Pope’s November prayer intention

(Vatican News) “An abandoned child is our fault,” says Pope Francis in the video prepared by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network announcing his prayer intention for November. In the video, Pope Francis calls on Catholics to pray for children who are suffering due to rejection, indigence, poverty, and conflict around the world. “There are still millions of boys and girls who suffer and live in conditions very similar to slavery,” the Pope said, emphasizing that these children are not “numbers” but “human beings with names and an identity that God has given them.” Every marginalized child living without schooling, without a family, without health care, the Pope continued, is “a cry;” a cry “that rises up to God and shames the system that we adults have built.”

The Pope continued by saying every child should have the right to access basic services and be able to feel the warmth and love of a family: “We can no longer allow them to feel alone and abandoned — they are entitled to an education and to feel the love of a family so they know that God does not forget them.”

According to UNICEF, one billion children currently live in “multidimensional poverty” — that is without basic access to education, health care, shelter, food, sanitation, or water; the agency also estimates that 153 million children are orphans. Fr. Frédéric Fornos, S.J., International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, provided his thoughts on the November prayer intention, saying that this month, Pope Francis “opens our eyes, ears, and hearts to millions of forgotten children who suffer in silence on the streets and in hidden labour, victims of violence and war, migrants and refugees. In the face of indifference and impotence, we must pray.” It is our responsibility, the Pope concluded in the video, that no child feels left alone or abandoned — “they are entitled to an education and to feel the love of a family so they know that God does not forget them.”❖

these least brothers of mine, you did for me,'” the pope said. “The Most High is in the least, he who inhabits the heavens dwells among the most insignificant to the world.” Jesus’ measure is “a love beyond our measures, and his standard of judgment is gratuitousness,” he said. “So, to prepare ourselves, we know what to do: love those who are on his priority list, those who can give us nothing back, those who do not attract us” and do so without expecting repayment. Too often, Pope Francis said, instead of living the Gospel, people try to water down the words of Jesus. “Let’s face it, we have gotten pretty good at compromising with the Gospel,” saying, “‘Feeding the hungry yes, but the issue of hunger is complex, and I certainly can’t solve it!'” or “‘Welcoming migrants yes, but it is a complicated issue, it concerns politics,'” the pope said. With little objections “we make life a compromise with the Gospel.” “From simple disciples of the Master, we become teachers of complexity, who argue a lot and do little, who seek answers more in front of the computer than in front of the crucifix, on the internet rather than in the eyes of our brothers and sisters,” he said. Believers become experts “who comment, debate and expound theories, but do not know even one poor person by name, have not visited a sick person for months, have never fed or clothed someone (and) have never befriended someone in need.” The Gospel teaches people how to live while awaiting death and God’s judgment — “loving because he is love,” Pope Francis said. God “waits for us among the poor and wounded of the world. And he is waiting to be caressed not with words but with deeds.” ❖ MAKING THE WORD OF GOD YOUR OWN Step 1: Look at today’s Readings prayerfully. 1st Reading: We read the story of a mother and her seven sons who drew their strength and hope during their ordeal from their faith in the resurrection of the just. 2nd Reading: Paul prays for the Thessalonians that God may comfort and strengthen them so that they may remain committed to spreading God’s Word. Gospel: Jesus is challenged about faith in the resurrection of the body. The question was not asked for knowledge but to ridicule the idea of the resurrection. Step 2: Applying the values of the Readings to your daily life. 1.What do the words “God has no use for dead people; he is God of the living” mean to you? In what way does it present a challenge to you? 2.Consider your feelings towards death. Have those feelings changed as you grow in relationship with the Lord? Why do you think this is so? 3.“Either life on earth is a preparation for something greater and more lasting, or it is meaningless, dark and dreadful.” How does this statement strike you? 4.How would belief in your own resurrection make a difference in your life? Would it be any different if you did not believe in this? Step 3: Accepting the message of God’s Word in your life of faith. The belief in the resurrection should light up our lives with meaning and hope. Instead it is a pale and shadowy thing, difficult to understand and shedding little light on this dark world. Besides, we are often so concerned with this life that we do not really desire or look for the life which is to come. Our hope for a better world does not rest on anything human, but on the word and power of Jesus. Step 4: Something to think & pray about 1.As Christians, our hope in the resurrection gives us cause to live our lives in a meaningful ways. In what way do you see yourself living meaningfully? 2.Think about three things you believe about life after death. What is the strongest feeling you have as you think about this? 3.Think about what it means to share in Christ’s death and resurrection today? Share on how you have done this lately? 4.Do you feel that belief in the resurrection would help you come to terms with the death of a loved one? 5.Pray that your faith in the resurrection will grow and give meaning to your life. ❖ [From: Journeying with the Word of God, The Religious Education Department, Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana ]

• Comfortable seating, place in a semicircle if possible. • A table with a candle, crucifix or image of Jesus, • Identify family members who will proclaim the Scripture and perhaps give a brief reflection. • Select 2 or 3 hymns that everyone knows

LEADER: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

“In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.” (Mt: 18:19-20) The Candle is now lit

LEADER: Sin impedes our journey to eternal life. The Lord offers us his forgiveness and hope; let us seek his mercy (PAUSE) Lord Jesus, you defeated death by rising to life again. Lord, have mercy. Christ Jesus, firstborn of the dead, you will raise us up to eternal life with you. Christ, have mercy. Lord Jesus, you want us to be people of the resurrection, who raise up the downcast and downtrodden. Lord, have mercy. LEADER: Have mercy on us, Lord, forgive us and lift us out of our sins. Lead us to the joys of everlasting life. Amen. LEADER: Let us Pray: Lord God of the living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the resurrection of Christ Jesus you have given us the life which even death cannot destroy. Keep our hope alive that your faithful love will have the final say, and that life will overcome death. Remember your unshakable promise and strengthen us to live in this world as your new creation. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life. Amen

READINGS –1st Reading is taken from 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14 Responsorial Psalm –17:1,5-6,8,15 2nd Reading is taken from 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5: GOSPEL Luke 20:27-38

Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven: they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?’ Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels; and being children of the resurrection, they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’ The Gospel of the Lord A Short Reflection can be given or a period of silent reflection

LEADER: Our God is a God not of the dead but of the living. We pray to God for everything that makes life valuable and meaningful. Family members are invited to make their petitions.

With trust and hope, we pray to the Father with the words of the Son: Our Father...... LEADER: Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Though we cannot receive him today let us invite him into our hearts as we pray the Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen LEADER: Let us pray: Lord, shed upon our darkened souls the brilliant light of your wisdom so that we may be enlightened and serve you with renewed purity. Sunrise marks the hour for people to begin their toil, but in our souls, Lord, prepare a dwelling for the day that will never end. Grant that we may come to know the risen life and that nothing may distract us from the delights you offer. Through our unremitting zeal for you, Lord, set upon us the sign of your day that is not measured by the sun. Amen - St. Ephrem

May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob bless us. Amen May the Lord Jesus Christ comfort our hearts and strengthen us in every good work and word. Amen May the Holy Spirit guide our hearts towards the love of God and the fortitude of Christ. Amen And may our faithful God bless us; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.❖ [Diocesan Liturgy Commission ]