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RECREATION NEWS 4
How may I participate in the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer
Network? (AP)
About Document 1 and 3 – n°61115
You may participate in many ways, depending on what you are looking for and desire:
The usual way
Any person, parish group or movement become part of the network simply by praying for the monthly
prayer intentions of the Pope. All those who want to be part of this worldwide Network are invited to
unite in prayer on the first Friday of each month: the Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Pope’s
Intentions. In a special way around the Eucharist, in order to be more available to the mission of Jesus,
unite yourself with his Heart and to mobilize yourself during the month for the great challenges of
humanity and of the mission of the Church.
A deeper way with a greater sense of involvement
Foundation-- Follow the "Way of the Heart" to become apostles of prayer in your daily life. The Way
of the Heart is comprised of nine steps designed to deepen your attachment to the Heart of Jesus. This
way is proposed to all those who desire to participate more actively in the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer
Network (through retreats, meetings, or perhaps conversations the nine first Fridays of the month,
etc.), based on the keys for the mission that are given for each month through the prayer intentions.
1 - Personal commitment—
Pray three times each day to grow closer to Jesus and carry out his work more and more, fulfilling the
calling of your baptism. The three moments of prayer are marked by the offering of our life to God to
start the day, which includes praying for the Pope’s intentions. During the day, take time to meditate
on the Word of God, appreciating your oneness with Jesus Christ. At the end of your day, review it in
the presence of the Holy Spirit, considering what we have done and can do to further the work of Christ
on earth. What is essential in this second way is to find the ways, means, modes of collaboration with
the mission of the Church expressed in the intentions or challenges of humanity, which the Pope has
confided to us. [Cf. A]
2 - Community commitment—
Participating in a community of the Pope’s Worldwide Network of Prayer.
Become part of a community committed to praying with the Pope. These praying communities look
for ways to serve each month the challenges to humanity and of the mission of the Church expressed
in the Pope’s intentions. Besides this, they support where it exists our youth branch, the Eucharistic
Youth Movement (EYM), or other pastoral programs for young people. These communities are
committed to the service of the mission of the local Church. [Cf. A]
How can we make it understood that these communities should seek ways of living out, each month,
the challenges facing humanity and the mission of the Church, as this is key to the success of our
overall mission?
These communities aim at living out concretely the service of the mission. For example, when the
Church invites us to pray and exert ourselves in support of youth employment (Universal Intention
SEPT15), there are initiatives that we can take. Is there in our area, our town, an association concerned
with the needs of young people in search of work ? How can we inform ourselves about their activities
and even offer to help them? We can make them aware that the Church, on the initiative of the Pope,
is praying for them during this month, show them that we value their efforts as an important
contribution to society and thank them for what they do to help young people in search of work.
Similarly in our parishes; how can we support our catechists (Evangelical Intention SEPT15), how aid
them in their spiritual life, so that they may live ever more coherently the link between what they
announce and what they believe.
In several countries there are still Apostleship of Prayer groups structured on a diocesan basis with
their own particular spiritual practices and devotions. These groups are an integral part of the tradition
of the AP, offering up also their daily lives to Christ and praying for the Pope’s intentions. Today, in
the spirit of the current recreation of the AP and of greater ecclesial commitment, these groups are
invited to embrace an apostolic dynamic at both a personal and a communitarian level inspired by the
proposals made by their National Team and with the help of their respective Diocesan Directors. [Cf.
A]
[A] Consecration as apostles of prayer--Those who want to go even deeper in their commitment to
the service of the Pope’s Prayer Network are invited to devote their lives to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. This makes them apostles at the service of the communities of the Apostleship of Prayer, of
the national office, and of the mission of the Church.
Theology of Communication – about the logo
Contemplation of the Incarnation
1-The logo refers to the “Contemplation of the Incarnation,” in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.
“I will see the various persons, some here, some there. First, those on the face of the earth, so diverse
in dress and behavior: some white and others black, some in peace and others at war, some weeping
and others laughing, some healthy and others sick, some being born and others dying, and so forth”
[No. 106.] God (the Trinity) contemplates the world, and in order to save humanity, by love, decides
to become incarnate. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son ... that the world might be
saved through him." (John 3,16-17). The decision of God calls for our own decision. Therefore the
world (in the logo) represents the worldwide network of prayer and its concern for the challenges
facing humanity and the mission of the Church.
Heart of Jesus
2-The heart of Jesus. In 1986 John Paul II confirmed the Society of Jesus in its mission of spreading the
spirituality of the Heart of Jesus, especially in this privileged way through the Apostleship of Prayer.
Those who experience this deep relationship with Jesus, nearest to his heart, desire to be with him at
the service of his mission, facing the challenges of this world. Thus it represents the way of the heart
which leads to availability for the mission of Jesus in daily life.
Church mission
3-The Apostleship of Prayer is the Official Network of Prayer of the Pope who, as the Bishop of Rome—
the church which presides in charity over all the churches—has a universal perspective on the world's
needs. This is expressed in Gaudium et Spes, Second Vatican Council: "The joys and the hopes, the
griefs and the anxieties of the men of our time, especially of the poor or afflicted, are the joys and
hopes, the grief and anguish of the disciples of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise
an echo in their hearts.” In the very center of the logo, the continent and the country represent the
commitment to the local ecclesial reality.
"As individuals too, we have are tempted by indifference. Flooded with news reports and troubling
images of human suffering, we often feel our complete inability to help. What can we do to avoid being
caught up in this spiral of distress and powerlessness? First, we can pray in communion with the Church
on earth and in heaven. Let us not underestimate the power of so many voices united in prayer!" (Pope
Francis, Lenten Message 2015, No. 3) "The prayers of the Church on earth establish a communion of
mutual service and goodness which reaches up into the sight of God. Together with the saints who have
found their fulfilment in God, we form part of that communion in which indifference is conquered by
love. “(ibid. No. 2) Francis
International office