Music Info
welcoming tomorrow
By retland
a space to pause and exhale | Slow Echo
Script
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For evangelisation in the city.
This month Pope Leo invites us to pray for evangelisation in the city. Recognising that the experience of those living in large cities can often be marked by anonymity and loneliness, he challenges people of faith to find new ways to proclaim the Gospel. In doing that, with God’s help, we will discover creative paths to build community.
Near the end of the final book of the Bible, called the book of Revelation or, sometimes, the Apocalypse, there is a picture of a perfect city, the New Jerusalem, and of the community who lives in it. listen to part of that description now:
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Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’
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Start this time of prayer by considering the place where you live. It might be a city, large or small; or a suburb, a town, or a village; or perhaps you live in the countryside. Wherever you’re living, how does it compare with this description of the new Jerusalem?
A key feature of the city the book of Revelation describes is that God lives there, alongside the people. The truth is that God lives with you, too, here and now, wherever you are. What difference does that make to your sense of the place where you live?
In this passage God is well aware of people’s suffering, their crying and their pain, and seeks to comfort them. Are you able to bring to God those difficult elements of your own life? How does God respond?
For Pope Leo, this awareness of the God who can be found in city streets is good news. The Pope invites us to spread this good news to our neighbours who have not yet heard it. Speak with God now about ways in which you might do this.
We end this meditation with the Pope’s offering prayer, which you are invited to make your own. He speaks of a “mission of compassion”. Pray that you might offer that compassion to the lonely and isolated people you encounter this month.
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.