Mission
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
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".
Call
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. We are a small community of Catholic believers who are answering a call to communal, intercessory prayer. It has become a way of life for us to live every day. We are responding to what we believe God is asking of us: Committed, sustained, informed intercession in the world today, in the 'heart' of and under the authority of the Church. We invite you to pray and ponder the following.
The heartfelt desire of God is for the world He created--and now, recreated, through the Blood of His Son, Jesus, the Lamb of God (Jn. 3:16; Rev. 1:5; Rev. 5:9; Heb. 9: 12, 14). The charism of communal and contemplative, intercessory prayer is about the passion, the purpose, and the pleading power of the Lamb of God in the world and for the world (Jn. 1:29; 1Tim. 1:15; 1Jn. 2:2).
It is a charism so precious to the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary that we must be consumed to the core of our being by this call to participate in the ongoing offering of Jesus in the world--this victory of paschal victimhood (Heb. 9:28A; Col. 1:24). We are being invited to embrace this call of the Lamb fully in our lives--this call to co-redemptive, sacrificial love in the world (Gal. 2:19B-20). Are you being called to share in the crucified Love of Jesus in and for the world?
First of all, this is an interior call into our hearts. We are called to allow Love to enter in and make "Their" (i.e., the Trinity) home in our hearts (Jn. 14:23), so that we can live, love, and pray from a deep, 'paschalized' place within our hearts, in sincerity, transparency, and humility as true sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father (Gal. 4:6-7; Ps. 2:7-8; Eph. 4: 1-2). Are you being called to be an intercessor? Your 'yes' will make a difference in the world.
Any authentic charism, or a gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church, must be 'housed' in holy, human lives (sacred temples). Sanctity saved the world through the perfect obedience of the spotless, unblemished Lamb of God (Heb. 5: 8-9; 1Pet. 1: 19). Now, the ongoing purpose of God in the world calls for holiness of life (Lev. 19:2; 1 Thes. 4:3; Rom. 12:1), a living of this charism through the 'mature Heart' of Jesus in the world. An intercessor's heart is a new heart (Ezek. 36:26). It's a heart fully for God and fully for humanity. It is a relational heart, a repentant heart, a receptive heart, a reconciling heart--a true heart. Love is the key, living in the true freedom of belonging to God completely (1 Jn. 4:16; Is. 43:1), through the intimacy of covenant closeness with God (Eph. 2:13), shared with one another and the world, a rich, paschal love, a love stronger than death (Songs 8:6B)!
As intercessors we are called to stand on the "resolute rock" of Marian/ Petrine faith, convinced that "nothing will be impossible for God" (Lk. 1:37; Lk. 1:45). This faith involves an ongoing conversion of heart and mind, lived in total, rooted relationship with God, resolute in repentance, committed to communal formation, persevering in prayer on behalf of others. We are called to walk the highway called the "holy way" together (2 Cor. 7: 1; Is. 35:8A; Mt. 7: 14). Are you being called to share in the crucified Love of Jesus in and for the world?
Fr. Kevin Joyce, pastor
Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska
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).
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
Committed, Sustained, Informed Intercession
In Luke 8:15, Jesus speaks of the seed of God's word that falls on rich soil: "They are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance":
- A committed heart embraces God's word (God's will) with a generous and good heart (committed)
- A persevering heart bears good fruit (sustained)
- An informed heart hears the word of God (informed)
Committed
The root meaning of the word, commit, is "to send". The Father sent His Son into the world as Saving Love. Coming into the world, Jesus pledged—obligated—himself to fulfill the Father's saving will: "A Body you prepared for me…Behold, I come to do your will, O God" (Heb. 10:5,7). This will encompasses a love so great that it becomes en-fleshed in a cause: My Father… Your will be done" (Mt. 26:42). The lifestyle of an intercessor must witness to and serve the mystery of Redemption by our love, our prayer, our victim-hood, and our generosity with the same dedication and zeal as Jesus.
Sustained
In Romans 12:12 St. Paul exhorts, "Persevere in prayer". Intercessors must be formed both with the enduring love and the resolute determination of the Lamb of God in the world—to pray until a breakthrough comes—always remembering that "Love never fails" (1Cr. 13:8). With arms outstretched and heart fully engaged, Jesus persisted in prayer and offering on the 'altar of the cross'. All authentic and effective intercessory prayer flows from and is united to the unique mediation of the Lamb of God on the cross. Our intercession continues—perpetuates—the crucified Love of Jesus in the world. We are to persevere in our prayer with a warrior's resolve, suffer with patience, and always live in the vitality of the victory of the Lamb:
"Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have stationed watchmen; Never, by day or by night, shall they be silent. O you who are to remind the Lord, take no rest and give no rest to him, until he re-establishes Jerusalem and makes of it the pride of the earth" (Is. 62:6-7).
Informed
"Speak, for your servant is listening" (1 Sam. 3:10). Jesus is always the Lamb who is led by the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he has anointed me" (Is. 61:1, cited in Luke 4:18). In his public ministry, Jesus was always informed so as to know what to say, what to pray for in any given situation, and how to pray: "What I say I say as the Father told me" (John 12:50); "I have told you everything I have heard from my Father" (John 15:15); "It is written in the prophets: 'They shall all be taught by God'" (John 6:45); "The Spirit of truth…He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming" (John 16:13). The source from which Jesus draws his life is, 'Father, Your will be done'. The most important thing is that what God wants should be prayed for and come to pass. Jesus knew no other rule of life—neither should we as intercessors:
"I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
And what answer he will give to my complaint.
Then the LORD answered me" (Ha. 2:1-2).