Pope’s Missionary Intention for June

Pope Benedict’s missionary intention for the month if June is “that Christians in Europe may rediscover their true identity and participate with greater enthusiasm in the proclamation of the Gospel.”

Now more than ever, Europe is in need of new saints. In 1985, Blessed John Paul II expressed this to the European bishops. He said:

…heralds of the Gospel are needed who are expert in humanity, profoundly knowing the heart of contemporary man, who share his joys and hopes, his fears and sorrows, and, at the same time, who are contemplatives in love with God…the saints were the great evangelizers of Europe. We must pray the Lord to increase the spirit of holiness in the Church and to send saints to evangelize the contemporary world.

Let us join the Pope, then, in praying for European Christians. We pray especially for the intercession of Mary, Star of the New Evangelization.