Lithuania: from the Bishops, 5 steps to the Pope’s visit. “Knowing, praying, communicating, participating and living”

To get ready for Pope Francis’s visit to Lithuania (22-23 September), the Lithuanian Bishops have issued some “guidelines”, grouped into “five steps” that can be helpful as much for individuals as for communities. “Knowing, praying, communicating, participating and living” are the five steps of the preparatory process. For instance, the Bishops suggest one should try to “read at least one of the documents or books written by Pope Francis” to get to know him better. There’s a call to pray for the Pope and with his monthly intentions of prayer or at Mass, as well as “communicating” not just in public meetings and debates but “every day, together, with deeds of mercy”. The “Participating” step is an invitation to watch the times Pope Francis will be in the country to “listen to what the Holy Father wants to say to the Lithuanian population”: with young people in Vilnius on September 22^nd and at Mass in Kaunas on September 23^rd. The suggestion in the last group, “Living”, is to make the Pope’s visit not just “history” but to make efforts to translate the words “of the Holy Father into one’s own life”. Along with all this, the Bishops call everyone “to creatively contribute to the preparation of the visit”.