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INTENTION : |
That many young people may hear the call of Christ and follow him in the priesthood and religious life.
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The Lord Jesus said to his apostles 'The harvest is great, but the labourers are few. Pray the Lord of the harvest, then, that he may send labourers into his harvest.' (Lk.10:2)
Today, too, the harvest is great and the labourers are few. In some places in the world we might say that there is no shortage of priests or of religious men and women, that the faithful are well provided for, well supported by enough priests. But the reality is that in the majority of local churches the shortage of men and women especially consecrated to the Lord is very strongly evident; many communities all over the Catholic world do not have pastors who encourage them to live according to the gospel of Jesus Christ; there are priestless parishes in many places; that means that on many Sundays or feast-days the Eucharist is not celebrated in those parishes; the faithful in those parishes do not celebrate the LORD'S SUPPER, do not celebrate CHRIST'S SACRIFICE.
There is no substitute for the priest; only he can consecrate the BODY OF JESUS CHRIST in the Eucharist; only he can forgive our sins in the confessional, because Christ himself gave priests that power at the Last Supper.
Religious men and women, deacons and consecrated laity co-operate in the evangelizing work of the universal Church in different ways, helping priests, taking part in the pastoral work of their local churches, and so on; the contemplatives support the Church with their prayer, strengthen our faith with their prayer, and help us to bring the LORD JESUS to every corner of the earth.
Certainly the Lord calls, certainly he is calling now and will never cease to call, but this call needs a response from the man or woman who is called. This response is blocked today by the secularism and materialism that consume our societies - and that is where the Holy Father asks us to intervene. The Church is made up of all the baptised, so we are responsible, laypeople together with our pastors, that the Lord may have enough 'labourers for his harvest.'
His Holiness asks us to pray, in this intention, that many young people may be able to receive Christ's call, and follow him in the priesthood and in religious life, so that there may never be a lack of holy religious, men and women, who may sanctify his Church and us, his children.
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