A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mk 1:14-20
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.
REFLECTION
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
PAPA prays for priests. It is quite simple, and in praying slowly and carefully, this prayer for priests is said in less than 2 minutes. Our obligation to pray is done. This prayer can take us to a higher level in our own spiritual growth. God can be most generous when we give Him everything. He will help us bear fruit.
Our prayer life for the fishers of men or the man who is in persona in Christi can be different than just a rote-duty bound prayer (though that alone is good).
When St Terese Lisieux first prayed for priests, she read in the Canticles of Canticles 1:3 “Draw me after you…we will run after Thee to the odor of Thy ointments.” She knew she could not run alone, but the mere fact that she was drawn to God was enough for her to draw all the souls she loved to God. Why? She loved God so much she became a mere instrument in His hands. She was drawn into Him and was able to be one with Him.
God seeks His priests. He calls them. God gave these souls to Jesus. Jesus calls His apostles, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
The priesthood is a very demanding vocation. Some older priests have lost their zeal and now may have lethargy, illness, trials and sorrows, privations, misfortunes and crosses born alone. The congregations are more educated, more informed, more outspoken, more willing to complain and write letters to the bishop and, unfortunately, less zealous for their faith. Some don’t know the written word of God, know what sin is and don’t believe in the presence of Jesus in the Holy Sacrament.
When we pray for someone, it is best to have our hearts warmed in the love of God. The words spoken in our PAPA prayer are at the bosom of our Lord. We ask for the priests' enthusiasm to be the same as it was when they were first ordained, that they win many souls by their example, their sufferings, their sermons and the obvious love for Jesus in the Eucharist. May their burdens be endured with love and patience as we commend them to the care of our heavenly Father.
Remember all that we ask of God in the name of Jesus, if it's according to His will, He will give to us. May our prayers for priests be the object of our love for God and for the priests.
PAPA has many opportunities to grow in love for God. We have FACE ZBSevery Wednesday where the Word of God is explained in the context of the Gospel by our spiritual advisor and theologian. We have many devotions in our website, we pray for priests, vocations, the unborn and have a prayer intentions list. We do works of charity, we pray together, we have our own social media on viber. We support each other in our prayer life, and in our journeys toward heavenly bliss.
If you are interested in PAPA, let us know and become a PAPA missionary who prays for priests.
If you want to help financially you can through PAYPAL or Zelle—check out our website.
Thanking God for all He has done for PAPA and for all who have kept us in their prayers.
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