“Dear children, in this year of grace, I am calling you to conversion. Put God, dear children, in the center of your living and the fruits will be love towards neighbor and joy of witnessing; and the holiness of your life will become a true witness of faith. Thank you for having responded to my call.” -Our Lady of Medjugorje, in private revelation given to Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti, on January 25, 2025
An excerpt from “Light of Faith: The Compendium of Theology” by Saint Thomas Aquinas:
Through this “spirit of adoption” that we receive, we cry: “Abba (Father),” as is said in Romans 8:15. Hence our Lord began His prayer by calling upon the Father, saying, “Father,” to teach us that our prayer must be based on this hope.
By uttering the name, “Father,” man’s affection is prepared to pray with a pure disposition, and also to obtain what he hopes for. Moreover, sons ought to be imitators of their parents. Therefore, he who professes that God is his Father ought to try to be an imitator of God, by avoiding things that make him unlike God and by earnestly praying for those perfections that make him like to God.
Hence we are commanded in Jeremiah 3:19: “Thou shalt call Me Father and shalt not cease to walk after Me.” If, then, as [Saint] Gregory of Nyssa reminds us, you turn your gaze to worldly affairs or seek human honor or the filth of passionate craving, how can you (who lead such a corrupt life) call the Source of incorruption your Father?
He who looks on himself as a son of God, ought, among other things, to imitate our Lord especially in His love, as we are urged to do in Ephesians 5:1-2: “Be ye followers of God as most dear children, and walk in love.”
God’s love is not restricted to any individual, but embraces all in common; for God loves “all things that are,” as is said in Wisdom 11:24.
Most of all He loves men, according to Deuteronomy 33:3: “He hath loved the people.”
Consequently, in [Saint] Cyprian’s words, “our prayer is public and is offered for all; and when we pray, we do not pray for one person alone, but for the whole people, because we are all together one people.”
Or, as [Saint John] Chrysostom says, “Necessity forces us to pray for ourselves, but fraternal charity impels us to pray for others.” This is why we say, “our Father,” and not simply “my Father.”
At the same time, we should remember that, although our hope rests chiefly on God’s help, we can aid one another to obtain more easily what we ask for. Saint Paul says, in 2 Corinthians 1:10-11: God will “deliver us, you helping withal in prayer for us.”
And in James 5:16, we are exhorted: “Pray one for another, that you may be saved.”
For, as [Saint] Ambrose reminds us, “Many insignificant people, when they are gathered together and are of one mind, become powerful, and the prayers of many cannot but be heard.”
This agrees with Matthew 18:19: “If two of you shall consent upon Earth concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by My Father Who is in Heaven.” Therefore we do not pour forth our prayers as individuals, but with unanimous accord we cry out, “our Father.”
An excerpt from “Into His Likeness: Be Transformed as a Disciple of Christ” by Dr. Edward Sri:
In the Judaism of Jesus’s day, disciples didn’t just have a rabbi to mentor them. They had each other. Their formation wasn’t just about a one-on-one relationship between a disciple and his rabbi. Biblical discipleship wasn’t as individualistic as our modern “me and Jesus” or “I’m spiritual but don’t need a church” attitudes tend to be. Rather, a disciple was immersed in a community with fellow disciples, friends (called haverim in Hebrew) who were striving for a common goal and helping each other to get there.
Together, they learned from their master’s teachings and example. They wrestled together over the same sacred texts. They discussed, debated, and challenged each other. They honored, supported, and encouraged each other. Most of all, they pushed each other. Being surrounded by haverim, others who had thrown their entire lives into taking on the ways of their rabbi, made each individual disciple better.
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)
2025 Jubilee Year Prayer by Pope Francis
Father in heaven, may the faith You have given us in Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of Your Kingdom.
May Your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, Your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To You our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen.
