[Image from Wikipedia]
General Intention
Victimized Children
That children who are victims of abandonment or violence may find the love and protection they need.
From the homily of Pope Benedict XVI at the Christmas Midnight Mass 24 December 2008, quoted in the video above:
In every child we see something of the Child of Bethlehem. Every child asks for our love. This night, then, let us think especially of those children who are denied the love of their parents. Let us think of those street children who do not have the blessing of a family home, of those children who are brutally exploited as soldiers and made instruments of violence, instead of messengers of reconciliation and peace. Let us think of those children who are victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse, and thus are traumatized in the depths of their soul. The Child of Bethlehem summons us once again to do everything in our power to put an end to the suffering of these children; to do everything possible to make the light of Bethlehem touch the heart of every man and woman. Only through the conversion of hearts, only through a change in the depths of our hearts can the cause of all this evil be overcome, only thus can the power of the evil one be defeated. Only if people change will the world change; and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God, the light which so unexpectedly entered into our night.
Mission Intention
Prepare the Savior’s Coming
That Christians, enlightened by the Word incarnate, may prepare humanity for the Savior’s coming.
From the talk given by Pope Benedict at his General Audience 12 November 2008 and quoted in the video above:
We live with a great responsibility. We have talents, and our responsibility is to work so that this world may be open to Christ, that it be renewed.
The following words, quoted in the video above, were spoken by Pope Francis at his General Audience on 24 March:
The time of waiting for his arrival is the time he gives to us, to all of us, before his Final Coming with mercy and patience; it is a time of watchfulness; a time in which we must keep alight the lamps of faith, hope and charity, a time in which to keep our heart open to goodness, beauty and truth. It is a time to live in accordance with God, because we do not know either the day or the hour of Christ’s return . . . Dear brothers and sisters, may looking at the Last Judgement never frighten us: rather, may it impel us to live the present better.
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Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 [Image from Wikipedia]
The video above concludes with extracts from the concluding prayer at the end of Pope Benedict's General Audience on 12 November 2008. Here is the full text of that prayer:
'Come, Lord Jesus!' We do not of course desire the end of the world. Nevertheless, we do want this unjust world to end. We also want the world to be fundamentally changed, we want the beginning of the civilization of love, the arrival of a world of justice and peace, without violence, without hunger. We want all this, yet how can it happen without Christ's presence?
Without Christ's presence there will never be a truly just and renewed world. And even if we do so in a different way, we too can and must also say, completely and profoundly, with great urgency and amid the circumstances of our time: 'Come, Lord Jesus!'
Come in your way, in the ways that you know. Come wherever there is injustice and violence. Come to the refugee camps, in Darfur, in North Kivu, in so many parts of the world. Come wherever drugs prevail. Come among those wealthy people who have forgotten you, who live for themselves alone. Come wherever you are unknown. Come in your way and renew today's world. And come into our hearts, come and renew our lives, come into our hearts so that we ourselves may become the light of God, your presence.
In this way let us pray with St Paul: Maranà, thà! 'Come, Lord Jesus!' and let us pray that Christ may truly be present in our world today and renew it.
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