Mission Statement:
In union with Jesus Christ Crucified, the Lamb of God, as intercessors we are called to continue his redemptive mission in the Roman Catholic Church of taking away the sin of the world. This mission is lived out through the ministry of contemplative, communal intercessory prayer.
Vision Statement:
To form the hearts of God's people through a deep, personal relationship with God so that they may become, within themselves, a "house of prayer for all peoples".
About Redeemer / Redemption:
*The word, redemption, comes from a Greek word meaning: God "frees" or "ransoms" his people. -- "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood" (Rev. 1:5B). -- "Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel because he has visited and ransomed his people" (Luke 1:68). -- "For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). *The Latin word for redemption means, "a purchase" -- "For you have been purchased at a price" (1 Co. 6:20). * "Redemption comes to us above all through the blood of his cross" (CCC 517). *In the blood of the Lamb humanity has become the special property or possession of God: -- "I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:12). *For St. John, the mystery of Redemption is essentially a mystery of love and thus of divine life, since "God is love" (1 John 4:8). *Jesus delivered himself up for us (for our sins) because he loved us: -- "The Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20). *Jesus' sacrifice was voluntary, deliberately willed. *Jesus Christ is the redeemer of humanity. *Jesus paid the price of his own sacrificial death on the cross to ransom us (CCC p. 896). *Jesus set us free from the slavery of sin, thus achieving our redemption (CCC p. 896).
About Intercessory Prayer:
*Jesus Christ is the redeemer of humanity. *Jesus paid the price of his own sacrificial death on the cross to ransom us (CCC p. 896). *Jesus set us free from the slavery of sin, thus achieving our redemption *The primitive Latin meaning of the word, intercede, is "to walk in the middle, ready to help each of two parts, or to stand on behalf of one of them". *The root meaning of the word, intercede, is "between, in the midst of, within, among": -- "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14). Jesus dwelt among us to be with us in a human nature so as to offer his life for us. * "Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did" (CCC 2634). *Because Jesus is the Only Son of God and has both a divine and human nature, he stands perfectly between God and humanity as the "one Mediator between God and the human race" (1 Tim. 2:5). * "[Jesus] is the one intercessor with the Father on behalf of all, especially sinners" (CCC 2634): -- He is "able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25). * "Since Abraham, intercession--asking on behalf of another--has been characteristic of a heart attuned to God's mercy" (CCC 2635). * "Abraham's heart is attuned to his Lord's compassion for men and he dares to intercede for them with bold confidence" (CCC 2571). * "From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, Moses drew strength and determination for his intercession" (CCC 2577). * "The arguments of [Moses'] prayer--for intercession is also a mysterious battle--will inspire the boldness of the great intercessors among the Jewish people and in the Church" (CCC 2577). * "In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion saints" (CCC 2635). * "The first Christian communities lived this form of fellowship intensely" (CCC 2636): -- "Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf" (Acts 12:5).
CCC= The Catechism of the Catholic Church |
