We invite you to join the Pope and Christians throughout the world in his prayer intentions for this month:
That in less developed parts of the world the proclamation of the Word of God may renew people's hearts, encouraging them to work actively toward authentic social progress.
and
That by opening our hearts to love we may put an end to the numerous wars and conflicts which continue to bloody our world.
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Apostleship of Prayer In the Apostleship of Prayer millions of people around the world unite together each day in an approach to prayer that is both simple and profound. It is centred on the Daily Offering. By making this Offering slowly each morning you turn your attention to God in prayer for a short time, in that way making him the centre of the day ahead. |
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Daily Offering
Eternal Father, I offer you everything I do this day, my thoughts, words, joys and sufferings. Grant that, vivified by the Holy Spirit and united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, my life this day may be of service to you and to others. And I pray with the whole Church for the Pope's intentions this month: I pray with Mary and the whole Church For the Pope's intentions this month. |
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Reflection for the month -End to war We invite you to join the Pope and Christians throughout the world in reflecting on his prayer intentions for this month: |
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For over 30 minutes the names of the 179 British servicemen and women killed in Iraq were read out one by one. It made a powerful impression as British Troops were formally ending combat operations in Iraq on 30 April 2009 after six years. Pope Paul VI when he addressed the United Nations in 1965 was not thinking of the courage and self sacrifice of the troops who fight when he called for ‘No more war! Never again war!' He would have been thinking of the young lives of the 4,259 Americans soldiers cut short and the 100,000 Iraqi civilians who have died in the same war. And that is not to mention the larger number of wounded, the lives destroyed, and cities in ruins. The calls for an end to war have multiplied as the numbers of civilian casualties in modern warfare far out number those of the combatants'. Weapons have become more sophisticated and weapons of mass destruction are capable of destroying the whole world. In 2003 a popular outcry against the impending Iraq invasion was heard in large cities across the world and the United Nations refused to sanction the invasion. The demonstrations were demanding an end to war. John Looby, S.J. |