POPE’S GENERAL PRAYER INTENTION FOR JUNE

31 May, 2013 - The general prayer intention of the Holy Father for the month of June is that a culture of dialogue, listening, and mutual respect may prevail among peoples. In an age of commercial media explosion, people, companies and organizations are vying with one another to win over people. It is a one-way traffic. There is hardly any time to listen to the other party, as if listening is weakness and defeat. Yet the truth is that to show someone the respect of listening, especially to someone with whom we disagree, opens the way to dialogue which is the only way to solve conflicts. During his visit to Lebanon last September, Pope Benedict XVI said: “A pluralistic society can only exist on the basis of mutual respect, the desire to know the other, and continuous dialogue.” In the Apostolic Exhortation that he officially released there, the now-retired Pope wrote: “Authentic witness calls for acknowledgment and respect for others, a willingness to dialogue in truth, patience as an expression of love, the simplicity and humility proper to those who realize that they are sinners in the sight of God and their neighbor, a capacity for forgiveness, reconciliation, and purification of memory, at both the personal and communal levels.” Hence, let us join the Holy Father in praying that the Church may lead the way in promoting a culture of dialogue.