Pope's prayer intention for July: That the faithful might again learn how to discern

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for July is for expanded formation in discernment.

“Let us pray that we might again learn how to discern and how to choose paths of life and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel,” the pope prays in English in his contribution to “The Pope Video,” a monthly reflection published by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

The video, released July 3, also includes an original prayer people can recite daily during the month.

“Grant me a deeper understanding of what moves me, so that I may reject what draws me away from Christ, and love him and serve him more fully,” the prayer said.

“I long for my choices to lead me to the joy of the Gospel. Even if I must go through moments of doubt and fatigue, even if I must struggle, reflect, search and begin again,” the prayer said. “Because, at the end of the journey, your consolation is the fruit of the right decision.”

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, formerly known as the Apostleship of Prayer, is a global movement of people who make a commitment each day to pray for the pope’s intentions.

In a press release announcing the latest video, the network said, “Discernment has been practiced from the beginning of the church’s history.”

In fact, in the prayer for July, there is an “echo of St. Augustine’s famous prayer in the Confessions: ‘Oh God, let me know myself that I might know You,'” showing that knowledge of self leads to knowledge of God.

“In order to discern, it is necessary to place oneself in truth before God, to enter into oneself, to admit one’s own weaknesses, and to ask the Lord for healing,” the press release said. “These are the steps to rebirth through an authentic relationship with God.”

“Due to the speed at which things change today, the vast amount of information available, which is not always true, the apparent reality created by AI, and the complexity of global challenges, as well as other things, discernment has become an essential component for making the right decisions that allow us to live well and draw closer to God,” it said.

Jesuit Father Cristóbal Fones, director of the prayer network, said in the press release that “formation in discernment is fundamental to navigate a complex world.”

Discernment includes prayer, personal reflection, the study of Scripture and spiritual direction in order to cultivate a deep relationship with Jesus, he said. “In this way, we can recognize his voice in the midst of so many other voices in the world, and have the clarity necessary to make decisions based on more human proposals and horizons.”