Script
0:14
During this month of April, Pope Leo invites us to pray for priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation. We ask that they may find the accompaniment they need and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer.
1:02
In his gospel, St John describes a moment of crisis in the life of the community of those who were among the first to follow Jesus. Listen to his account:
1:23
Jesus said to the Jews, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” Because of this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go?”
(John 6: 53, 60, 66-68, NRSV ACE)
2:33
This passage comes shortly after the feeding of the 5,000. At that point, the ministry of Jesus seems highly successful. Thousands are following him hanging on his every word. What must it have been like to be one of his closest followers, helping him to spread the word of God, in the middle of all of that?
3:32
Jesus starts to teach in ways that many regard as incomprehensible, even intolerable. He doesn’t tell the crowds what they want to hear. As a result, many turn away and abandon him. What is it like to be one of those same closest followers at that point?
4:25
Jesus leaves his followers free. He asks even those closest to him, just as he asks you, “Do you also want to go away?” What answer do you want to give him when you hear those words today?
5:16
We know, from the rest of the gospel, that some didn’t go away. A smaller group of disciples now recommit themselves to him, caring for and supporting each other in what will become the Church. What care and support have you received from the Church and its members?
6:13
Those with a special mission, like Peter in this passage, to proclaim the word of God, themselves need this same care and support. How have you, in your prayer or in other ways, been able to offer that to the priests who have served you? Speak to Jesus about this for a moment or two now.
7:40
We draw this prayer-time together using the Pope’s own prayer off offering. Use it to focus on your own day, thinking of the people you encounter and their needs.
8:00
Good Father, I know you are with me. Here I am on this new day. Place my heart once more next to the Heart of your Son Jesus, who is giving himself for me and who comes to me in the Eucharist. May your Holy Spirit make me his friend and apostle, available for his mission of compassion. I place in your hands my joys and hopes, my works and sufferings, everything that I am and have, in communion with my brothers and sisters of this Worldwide Prayer Network. With Mary, I offer you my day for the mission of the Church and for the prayer intentions of the Pope and my Bishop for this month. Amen.