Pastor’s Corner for the Second Sunday in Advent, Year A, by Fr. Bruce Botha SJ

We Pray with Pope Francis

 

Pope Francis has asked us to pray the following prayer intention for the month of December:

 

We pray for volunteer non-profit organisations committed to human development; may they find people dedicated to the common good and ceaselessly seek out new paths to international cooperation.

 

His prayer is a recognition that much of the social outreach and work of upliftment being done in the world is being done by non-governmental organisations and volunteers, people like our parish SVP volunteers, or those in the Caritas group working with environmental justice or with migrants and refugees. In many places across the globe, the Catholic Church is one of the foremost providers of help to those in need. Here in South Africa, we were amongst the first to provide help to those with HIV or suffering from AIDS.

 

Our prayer ministry team has formulated the following prayer for us to use in the parish, and I ask you to pray it regularly throughout this month. Even if we can’t join SVP or Caritas, we can all pray, and through our prayer lift the work that we do to the Lord.

 

Heavenly Father You are the Alpha and the Omega.

We honour, glorify, and thank you for all the graces and gifts you give us.

We ask for your continued favour as we bring to you the people and institutions who volunteer and dedicate themselves in service of the common good

 and the development of society.

Grant them fortitude and perseverance in what they do.

May the work they do inspire us and remind us of our personal responsibility to make your kingdom visible in the world.

AMEN