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In His earthly life, Jesus was a child of Abraham, a child of Adam and Eve. Our faith in Jesus as the Son of God can sometimes hinder us from appreciating the full significance of His humanity. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews had a very clear grasp of the mystery of the Incarnation: Jesus was truly a human being. His humanity carried over into everything He did as a human being. The writer uses two quotations from the Psalms to justify his argument that Jesus did not glorify Himself with the office of high priest. Taken together, these two quotations seem to tell us that Jesus was born to be a priest, to be the great High Priest. In the history of the Church, many men have known in their hearts and souls that they were born to be priests: a vocation to the priesthood was an intrinsic part of their being. This certainty did not lessen their humanity. The weakness of the humanity they shared with all of us did not weaken their vocation. Is the Church today less blessed with such vocations? Jesus, our High Priest, pray for Your Church in the presence of the Father. Instill in the hearts of many more young men the vocation to serve You and Your Church as priests. |
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P R A Y I N G W I T H T H E C H U R C H
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That Christians may favour the evangelisation of the new generations through the constant search for the unity wanted by Christ.
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The question of full Christian unity and evangelisation led to the beginnings of the ecumenical movement. The Holy Father decries the negative consequences of division among Christians and calls them to search for full Christian Unity as inspired by the Lord's Prayer. As evangelisers we must offer Christ's faithful an image of people who are mature in faith and capable of finding a meeting point beyond all tensions. The destiny of evangelisation is bound up with the witness of unity given to the Church. The urgency of preaching and displaying unity to the world arises from the fact that Christians can impair the vitality of proclaiming the Gospel and even become a scandal to the world, particularly when the churches appear to proclaim "a kingdom against itself". It is clear that the proclamation of the Gospel by divided Christians becomes counter- itness. As Christians we ought to give collaborative common witness which is founded in the common baptism in Christ and faith in the Triune God. Pray for the courage to work positively with other Christians for the purpose of promoting evangelisation. | |
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