November 2004
Praying with the Holy Pope
This month, I thought it would be good if we emphasized praying for the intentions of our Holy Father. As gathered from EWTN's site here, Papal intentions for this month (and for future months as well) are:
General Intention: That Christian men and women, aware of the vocation which is theirs in the Church, may answer generously God's call to seek holiness in the midst of their lives.
Thoughts which we could ponder upon,
For those who aren't 'aware' of your vocation:
• Are you seriously discerning the will of God for our lives especially wrt to your vocation? Or have we made up our minds what we want to do?
• Who are you discerning our vocation with? Is it just a one-on-one discernment between God & you? Or is it a decision important enough to seek expert guidance?
• What is it that you think God is calling you to? Would you be happy if your vocation was the other choice? (this will give you an understanding into whether your mind is truly open to the will of the Lord).
And for those who are:
• Are you seriously "seeking" holiness in the midst of your lives? Or is holiness something you compartmentalize and keep aside for Sundays?
• What are the things you are actively doing to be "holy"?
• How can you do these things Better?
• What else can you do?
Missionary Intention: That all those who work in the missions may never forget that personal holiness and intimate union with Christ are the source of the efficacy of evangelization.
Even as we keep this intention in our prayer this entire month, let us not forget that we are all called to be evangelists in our own small way.. to our neighbors, our colleagues, our relatives.
Let us too remember that "Personal Holiness" and "Intimate Union with Christ" are the only way we will be good evangelists.
I pray that this November we may all grow closer to our Lord Jesus Christ and achieve a greater degree of personal holiness in our lives. Amen.
November 2004
