After last night's presidential debate
I think we all need to recall
the words of Saint Paul:
Brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable
if there is any moral excellence
and if there is any praise
dwell on these things.
Philippians 4:8
Toward the end of his life, Saint John once said:
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."
Saint Peter put it this way:
"The Lord watches over everyone who obeys him, and he listens to their prayers...."
Prayer is, beyond doubt, the most potent weapon the Lord gives us.
The election in November will be challenging, no matter who wins. We need to pray! We need to pray that God will continue to shine his light on America. We need to pray that this country remains a place where prayer is welcome, and God is honored.
On October 8th, I am inviting my friends to begin - 54 days of prayer for America. The first 27 days will be prayers of petition asking God to bless our elections on the 27 day – November 3rd. Then we will offer 27 days of thanksgiving to God for answering our prayers.
I encourage those of us who are Catholic to pray the rosary.
For more information on this rosary devotion, visit:
https://www.romancatholicman.com/the-miraculous-54-day-rosary-novena/
The past four years in America have been some of the most combative and, frankly, embarrassing in our history. Political leaders on both sides of the aisle have displayed a vanity that has nearly extinguished all civility and wisdom; it has left the American public anxious and divided. The pilgrims brought to America a biblical tradition that should have prepared us to realize that turmoil need not mark the end. Tumult often signals the beginning of something new. God has always called people to renewal in challenging times.
Great struggles produce great clarity. As people of faith, we should know better than most that God can work in any event; that the trials and challenges of life can lead to rebirth. This virus is a call to us to open our hearts and be reminded of who we are, children of God. It's a call to renew our relationship with the almighty.
God has witnessed every challenge throughout human history and always stands ready to welcome us to his friendship. Psalm 94 says: "Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer."
Do not despair; God is waiting for us to turn to Him so He can renew us, so He can heal us. The best is yet to come!
Be a voice of hope:
A few years back a devastating earthquake killed 30,000 people in Armenia. Minutes after the tragedy, a father ran to his son’s school building and found it completely collapsed. Remembering that his son’s classroom was in the rear corner of the building, he ran over to it and began digging, pulling away the rubble with his hands.
Other parents, weeping nearby, tried to stop him, saying, “It’s too late! They’re all dead! It’s too late!” Even the police tried to dissuade him. But he kept on digging. He dug for 36 hours without stopping. In the 38th hour he heard a voice, the father screamed, “Armand!” The boy shouted back, “Dad!” Then began an incredible conversation; the boy shouted up from the rubble: “Dad! There are 14 of us down here. I told them not to worry. I told them that you’d come.”
There are so many parallels in this story with our world right now. The world is full of people like the ones in this story. There are people like the grief-stricken parents standing around the collapsed school after the earthquake. They see our world in a state of moral and spiritual collapse. They see nothing but a mountain of crime, war, drugs, illness, immorality, corruption and disrespect for all forms of life. So many people have given up and only stand around, lamenting the situation.
There are also people like the children trapped inside a world that feels like moral and spiritual rubble. They feel like theirs is a helpless situation. They see no light. The only thing that can give them hope is people like little Armand and his father – people of faith. Hopefully, people like us. We are called to be people who like Armand’s father see the same mountain of moral and spiritual collapse but refuse to give up. We are called to be like little Armand and have faith that Jesus is coming to save us. We are called to people who keep working at their faith until we bring light into the darkness.
The prophet Isaiah said, “Let us walk in the light of the Lord!” Saint Paul said, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the armor of light.” Hopefully, this story is an invitation to us to do this, to become like Armand and his father, to be voices of hope in our world. People are hurting right now, we are called to be a voice of hope!
“You say grace before meals.
All right,” wrote G.K. Chesterton.
“But I say grace before the concert
and the opera, and grace before
the play and pantomime,
and grace before I open a book,
and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, walking, playing, dancing
and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”
Saint Paul tells us to: “Pray without ceasing”
"With what result?" you ask.
Love is the answer ... to all our prayers.
