kindly,‟ but rather to witness to the love that helps people to face their pain and agony in a human way. We can be certain that no tear, neither of those who are suffering nor of those who are close to them, is lost before God.”

This month‟s prayer intention expresses our two obligations toward the terminally ill. First, we must support them in the faith that every human life from conception to natural death is sacred. We support them by helping them find meaning in their suffering.

With the bishops of the Second Vatican Council, we can say to them: “You are the brothers and sisters of the suffering Christ, and with him, if you wish, you are saving the world.” For when we unite our sufferings to Christ, we contribute to the ongoing salvation of the world.

Our second obligation to the terminally ill, whether family members or strangers, is to give them compassionate care, as the Samaritan did for the wounded stranger on the roadside. What we do for those who are sick, we are doing for Christ.

Reflection
How have I experienced the redemptive value of suffering in my own life? How can I help others find meaning in their sufferings?

Scripture
Luke 10: 29-37 Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

MISSION INTENTION

World Mission Day. That the celebration of World Mission Day may foster in the People of God a passion for evangelization
with the willingness to support the missions with prayer and economic aid for the poorest Churches.

On the 23rd of this month we celebrate World Mission Day. In his message for this day, Pope Benedict reminds us this day is not an “isolated moment” in the Church year, but an opportunity to reflect how we live our missionary vocation throughout the year.

All of us, the contemporary followers of Christ, are called to share our gift of faith. The Holy Father reminds us: “The Gospel is not an exclusive possession of whoever has received it but a gift to share, good news to communicate.” If we truly know of God‟s deep love revealed in Jesus, we won‟t be able to keep this good news to ourselves. We will be on fire to share the faith and to do everything possible to support those who do this as their full-time ministry, especially in places far from home.

“Continuous proclamation of the Gospel, in fact, also invigorates the Church,” Pope Benedict said in his message. When we do the Church‟s work of evangelization, we grow stronger in our own faith. According to Pope Benedict, the proclamation of the Gospel “is the most precious service that the Church can render to humanity.”

Let us join Pope Benedict in praying for the success of this annual celebration of evangelization. May we all have a passion for spreading the Gospel that leads us to do something concrete—support the work of the missions in the poorest countries through prayer and contributions.

In Pope Benedict‟s words, “May World Mission Day revive in each one the desire to go and the joy of going.”

Reflection
What elements of the faith do I find most exciting? What are ways that I can share those with others either through what I say or what I do?

Scripture
Luke 24: 13-35 The two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Prayer of the Month
Lord Jesus Christ, you chose to share
our human nature to redeem all people.
Look with compassion on your
servants who are suffering from terminal
illness. Support them with
your power, comfort them with your
protection, and give them the
strength to fight against evil. Since
you have given them a share in your
own passion, help them to find hope
in suffering, for you are Lord for
ever and ever. Amen.
—adapted from Pastoral Care of the Sick

Catholic Universities. That Catholic Universities may increasingly become places where, in light of the gospel, people may experience the unity of faith and reason.

Over the centuries, colleges founded to educate students from the perspective of faith have drifted away from faith and become wholly secular. Pope Benedict XVI, previously a university professor himself, is keenly aware of the way faith can be set aside in an educational institution. And when faith departs, so ultimately does reason. Truth comes by faith and reason working together. This month we are asked to pray that Catholic universities may increasingly become places where people may experience the unity of faith and reason.

Pope John Paul II addressed this topic in his 1998 encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason). The Encyclical has two chapters, “I Believe So That I May Understand” and “I Understand So That I May Believe.” The Pope began with these words: “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth.”

The crisis of today’s higher education comes not just from the lack of faith, but also from the lack of reason. To some, truth has become an illusion. Truth depends on God. In a world without faith in God, any “truth” is just as good (or as bad) as any other. Like cynical Pontius Pilate, many are now asking, “What is truth?” Their question is not sincere because it contains the assumption that the truth is unknown, unknowable, and irrelevant. But Jesus answered Pilate, “I am the Truth.” Jesus embodies the truth that God is Love and we are God’s children. He is the truth that makes us free. By faith, we affirm the values upon which all knowledge depends: we affirm truth, virtue, and beauty. They lead us to God.

All the advances of science will do no good — and might well do harm — without similar advances in wisdom. On the united wings of faith and reason, we can steer straight to the Truth and our destiny in God. We fly in the light of the Gospel, with goodness, not greed, in our hearts.

Reflection

How will you speak out for authentic Catholic education in which faith and reason unite?

Scripture

Proverbs 3:19-22 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth, established the heavens by understanding; by his knowledge the depths break open, and the clouds drop down dew. My son, let not these slip out of your sight; keep advice and counsel in view; so will they be life to your soul.

Mission Intention

World Mission Day. That World Mission Day may help Christians realize that the task of proclaiming Christ is a necessary service to which the Church is called for the benefit of humanity.

On the third Sunday of October the Church celebrates World Mission Sunday. Special prayers are offered and special collections taken to aid the work of missionaries around the world. The Holy Father writes a special message for the occasion.

In this year’s message Pope Benedict picks up the theme of this month’s missionary intention: that we may realize that proclaiming the Gospel is necessary for the benefit of humanity. How is it necessary? Under commandment from Christ to preach and to baptize, the Church is “by her very nature missionary.” His people proclaim Christ in word and in deed, says the Pope, “because they have found in him the meaning and the truth for their own lives.”

“The missionary mandate,” the Pope continues, “cannot be fulfilled without a profound personal, community and pastoral conversion.” Words are not enough. We must live our faith.

So how does missionary service benefit all of humanity? It benefits all because Christians bring the truth of Jesus, and all humanity is hungry for the truth, which is the love of God.

God’s love alone is the basis for true peace and true happiness, here and now and in heaven forever. The preaching of the Gospel, says the Pope, bears fruit in a more just society and in a human solidarity that prepares us for eternal life.

The Pope said recently to the Mission Societies, “Evangelization needs Christians with arms raised to God in a gesture of prayer, Christians moved by the awareness that the conversion of the world to Christ is not done by us, but is given” by God while we pray and follow the Lord. So, as Apostles of Prayer, we commit ourselves to prayer and alms-giving. This is our duty and our joy.

Reflection

How do you obey the “missionary mandate” in your own life? How do the truth of Christ and the love of the Father shine through in your daily activities?

Scripture

John 14:5-7 Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father.”

Daily Offering Prayer

God, our Father, I offer you my day. I offer you my prayers, thoughts, words, actions, joys, and sufferings in union with the Heart of Jesus, who continues to offer himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit, who guided Jesus, be my guide and my strength today so that I may witness to your love. With Mary, the mother of our Lord and of the Church, I pray for all Apostles of Prayer and for the prayer intentions proposed by the Holy Father this month. Amen.

Prayer of the Month

All-holy Father, eternal God, in your goodness you prepared a royal throne for your Wisdom in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary; bathe your Church in the radiance of your life-giving Word, that, pressing forward on its pilgrim way in the light of truth, it may come to the joy of a perfect knowledge of your love. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

—from the Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom

The Word of God as Incentive for Social Development. That the proclamation of the Word of God may renew people’s hearts, encouraging them to work toward authentic social progress.

Pope Benedict XVI has said, “The Word of God is the foundation of everything, it is the true reality.” Yet we build our lives on money, believing it makes us secure. “With the fall of large banks, this money disappears, it is nothing. The one who builds his life on matter, on success, on appearances, builds upon sand. Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality…The realist is the one who builds his life on this foundation, which is permanent” (Opening Address, Synod of Bishops, 2008).

September’s prayer intention reminds us that the Word of God is our rock and our inspiration. The Pope asks us to pray that the Word will go forth in our time and renew our hearts.

The reality is that there can be no difference between preaching the Gospel and doing the Gospel. We “translate the Word we have heard into gestures of love because this is the only way to make the Gospel proclamation credible” (Concluding Homily, Synod of Bishops, 2008).

The Holy Father reminds us that Sacred Scripture commands us to work for justice. We are faithful to the Word of God when we respect the rights of every person and work with love to help those who suffer. The Holy Spirit calls the whole Church to live this Gospel.

Jesus Christ reveals God’s love for us — the lost, the weak, the suffering. In so doing, he reveals our great worth, for he who is the “image of the invisible God,” is fully human, like us in everything except sin. He restores in us the divine likeness and raises us to everlasting life.

May all who hear the Word of God recognize its reality and be inspired to work for authentic social progress, justice for all.

Reflection

How do you recognize that the Word of God— not material goods—is the foundation for your life? As you listen to the Word, how does it encourage you to work for justice?

Scripture

Isaiah 55:10-11 For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.

Mission Intention

End of War. That by opening our hearts to love we may put an end to wars and conflicts which continue to bloody our world.

Does it seem odd to you that this month’s mission intention has to do with putting an end to war? What does war have to do with missions?

Ask any missionary striving to bring the Gospel to people who are caught up in conflict. War hinders evangelization. People fear for their lives. They grieve for the dead. They must flee their homes. They are forced to fight. How can they give time and attention to the Word of God?

Perhaps it seems odd to you that the Pope seeks a spiritual solution to the physical reality of war. He asks us to “open our hearts to love” as the way to end war. Is it unrealistic to pray for peace? Is this how to end war?

At World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, 2005, Pope Benedict explained how Jesus Christ is putting an end to violence in our world. “By making the bread into his Body and the wine into his Blood, [Jesus] anticipates his death, he accepts it in his heart, and he transforms it into an action of love. What on the outside is simply brutal violence — the Crucifixion — from within becomes an act of total self-giving love…Here now is the central act of transformation that alone can truly renew the world: violence is transformed into love, and death into life.”

The Holy Father continued, “This is like inducing nuclear fission in the very heart of being — the victory of love over hatred, the victory of love over death. Only this intimate explosion of good conquering evil can trigger the series of transformations that little by little will change the world. All other changes remain superficial and cannot save.”

At Fatima in 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary called for prayer and penance, warning of a worse war. Mary’s peace plan has not been followed. Humanity has not turned to God in prayer, has not opened its heart to love.

Peace is only possible if there is conversion of heart through the Gospel and grace. We are praying for an end to war when we pray that people will receive the Word of God, be trans-formed by him, and live as the one human family God intended us to be.

Reflection

How will you uproot war and establish peace in your own heart?

Scripture

Isaiah 32:17 Justice will bring about peace; right will produce calm and security.

Prayer of the Month

O Lord, see how everywhere the winds have burst forth and the sea is convulsed with rising waves. Command both the winds and the sea, we beseech you, for you alone are able. Restore to humanity the true peace of your Name, that peace which the world cannot give, and the calm of social harmony. Under your favor and inspiration may people return to due order, and having overthrown the rule of greed, bring back again the love of God, justice, charity toward neighbor, and temperance in all desires. May your kingdom come! Amen.

—A Prayer for Peace by Pope Leo XIII

The Unemployed and the Homeless. That those who are unemployed, homeless, or in any serious need may find welcome, understanding, and help in overcoming their difficulties.

We are praying this month for people in serious need, but especially for the unemployed and the homeless. Certainly Pope Benedict chose this prayer intention with the recent economic crisis in mind. Stock markets may be up somewhat, but the world economy is still fragile. An economic problem in one country affects other countries. Suddenly people find themselves in serious need of help.

The U.S. unemployment rate for the last 12 months exceeds 9.5 percent, which means over 15 million Americans don’t have jobs. On any given night, there are somewhere between 700,000 and 2 million homeless people in the U.S. Conservatively estimated, there are at least 100 million homeless people worldwide.

How are we to respond to these people in serious need? First and last, we pray for them. Beyond that, Pope Benedict asks us to welcome, understand, and help them.

To welcome someone is to spend time with a person, recognizing that he or she is important to God and therefore to us. Let’s remember that in welcoming anyone we are actually welcoming Jesus, for he identified himself with people in serious need. Only by spending time with someone can we begin to understand his or her situation. When we open ourselves to see each person with the Heart of Christ, we find loving and beautiful ways to respond. If we love, any action we do cannot be in vain.

Too often we think that helping the poor is simply a matter of giving money. This month the Holy Father is asking us to be more creative, to get personally involved. In doing so, we have a special opportunity to respect the worth and dignity of those in serious need. We are children of the same Father, so let us treat those in serious need as we would the members of our own family.

Reflection

How will you become personally involved with someone in serious need? In what ways will you welcome, understand, and help others over-come their difficulties?

Scripture

Luke 9:58 — Jesus said to them, “The foxes have lairs, the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Mission Intention

Victims of Discrimination, Hunger, and Forced Emigration. That the Church may be a home for all people in need, opening its doors to any who suffer from racial or religious discrimination, hunger, or wars forcing their emigration.

Migration is the history of the human race. It is also the history of God’s people. The Jews migrated to Egypt in time of famine, then centuries later followed Moses back to their homeland. After Jesus was born, the Holy Family too fled to Egypt to escape the murderous intent of King Herod. Jesus began his life as a political refugee.

People have always migrated to escape drought, hardship, war, religious persecution, and discrimination, and they do so still. Each year many millions leave their own countries to find food, shelter, and safety in another country. In many cases families are split as one parent leaves to find work elsewhere and to send back support. We have seen such migration to the United States since the beginning, and we see it most recently in the many Latin American immigrants who have left their homes because of severe hardship.

This month Pope Benedict asks us to pray for those who have been forced to emigrate. Jesus said that people will be judged based on whether they welcomed the stranger (Matthew 25:35). In his third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), Pope Benedict called for policies among nations for “safeguarding the needs and rights of individual migrants and their families, and at the same time, those of the host countries.”

Challenged by these and other Scriptures, the Holy Father asks us to pray with him that the Church may be a home for all people in need. He said: “Every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance.” As members of the Body of Christ, our hearts should go out to those in need just as Jesus’ Heart does.

Reflection

Immigration is a difficult and controversial issue. How are my own views challenged by what the Pope says? Do I see ways in which welcoming the immigrant relates to the sanctity of life?

Scripture

Leviticus 19: 33-34 — When an alien resides with you in your land, do not molest him. You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt.

Prayer of the Month

St. Maximilian Kolbe, amidst the hate and lonely misery of Auschwitz, you brought love into the lives of fellow captives and sowed the seeds of hope amidst despair. You bore witness to the world by word and deed that “Love alone creates.” Help me to become more like you. With the Church and Mary and you, may I proclaim that “Love alone creates.” To the hungry and oppressed, the naked and homeless, the scorned and hated, the lonely and despairing, may I proclaim the power of Christ’s love, which endures forever and ever. Amen.

—from www.catholicity.com

Justice in Elections. That elections in every nation may be carried out with justice, transparency, and honesty, respecting the free decisions of citizens.

Pope Benedict XVI has said that “fidelity to democracy alone can guarantee equality and rights to everyone” (Speech to the Italian Christian Workers’ Associations, 2006). Yet democracy is at risk in our time. “In a world without truth,” said the Pope, “freedom loses its foundation, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul” (Address of Benedict XVI, South Lawn of the White House, April 2008).

The Holy Father asks us to pray this month for elections throughout the world. We are praying with the universal Church and Apostles of Prayer everywhere that votes may be cast freely, tallied honestly, and honored in their result.

Free and fair elections serve the common good, but only if citizens inform themselves and vote. The Pope asks us to participate in our democratic process first by seeking truth through reason and Christian values. Then we must bravely speak the truth, always respecting the freedom of others.

“Democracy can only flourish, as your founding fathers realized,” the Pope said in his White House address, “when political leaders and those whom they represent are guided by truth and bring the wisdom born of firm moral principle to decisions affecting the life and future of the nation.”

As citizens, then, what specifically can we do to help our democracy flourish? The Pope makes it clear: “The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good, and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate.”

As we pray for free and fair elections through-out the world, let us also pray for voters, including ourselves, that we may seek the common good.

Reflection

As you prepare for the next election, how can you “cultivate virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good, and a sense of responsibility toward the less fortunate”? How can you courageously bring your “deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate”?

Scripture

Proverbs 14:34 — Virtue exalts a nation, but sin is a people’s disgrace.

Mission Intention

Urban Culture. That Christians may strive to promote everywhere, but especially in our cities, education, justice, solidarity, and peace.

For the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. All over the world, people are leaving rural areas and moving to cities. Why? They hope to find a better life — and often they do. Dense population offers opportunities for employment, education, advancement, and community. Cities can be catalysts for collective action and social accountability. And, from the Christian point of view, cities have served the evangelization of peoples since the first days of the Church.

Opportunities abound in the city, but this month’s mission intention implies that cities also face special challenges. We think immediately of poverty, violence, crowding, segregation, and pollution. The Holy Father asks us to pray for ourselves and for other Christians that we may strive to overcome these challenges by promoting education, justice, solidarity, and peace, especially in cities. To do so is part and parcel of our obedience to Jesus Christ’s commandment to spread the Kingdom of God.

To promote education is to advocate the formation of the whole person through attentive parenting, moral teaching, formal schooling, and job training.

To promote justice is to seek fair play and equality, respecting every person’s God-given dignity and rights.

To promote solidarity is to affirm that we are members of communities, social beings who find fulfillment in relationship to others. God did not create us to be selfish individualists, always and only seeking our own good. Each one of us must decide to value solidarity.

Peace in our cities — indeed, peace in our world — will come with education, justice, and solidarity. As we promote those values, others will adopt them too, until even institutions and systems will change for the better.

The last book of the Bible depicts a heavenly city, a place of everlasting peace and joy. That holy city of God is the ideal toward which we Christians strive. In the meantime in this world, we pray and work for good things for all people, especially those in our cities.

Reflection

In your own community, what one thing can you do to promote education, justice, solidarity, or peace?

Scripture

Revelation 21:23 — The city had no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb.

Prayer of the Month

Lord and Ruler of all, we pray for the elections that will be held throughout the world this year. May governments recognize the right of their people to choose their leaders in fair and free elections. May all people find and courageously hold to values that lead them to vote for honest candidates who seek the common good rather than appeal to selfish interests.

Respect for Human Life. That every national and international institution may strive to guarantee respect for human life from conception to natural death.

June’s general intention is one that is dear to the Heart of Jesus, to which we give special honor in this month of the Sacred Heart.

We respect human life because God gave it to us. We respect each and every human life also because God came to us with a human body. Jesus, God made man, loved us with a heart that was both human and divine. Humanity rejected God’s plan, but God didn’t give up on us. He God sent his Son to live and die and be raised so that we — each one of us — could live forever in union with God.

Jesus died even for babies developing in the womb today, even for elderly people who have lost their faculties. These are lives to be respected and cared for until God calls them home in a natural death.

Our world has many official proclamations and documents affirming that all are “created equal” with certain “inalienable rights.” That’s a good start. Yet those basic human rights are often denied to whole populations, such as the unborn.

Pope Benedict asks us to pray that national and international institutions may go further than they ever have and proclaim the human right to life from conception to natural death. The Pope has said that safeguarding God’s creation begins with safeguarding human life in the womb.

“If we wish to build true peace,” said Pope Benedict, “how can we separate…the protection of the environment and the protection of human life, including the life of the unborn? It is in man’s respect for himself that his sense of responsibility for creation is shown. As Saint Thomas Aquinas has taught, man represents all that is most noble in the universe. Furthermore, as I noted during the recent World Summit on Food Security, ‘the world has enough food for all its inhabitants’ provided that selfishness does not lead some to hoard the goods which are intended for all” (January 10, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI speaking at the annual meeting for Vatican ambassadors).

Reflection

How will you speak up for the God-given right to life of every person from conception to natural death?

Scripture

Jeremiah 1:4-5 — The word of the Lord came to me thus: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.”

Mission Intention

Churches in Asia. That the Churches in Asia, a “little flock” among non-Christian populations, may communicate the gospel well and give joyful witness to their faith.

Pope Benedict has called Asia the most important mission field of Christianity’s third millennium. Even if we look at only population projections, it seems clear that Asia’s response to the gospel will play a major role in determining the future of Christianity for the foreseeable future. But currently there are great challenges to the spread of the faith in Asia.

Today only about 6 percent of Asians are Christian — in South Asia the estimate is only 2 percent. These percentages sharply contrast the 87 percent Christians of the Americas, Europe’s 77 percent, Oceania’s 63 percent, and Africa’s 46 percent.

No wonder the Pope sometimes refers to the Churches of Asia as a “little flock.” He recognizes that the Christian population is not only small, but also vulnerable. Today it is in Asia where much of the persecution of Christians occurs. Many Christians in India, Iraq, China, Vietnam, and Malaysia are victims of violence, harassment, and discrimination.

It is difficult to be a member of a minority. People don’t like to stand out, especially in ways that might make them victims. People want to blend in with those around them and avoid trouble. This human tendency works against evangelization. It makes people resistant to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That’s why to be effective in communicating the faith Asian Christians must know and live in the joy of the Lord. The joy Asian Christians show in their lives may be the only gospel others will ever “hear.”

Let’s pray for the little flock of Asia, as the Pope has asked. Let us pray that they may live the faith with joy in spite of the hostility they may experience as a result of it.

Remember too that the Middle East is in Asia — including the place where Jesus was born and raised. Surely Asians occupy a special place in his Heart.

Reflection

Are there ways you can show your love for the people of Asia? How can you support the little flock of Christians there?

Scripture

Luke 12:31-34 — Seek his kingdom, and these things will be given you besides. Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

Prayer of the Month

Lord God, I thank you for my life and the lives of my brothers and sisters. Help us all understand that abortion ends life, that it violates the right to life you have given to each of your children — from conception to natural death. I commit myself to defend life until all my brothers and sisters are protected and safe. Give me grace to speak out in defense of the unborn. Help me do what I can to make others aware of the sanctity of life and our moral responsibility to end abortion. Amen.