12 months, 12 apostles, 12 petitions

The year 2026 is upon us, with 12 months ahead filled with uncertainty. What will the new year bring? Faith invites us to live with hope and to ask for graces through prayer. Today, I invite you to join me in asking for 12 graces from the 12 apostles.

January

We begin with the first in hierarchical order, Peter. The month in which we celebrate, as we do every year, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, will be a good opportunity to pray for Pope Leo XIV, his successor. In his hands lies the helm of a Church with many internal wounds, which must bear witness to love and unity in an increasingly polarized world. With Peter's intensity and insistence, let us ask for the grace of communion so that the world may believe. 

February

We continue with Andrew, the first disciple to say yes to the Lord's call. It was he, in fact, who introduced Jesus to his brother Peter, making him an example of missionary spirit. In this month in which we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the day of Consecrated Life, let us pray that many may continue to respond to the call to vocation and that He may help each one of us to continue to introduce Him to those who do not yet know Him.

March

With Matthew, the tax collector who left his former life behind to follow Jesus, we will enter into Lent, a time of conversion and change of life. Let us ask for the grace to stop looking at ourselves and to look at those who live on the margins of society and close to us: the poor, the sick, those in prison, those who live alone, young people without hope...  

April

With John, Jesus' beloved disciple, the only one of the twelve who remained at the foot of the cross and the first of them to arrive at the empty tomb, we will enter into the Easter Triduum to contemplate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. In the face of hatred, war, and violence, let us pray for peace and for the ability to be transmitters of the joy of the Gospel.

May

Led by the most discreet apostle, who plays a minor role in the Gospel stories, James the Less, we arrive at the month of Mary, the humble girl from Nazareth who accepted God's plan for her life by bringing the Savior into the world. Let us offer our prayer this month for families, that, like the Holy Family of Nazareth, they may continue to be a preeminent place of welcome and protection of life in simplicity. 

June

When Judas Thaddeus asked Jesus during the Last Supper, «Lord, why have you revealed yourself to us and not to the world?», he was leaving us a lesson for this month in which we celebrate Corpus Christi. Let us ask for the gift of being able to see Him in the mystery of the Eucharist so that we may continue to fulfill the commandment to love one another as He loved us.

July

This month, together with Saint James the Greater, and playing on his nickname, we can remember our elders in a special way, as we celebrate World Grandparents' Day. May those of us who are elderly live in peace as we grow older, knowing that we are vulnerable and in need of help; and may those of us who are not yet elderly know how to accompany and honor those who have gone before us.

August

In this month traditionally associated with vacations, the figure of the apostle Simon «the Zealot» urges us not to become complacent, but to live the Gospel in a radical way. Let us pray that the People of God—lay people, religious men and women, priests, and bishops—may not lose their apostolic zeal, because the world is thirsty for God, as the psalm says, «like parched, dry land without water.».

September

With the apostle Philip, who worried about how to feed so many people before Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, let us remember the migrants and refugees whose journey is celebrated this month. May God multiply our gifts so that we may welcome them generously, protect them, promote them, and integrate them.

October

During the month of Missions, with the testimony of Thomas the Apostle, we can ask God to enable us to see Him, despite our unbelief, so that we can proclaim as he did: «My Lord and my God!» and thus lead many, through our testimony, to the light of faith.

November

Led by Bartholomew or Nathanael, of whom Jesus said, «Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit,» we will enter into Advent, a penitential season. Let us pray for the Church, that it may be a community of faithful «in whom there is no deceit,» capable of recognizing its mistakes and asking for forgiveness when it errs, so as not to be a scandal to the world.

December

And with Judas Iscariot, the traitor, we will arrive once again at Christmas to recognize our need for redemption. We need God to be born again and again in our hearts. Poor Judas could do nothing but despair. Let us ask the Lord for the virtue of Hope to give thanks, looking back on the year that is ending; and to face the new year with enthusiasm because He will be with us, as He said to his apostles, «every day, until the end of time.».