Love Is Our Mission

God and Father of us all,

in Jesus, your Son and our Savior,

you have made us your sons and daughters

in the family of the Church.

May your grace and love

help our families

in every part of the world


be united to one another

in fidelity to the Gospel.

May the example of the Holy Family,

with the aid of your Holy Spirit,


guide all families, especially those most troubled,


to be homes of communion and prayer

and to always seek your truth and live in your love.


Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us!

In the spirit of St. John Paul II, the “Pope of the Family,” we say this prayer in preparation for the eighth World Meeting of Families, which is to be held in Philadelphia next September 22-27.

The Feast of St. John Paul II Announced

Pope Francis has officially approved of putting the feast days of St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II on the general Roman calendar of feast days! The feast of St. John XXIII will be celebrated on October 11, and the feast of St. John Paul II will be celebrated on October 22. For more, see the full story here.

St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II, Pray for Us!

The Mother of Sorrows

Turn your eyes incessantly to the Blessed Virgin; she, who is the Mother of Sorrows and also the Mother of Consolation, can understand you completely and help you. Looking to her, praying to her, you will obtain that your tedium will become serenity, your anguish change into hope, and your grief into love. I accompany you with my blessing, which I willingly extend to all those who assist you.

-St. John Paul II

For more of St. John Paul II’s meditations on Our Lady of Sorrows, see Tom Perna’s post here.

Our Lady of Sorrows, Pray for Us!

This Is Its Power

“The Son of Man must be lifted up,” says Jesus to Nicodemus. And he says this with a view to his crucifixion: The Son of Man must be lifted up on the Cross. Whoever believes in him, whoever sees in this Cross and in the Crucified One the Redeemer of the world, whoever looks with faith on the redemptive death of Jesus on the Cross, finds in him the power of eternal life. By this power, sin is overcome. People receive forgiveness of their sins at the price of the Sacrifice of Christ. They find again the life of God, which had been lost by sin.

                This is the meaning of the Cross of Christ. This is its power.

-Saint John Paul II, 1988

Pope Francis Continues The Mission

According to Pope Francis, Saint John Paul II was the “Pope of the Family.” In 2000 the late Holy Father married eight couples during the Jubilee for Families, and tomorrow Pope Francis will do the same in St. Peter’s Basilica. He will celebrate the Sacrament of Marriage for 20 couples on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

St. John Paul II was also the first to call for a New Evangelization. Pope Francis continues to call us forward in this mission. Kevin Cotter published a great post about how the Holy Father hopes we evangelize.

Let us join St. John Paul II in praying for all couples entering into marriage and for the blossoming of the New Evangelization.

St. John Paul II, Pray for Us!