Pope's missionary prayer intention for November

(November 2, 2009) And before we go ahead, here’s the missionary prayer intention of the Pope for this month of November – that believers of every religion may witness through their lives and through dialogue that the Name of God brings peace. We people of the earth, of all regions, races, religions and colour, are but children of the One God, the Father, who created each person in His likeness to know and love Him forever. Yet we believers in God have often hated, hurt, and killed one another as if our God is at war with the other. We come to mistrust one another, isolate ourselves, and, too often, fight. This sets a person against another, a family against family, gender versus gender, region against region, race against race, and class against class. And, worst of all, we mistrust and fight against those who hold a different faith than we do. Inadvertently or not, we are often tempted to believe the lie that because God is on our side, he opposes others. Pope Benedict asks us to pray this month for peace in the hearts of all who believe in God. According to him when a person’s faith “reaches maturity,” that believer will perceive that God is the loving Father of all, leading him or her to pursue peace with all people, regardless of their beliefs or behaviours. And this is more so for Christians, for whom the Saviour, the Prince of Peace, commanded them to love one another, even enemies, as themselves.