The Missions Need Your Prayers
Prayer for the Missions--What Does it Mean?
Prayer is an intimate conversation with God.
When you speak to Him about the Missions, your prayer leaps the boundaries of nations, spans the horizon, holds hands across the earth.
A sister in the Missions of West Africa says: "Please keep praying. I can actually feel your prayers."
A priest in the Missions of Paraguay says: "What we need most is to know yu are with us in prayer."
Their words are typical. The gift of spiritual support is the greatest blessing the Missions can receive.
Prayer for the mission of Jesus Christ is as old as mission itself.
Jesus went into the desert for forty days of prayer before beginning His ministry of proclaiming the Good News to the poor.
The disciples gathered in prayer in the company of Mary as they awaited the Holy Spirit whose gifts would strengthen them--simple, ordinary men--to preach the Gospel to the world.
Nearer to our time, St. Theresa of Lisieux offered her prayers and suffering for the Missions. Just weeks before her death, she was walking in the garden, filled with pain. "You would do better to rest!" she was told.
"It's true," she answered. "But I am walking for a missionary...far away one of them is perhaps exhausted and to lessen his fatigue, I offer mine to God."
Little St. Theresa, walking for a missionary, was chosen by the Church as Patroness of the Missions.
Your Gift of Prayer
You can help the Missions in the same way by offering your prayers and your crosses.
Ten days after the attempt on his life, Pope John Paul spoke from his hospital bed:
"Suffering, accepted in union with the suffering of Christ, is incomparably effective in implementing the divine plan of salvation. I invite all the sick to join with me in offering their sufferings to Christ for the good of the Church and of humanity."
Whether your cross is illness, loneliness or pain, you have a special bond with Christ Crucified and with the suffering people of the Missions.
God accepts your suffering, as He accepted the passion of Christ, to earn salvation for the world. Your partnership of prayer is the most powerful support a missionary could ask.
Please pray for vocations. A missionary in the slums of Lima was asked what would help his people most. His answer: "Pray for vocations!"
Pray for holiness and strength for the priests, sisters and brothers of the Missions.
Pray for the poor of the Missions that they may hear and believe the Good News of God's love and mercy.
Pray for the Church in the United States that we may be a holy people, rich in faith, generous in our love for all the human family.
Special ways to Offer Your Suffering
Would you offer:
- an hour of pain for a medical missionary sister
- a day of loneliness for a young missionary priest newly assigned and far from home
- the happiness of a Communion call from your parish priest or chaplain for those who do not have a priest of their own
- an hour of anxiety for all in the Missions who live in fear, who have not yet heard the consoling message of Jesus
Thank you for your prayers and may God bless you with peace.
