Pope’s Evangelization Prayer Intention – ‘Collaboration in Evangelization’

Vatican City, 01 February 2014: Collaboration in Evangelization. That priests, religious, and lay people may work together with generosity.

We are strongly tempted to compare ourselves with others. Doing so, we either come up short and are jealous of others or we become proud, feeling superior to others. Either way, our comparisons lead to division.

But God has called us to communion. A powerful sign of this communion is the way in which the various vocations in the Church—lay, consecrated, ordained—work together for the good of the Church and the world.

God has not given all his gifts to one person or to a few but has spread them among many so that we might learn to love and to work together. Such collaboration is part of the work of evangelization for it speaks to the world of the love of God which brings people together.

Human means alone will fail to achieve this collaboration. What brings people together and enables them to work together with their diverse personalities and gifts? Pope Francis said: “We might think we should work out programs of evangelization carefully, thinking of strategies and making plans, but these are only tools, small tools. What matters is Jesus and letting ourselves be led by him.”

Jesus is the center from which all the gifts radiate. He is the head which keeps the parts of his body working together. He is the heart which sends life into the various members of the body, keeping them one with himself. Keeping Jesus at the center, may all members of the Church work together for the spread of the Gospel.Source: Apostleship of Prayer