We pray each Sunday for the pope’s prayer intention, which for January is the following:
Let us pray that the Word of God will be nourishment for our lives, and a source of hope in our communities; helping us to build a more fraternal and missionary Church.
This is a very concrete way for us to unite ourselves with Pope Leo and Catholics all over the world in praying for a common intention. In every parish bulletin it is the first notice and it is the last prayer of our Sunday intercessions. Hopefully you have noticed that each month the intention changes. I can highly recommend the Vatican website which is home to the Pope’s prayer intentions. I have included it below for ease of access. You can find a lot of other resources on the website, click-to-pray which an app based resource, as well as a
formation program called “Way of the heart”, which teaches us how to come closer to the heart of Jesus.
https://www.praywiththepope.net/popes-intentions/
One of the groups that you will be able to sign up to next weekend is the Ministry of Prayer.
This group organizes the monthly prayer requests from our parishioners and sends those out to the group. In your need or in your gratitude, know that there is a group of people here who are praying for you and with you. If you have a prayer intention that you would like us to pray for, the link is in the parish bulletin.
They also arrange other prayer events, to teach and to help our parishioners grow in their own prayer life. This ministry group will be introducing two new initiatives this year.
• Hearts on Fire: This course offers new ways to pray and live and helps you learn more about Ignatian spirituality. Hearts on Fire offers an engaging introduction over six weekly sessions. It explores the Ignatian approach to Christian Spirituality, which is about “Finding God in All Things” and becoming ever more aware of God amid our full daily lives. Hearts on Fire also provides an introduction and some experience of some basic Ignatian ways of praying, including Imaginative Gospel Contemplation and the Examen of Consciousness. This will take place after Easter.
• Monthly Prayer Group: A trained spiritual guide will be leading a prayer group in the church on the first Saturday of every month, at 09h30, beginning in March. If you would like to attend the group or just want to find out more, feel free to contact Kelsay on 082 332 9373.
If you would like to participate in any of the prayer ministry activities or would like to be informed about what is happening, tick the box on the Dedication Form next weekend. If you can’t make next weekend, fear not, I will also be sending out a link to a google form which you can use to make your dedication.
