Pope's July prayer intention: For a Eucharistic life

By Francesca Merlo

Pope Francis' monthly prayer intention for July is for a eucharistic life.

The Pope made the appeal to put the celebration of the Eucharist at the centre of our lives in The Pope Video, which is entrusted to the entire Catholic Church through the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network.

Pope Francis begins this month's video by saying, “if you are the same at the end of Mass, as you were at the beginning, something is wrong.”

In his new prayer intention, the Holy Father invites us to see the celebration of the Eucharist not as an obligatory ritual, but rather as an encounter with the Risen Jesus, for “the Eucharist is the presence of Jesus,” which is “profoundly transforming.”

Pope Francis insists in this video that “it is Christ Who offers Himself, Who gives Himself for us,” which leads to “our lives being nourished by Him, to nourish the lives of our brothers and sisters.”

Going out of ourselves, opening ourselves to others

In the video, Pope Francis explains “the logic of the Eucharist,” which “gives us the courage to encounter others, to go out of ourselves, and to open ourselves to others with love.”

This is why the Pope encourages us to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist, because that is where we receive the capacity to love others and to allow ourselves to be transformed by Him. 

Finally, the Pope ecnourages us to pray that "Catholics place at the centre of their lives the Eucharistic Celebration, which transforms human relationships and opens up an encounter with God and their brothers and sisters."