Pastor's Pen - October 30, 2016

How many times have you heard someone ask you “Will you pray for me?” Or you yourself have asked that question of someone else. I’ve heard this many times and I have heard from recipients many times “It has been the prayers of others that have given me strength at this time of…” Taking time to pray is one of the greatest forms of stewardship that we can give. Our prayer for the living helps them on their journey through life; good times and bad times. Our prayers for the dead also help the souls of the departed on their journey.

Fr. George William Rutler says this:

“Prayer for the dead “pierces through the veil” between heaven and earth, which is thinner than many think. Souls of the departed in purgatory are closer to bliss than we are. Their suffering is the opposite of the despair of the damned, who are beyond the influence of prayer. It is the ecstatic agony of a birthing mother at the end of her nine months, or the runner in the last seconds of a marathon. In the assurance of their approaching glory, their reciprocal prayers can pour our merciful graces on us who still are in the mercurial world of uncertainties.”

I heard of a man this past weekend that prays for over 600 people by name every day. I had started a small notebook in which I write the names of people who ask me to pray and for those I feel need prayers and when I sit down to pray in my room I pull that book out and read the names and pray for their need. If I don’t know what it is, God knows.

In one day there are 1,440 minutes. We are asked to give God what we have off the top. If we were to give Him only 1% of our time each day that would be about 15 minutes. In that time we could also be in discussion with God about the people in our lives that are still with us as well as those that have died.

Maybe this can be a start…

Lord, as our common Creator and Savior, you bind us together as a family of sisters and brothers. Open my heart to pray for the needs and longings of your children wherever they may be. (Who has asked me to pray for them? Who of the living and the dead most need my prayers?)

Fr Chuck