APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER

Way OF THE HeartHeartWay

NEWSLETTER

In Christ,

Fr. William V. Blazek, SJ Regional Director Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer)

International Director, Fr. Frederic Fornos. Leadership from 14 nations across North, Central and South America came together to pray, share and plan for the continuing recreation of the PWPN-AoP and the EYM.

Fr. Fornos reviewed the Holy Father’s approval on March 27th of the international statutes. This confirms our status as pontifical work, with its headquarters located in the Vatican City-State. We also heard from PWPN (AoP) and EYM leaders who presented best practices and highlighted the status of the work of our apostolate in Africa, Oceana, South Asia, East Asia and specifically in Vietnam (VEYM). VEYM is present in the United States, Canada and Australia with more than 15,000 participants in North America. In the nation of Vietnam alone, there are more than 1 million members of VEYM. Finally, we examined the International Manual for EYM, which was released from our Vatican City headquarters in March. This manual will help to clarify our common foundation and points to the future. This manual will serve as a wonderful tool to prepare youth to live as adult Christians, committed to the service of our brothers and sisters for humanity’s challenges.

ear friends, We hope you enjoyed this

spring’s inaugural issue of our newsletter, Way of the Heart! It’s our hope that this form of communication helps connect you with our mission to unite in prayer for the world and the needs of humanity. We are pleased to continue this conversation with you!

A large focus of this summer’s newsletter is on the Eucharist Youth Movement (EYM), the youth arm of our apostolate.

Our Holy Father Pope Francis said this about our youth,“Let Christ turn your natural optimism into Christian hope, your energy into moral virtue, your goodwill into genuine self-sacrificing love! This is the path you are called to take. This is the path to overcoming all that threatens hope, virtue and love in your lives and in your culture. In this way, your youth will be a gift to Jesus and to the world.”

With that in mind, we are excited about our efforts that focus on our youth! The EYM reaches youth across the world to inspire a love for God, acts of service and a desire for the path of the Way of the Heart. The EYM is present today in 59 countries on 5 continents!

In May, I joined Fr. Binh Nguyen, Director of the EYM for the United States, and Sr. Lourdes Vargas, Coordinator of EYM for Canada, in Asunción, Paraguay, for the 9th biennial gathering of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network - the Apostleship of Prayer (PWPN-AoP) and EYM leadership from across the Americas. Sr. Lourdes is also the International Assistant for EYM to our

MESSAGE FROM FR. BLAZEK

POPE’S WORLDWIDE PRAYER NETWORK - APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER (PWPN-AoP) NEWSLETTER | AUGUST 2018

D Finally, none of this would be possible if not for the generous contributions of people like you. Our mission to spread the Good News has been fruitful in producing new ways to reach people, like the Click To Pray app and our website/blog. Our printed materials serve many without smart phones. Your support will help them as well as those that cannot pay for the materials. Please consider a tax-deductible donation. Complete the enclosed envelope and mail it back to us today. Thank you!

Our hope for our world in troubled times begins with each of us. Prayer is the starting point as we bring our human hearts together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus to respond to the needs of today’s people.

PWPN-AoP and EYM Leadership and Planning meeting, Asuncion, Paraguay. May 2018

POPE’S WORLDWIDE PRAYER NETWORK - APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER (PWPN-AoP) NEWSLETTER | AUGUST 2018

to enter more and more into the “path of the heart” proposed by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. My goal is to try to coordinate greater synergy and cooperation between the various groups.

The missionary work that demands the most of my time is my congregation, another great family that celebrates 200 years since its founding this year (www.rjmgeneral.org). If you want to support the work of the EYM in Canada and the U.S., please note that when making a donation using the enclosed envelope. For more information, call MaryAnn Vance at 1-414-550-2900.

r. Lourdes Várguez García first learned of the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM) as an 11 year old attending a school run

by the Congregation of the Religious of Jesus and Mary. The editors of PWPN recently connected with Sr. Lourdes to learn of her involvement with EYM, both in Canada and internationally. The interview below is translated from the original Spanish.

Q Tell us about your background. A My name is Lourdes Várguez García and I am Mexican. I lived in

Mexico for the first 25 years of my life. I was a student at the Congregation of the Religious of Jesus and Mary (congregation founded in Lyon, France in 1818 and present today in 28 countries). It was when I was a student that I first learned about EYM. I remember very well how I liked to attend. It was a time of growth in friendship with other girls but also with Jesus. Beyond that, we socialized with other small Mayan communities.

In February of 1999, I moved to Canada to study French. There the question of my “vocation” arose. I gave my “yes” in 2003, becoming a Religious of Jesus and Mary. Canada also had the EYM in certain schools. Children and young people were involved with EYM, and also immigrants.

From 2006-2008, I went to Rome to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University. I returned to Rome a year later and was there until 2012. During my time there, I became the first Assistant of the International EYM, a responsibility that I have to this date. In 2013, I was additionally named the Coordinator of the EYM in Canada.

Q Has prayer always been an important part of your life?A Prayer has always been important to me. I offer my day to God,

beginning with thanksgiving. I prayed with my parents and brothers from when we were little children. We always prayed giving thanks and continuing to offer whatever we experienced throughout the day.

It was in grade school that I discovered the prayer of “offering” that is part of the Apostleship of Prayer. It wasn’t until later that I understood that I was part of a much larger family that offered its daily life for the mission of the church.

Q Describe the EYM in Canada.A In Canada, the movement is significant even though it is small.

Canadian EYM groups are diverse and some of the ethnic communities represented include Vietnamese, Lebanese and Egyptian youth. My primary responsibility is to accompany the groups and respond to their needs regarding the pedagogy and methodology of the EYM. We are currently studying the new international manual of the EYM, and also looking for ways

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Matters of the heart

MEET SR. LOURDES VÁRGUEZ GARCÍA Coordinator of EYM for Canada and International Assistant for EYM to International Director, Fr. Frederic Fornos

175TH ANNIVERSARY TRIP TO ROME & VATICAN CITY – JUNE 2019

n 1844, a young French Jesuit inspired a group of students to stop daydreaming about missionary work in some exotic locale and turn their attention inward – into transforming

their spiritual life – and impacting the world around them through prayer. Next year marks the 175th anniversary of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network - the Apostleship of Prayer (PWPN-AoP). A pilgrimage to Rome has been planned to celebrate this momentous occasion.

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The highlight of the trip will be a private audience with Pope Francis in Aula Paolo VI to celebrate that we are a pontifical work and mark the 10 years since the recreation of PWPN began. This celebration will be on Friday, June 28, 2019, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. That evening, we will have an International Mass at Gesù Church. Start planning today and visit www.pilgrimages.com/popesprayer for more information. Those who are unable to attend will have the opportunity to celebrate at PWPN – AoP centers in each country on June 28th so that everyone can be united in prayer, joy and thanksgiving.

POPE’S WORLDWIDE PRAYER NETWORK - APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER (PWPN-AoP) NEWSLETTER | AUGUST 2018

What is it? Click To Pray is an app that simply, creatively and intentionally puts you together with thousands of people throughout the world to pray every day for the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church.

Why use it? Click To Pray invites you to connect your heart with others three times a day to serve the mission of Jesus. Click To Pray allows you to share your own intentions for all to pray!

How do I sign up?Please visit www.clicktopray.net and follow the directions to register!

Sharing our hearts with others

ne of the central aspects of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) is a spirituality centered on the Heart of Jesus. It is from this Heart that we receive a mission and are “sent out to the margins of human life in different ways…

We are sent to the places where men and women are suffering injustice, to help heal and support the brokenhearted.”The documents guiding the recreation of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (PWPN) lays this out clearly, explaining how members of the PWPN are led on a “spiritual pathway inspired [by] the symbol of the heart – the human heart and the Heart of Jesus – that in unison wish to respond to the needs of today’s people. [It is] a network of hearts that pray with the Pope for the mission of the Church all around the world …We [are] apostles invited to collaborate with [the Heart of Jesus], available to his mission of compassion on behalf of our brothers and sisters.”Intimately connected to the Heart of Jesus is the celebration of the Eucharist. As it is stated in our documents, “The Eucharist…leads to [an] inner experience of the Heart of Jesus. It teaches us to live with Jesus and as Jesus, to the service of the mission. In each Eucharist we make present Jesus’ life laid down for humanity, the ultimate model of offering and availability.”Therefore, during this month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us renew our devotion and love of Jesus’ Heart, seeking above all things to fashion our own hearts after the Heart of Jesus. In this way, we will be more available and ready to pray for and encounter the many challenges facing humanity that the Pope proposes each month, doing what we can in our local situation to “heal and support the brokenhearted.”For more of these weekly blogs from Philip as well as Fr. Blazek, please visit www.popesprayerusa.net/tag/blog .

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PWPN BLOGThe Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network remains intimately linked to the Heart of Jesus Originally Published by Philip Kosloski, June 5, 2018 www.popesprayerusa.net

Revolutionize Praying with the Official Pope’s Prayer App!

Prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned

toward heaven; it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.

hese monthly prayer intentions are submitted annually to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network -

Apostleship of Prayer in Rome and ultimately 12 are selected by the Pope for publication. Why do we have prayer intentions? Quite simply by putting your own personal intentions behind those of others is very pleasing to God, especially when you align your prayers with the Holy Father. Through his intentions, the Holy Father calls the world to action, to pray every day and live out our prayers in “concrete gestures”. The prayer intentions of the Pope expressing the challenges of our world move people to action. Won’t you join us?

TPRAY WITH THE POPE

(St. Therese of Lisieux)

POPE’S INTENTIONS FOR AUGUSTUniversal: The Treasure of FamiliesThat any far-reaching decisions of economists and politicians may protect the family as one of the treasures of humanity.For coming months’ intentions please visit www.popesprayerusa.net/popes-intentions. Visit www.thepopevideo.org to see the Holy Father’s monthly video message.

Fr. Blazek’s ScheduleJUL 27-29 | Atlanta, GA VEYM National ConferenceSEP 27-30 | Convent, LA Retreat for Manresa Jesuit House of Retreats

LOOKING AHEAD:

Contact us if you are interested in scheduling an event in your area. Phone: 414.486.1152 E-mail address: info@popesprayerusa.net

Over 1 million users!

175TH ANNIVERSARY TRIP TO ROME & VATICAN CITY – JUNE 2019Next year will mark the 175th anniversary of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network - the Apostleship of Prayer (PWPN-AoP)! We will be organizing a pilgrimage to Rome for this joyous occasion. Please see the inside of this newsletter for more information.

News BriefsORDER YOUR 2019 PRAYER INTENTIONSFor those that would like printed copies of the Pope’s 2019 Prayer Intentions (in English or en español) please fill out the enclosed envelope and we will provide these to you when they are available this fall. As always, these can be found online at: www.popesprayerusa.net/popes-intentions/

POPE’S WORLDWIDE PRAYER NETWORK - APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER (PWPN-AoP) NEWSLETTER | AUGUST 2018

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HELP CREATE THE 2020 PRAYER INTENTIONSDo you have ideas for the Holy Father’s 2020 Prayer Intentions? If so, intentions should fall under one of two categories: Universal (challenges that confront humanity, not just Catholics) and Evangelization (challenges for the life of the Church that make Her a better instrument.) Please mail us your intentions or email us at: info@popeprayerusa.net no later than August 31, 2018. Thank you! Put 2020 in subject line.

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