10 Days

10 Days until I leave for Jerusalem!

I'm working on crafting a pre-departure novena prayer to say up until the day I leave, starting tomorrow. I've searched high and low for one that's already written (a novena for pilgrimage to Jerusalem, that is), but have found none. What I have found, quite interestingly, is that traditionally Psalm 122 has been prayed by Jews and Christians as they approach the Holy City:

Psalm 122

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ I rejoiced with those who said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the LORD."

² Our feet are standing
in your gates, O Jerusalem.

³ Jerusalem is built like a city
that is closely compacted together.

⁴ That is where the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD,
to praise the name of the LORD
according to the statute given to Israel.

⁵ There the thrones for judgment stand,

the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May those who love you be secure.

⁷ May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels."

⁸For the sake of my brothers and friends,
I will say, "Peace be within you."

⁹ For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your prosperity.

What I also found was Pope Benedict XVI's prayer that he left in the Wailing Wall after his trip to Jerusalem, which is also nice:

God of all the ages,
on my visit to Jerusalem, the "City of Peace",
spiritual home to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike,
I bring before you the joys, the hopes and the aspirations,
the trials, the suffering and the pain of all your people throughout the world.
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
hear the cry of the afflicted, the fearful, the bereft;
send your peace upon this Holy Land, upon the Middle East,
upon the entire human family;
stir the hearts of all who call upon your name,
to walk humbly in the path of justice and compassion.
"The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him!" (Lam 3:25)

Looking at these prayers, and some others I've found, I've realized that the Church and the whole People of God, first, the Jewish people, and then us Christians, have continually prayed for PEACE for Jerusalem. While I go on pilgrimage, I want to keep in mind my own intentions and those intentions which my friends and family have entrusted to me, but also, to pray for the wider intention of peace in the Holy Land. As I travel, I hope I will have the opportunity to visit local Christian communities - to visit communities of Christians that have weathered much persecution throughout the centuries and who still find themselves a minority in a hostile place. Meeting the local Christians in Jerusalem, I hope will inspire me to join them in praying for peace in their homeland. Their intention - and the Pope's intention - will be mine as well.

But at the same time, I want to craft a prayer that is deeply personal, and which also speaks to the great desires of my heart and the ways I want God to work in my life. Consequently, I've also been looking at a number of other prayers that really speak to me in my current situation, including this famous prayer by Thomas Merton:

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear
for you are with me,
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

I've got to find a way to combine all of these. Wish me luck!

Laity Not Collaborators, says Pope Benedict XVI

I got this in my inbox the other day and had to post it here. This is EXCITING STUFF!

Laity Are Not Priests' Collaborators, Says Pope
Clarifies That All Are Co-responsible for the Church

ROME, MARCH 7, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI today told parishioners of a Roman parish that there is a need to change mentalities, so as to see laypeople as co-responsible for the Church, not merely as collaborators of the clergy.

The Pope made this reflection today when he celebrated Sunday Mass at one of the parishes in the north of the Diocese of Rome, San Giovanni della Croce in Colle Salario.

The Bishop of Rome made various concrete exhortations at the parish. [and then]... The Pontiff expressed his satisfaction that the community "wishes to promote, in regard to the vocations and the role of consecrated persons and the laity, the co-responsibility of all the members of the People of God."

To do this, he said, "demands a change in mentality, above all with regard to the laity, 'moving from considering them ‘collaborators’ of the clergy to recognizing them as truly ‘co-responsible’ for the being and action of the Church, promoting a mature and dedicated laity in this way.'"
Finally, the Holy Father exhorted the Christian families and youth of the parish to "let yourselves be more and more drawn by the desire to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

"Do not wait until others bring you other messages that do not lead to life, but make yourselves missionaries of Christ for the brothers and sisters where you live, work, study or only pass your free time," he encouraged. "You should also establish here a strong and organic vocational program that educates families and young people in prayer and the living of life as a gift that comes from God."

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