Pope Benedict XVI's prayer intentions for November 2011 take us out of our everyday lives and remind us that the Catholic Church is much broader than the Mass and parishes with which we are familiar.
Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for November 2011 is "That the Eastern Catholic Churches and their venerable traditions may be known and esteemed as a spiritual treasure for the whole Church." As longtime readers of the About.com Catholicism GuideSite know, my wife and I were members for two years of Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church in Annandale, Virginia. We even began the process of switching rites, before our first child came along and we moved back to the Midwest. So I can (and do) testify to the spiritual treasures of the Eastern Churches, which have deepened my own liturgical and prayer life and are reflected in numerous ways on this GuideSite. Indeed, two of my favorite prayers come from the East: the Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, which Eastern Christians pray constantly during Lent, and Eternal Memory, the Eastern equivalent of the Western Eternal Rest (and a particularly good prayer to memorize during November, the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory).
I would ask that, in uniting yourself to the Holy Father's general prayer intention this month, you would keep in mind in a special way my dear friends at Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church. On November 20, after 20 years of prayer, fundraising, and hard work, they will dedicate their new church, which recalls the all-wooden construction of Byzantine Catholic churches in the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe. The new church is a testament to the leadership of Fr. John Basarab, the pastor of Epiphany, and the many, many men and women who have poured their hearts and souls into this project.
The Holy Father's mission prayer intention for November 2011 is "That the African continent may find strength in Christ to pursue justice and reconciliation as set forth by the second Synod of African Bishops." In a time of increasing turmoil, as tensions between Muslims and Christians all too often break into violence and bloodshed, the nations of Africa need the peace of Christ more than ever before.
