VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The foundation of the Catholic Church is Jesus, who prays and intercedes for each Christian and for the whole church, Pope Francis said.
In the Bible, Jesus always “prays for his people” and continues doing so today, the pope said Oct. 28 during an early morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
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“On the Mount of Olives, Jesus prays; on the cross he prayed; his life ended in prayer,” the pope said. “And this is our security, this is our foundation, this is our cornerstone: Jesus who prays for us! Jesus who prays for me.”
The day’s Gospel reading described Jesus going up to the mountain and spending “the night in prayer to God” before choosing his disciples the next day.
“The cornerstone of the church is the Lord in front of the father who intercedes for us, who prays for us,” the pope said. “We pray to him, but the foundation is he who prays for us.”
Knowing that Jesus continues to pray for his people, Christians should feel a sense of security and belonging, the pope said.
“Today it would do us well to think of the church, to reflect on this mystery of the church. We are all like a building, but the foundation is Jesus; it is Jesus who prays for us. It is Jesus who prays for me,” the pope said.
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“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). This is Christ’s function as the mediator of all graces when His Spirit is within us.