Missionary prayer intention for July

(July,01,2009): The Pope’s Missionary Prayer intention for the month of July is that "through the witness of the faithful, may the Church be the seed and soil of a humanity reconciled, to be God’s one true family on earth".
In the mission intention, the Holy Father asks us to pray that all people become reconciled as God’s one true family and that the Church may be both “seed and soil” of a reconciled humanity. To be reconciled, as the Holy Fathers uses the word, means to be united to God and to others. Our reconciliation or union with God, starts with the seed - the Word of God that the Church scatters upon the earth. But we know from the parable that scattering the seed is not enough. The seed on dry ground never sprouts, rocky ground cannot nourish it, and thorny ground chokes it out. What is needed for the seed to bear fruit is rich soil. The Pope explains that the rich soil which bears fruit is the unity of believers. At the last supper, Jesus told his disciples: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” And Jesus prayed that his "followers would be one, as he and the Father are one". The Pope says we can accomplish the unity Jesus requires by loving each other and respecting every single individual as a person for whom Christ died. Thus we can bring the reconciliation of all people into one great family of God.