A couple of weeks ago I read, and then prayed, prayers from
a booklet I found in the adoration chapel at my church. Although the prayers there deeply moved me, I
didn’t then perceive their true value --- until the more recent spiritual
events overcame my heart.
I’ve been blessed to have a perception of the spiritual
state of the world and our country (as I wrote recently in previous posts), and
have been troubled with subsequent thoughts about: “What can I do?” I think this prayer booklet was shown to me
to calm my anxieties, not because it is an answer to the question as to what I
can do, but rather that it may be an answer to WHAT WE CAN DO.
The
booklet is called: Patriotic Rosary, For
the Consecration of Our Nation. It is
put out by Caritas of Birmingham. (You
can get a copy for free by calling them at 205-672-2000, x315).
The booklet arranges prayers of each decade (of 10 beads) of
the rosary in the following format:
There is an opening exhortation
from one of our nation’s founding fathers (Washington, Adams, etc.) on the
importance of God to our nation’s existence.
This is followed by …
a dedication of the Our Father
prayer for a particular branch of our government (the Presidency, the Supreme Court,
Congress, etc.). Then, on each one of
the individual beads there comes …
a separate prayer for each one of
the 50 states, which are prayed for in alphabetical order. And then comes …
a closing prayer for the
conversion of our country. And finally, each
decade closes with …
a patriotic song (America, The
Battle Hymn of the Republic, God Bless America, etc.).
As I prayed the various words and songs for the first time,
I found them deeply moving, and I felt my heart reaching out to God, sincerely
asking for His mercy. I think these
particular prayers would affect most people in a similar manner. I don’t know if this is THE answer for what
God may be calling for me to do for our country, but I feel strongly it should
be, and will be, a part of my response to His call. Although in the coming weeks I shall use this
prayer occasionally to replace my nightly rosary meditations, in the month of
October (the month dedicated to the rosary prayer) and through the first week
of November leading up to the election, I shall pray this prayer nightly.
I believe it may be in our country’s interest if many others
were to do the same, to reinforce my weak pleas to the one Who CAN do something
about the mess we are in.
Matthew 9:1 said: Then some people appeared bringing Him a
paralytic stretched out on a bed.
And then Jesus said to the man: Your sins are forgiven. Note what happened here: Friends brought the perceived sinner (the one
who was struck with illness) to Jesus. I
believe our objectives should be the same:
to bring our sinful country to Jesus, by praying for each other.
He chose to involve the very sinners
He came to save in the project of their
salvation, and in that way to give meaning
and purpose to their lives.
-- The Better Part, Meditation 30.
He came to save in the project of their
salvation, and in that way to give meaning
and purpose to their lives.
-- The Better Part, Meditation 30.
I love this Tom. What a beautiful way of praying for our country. It seems God did give you a mission and the way to fulfill it. I really, really love the ideas you describe in the Patriotic Rosary. I think I'm going to call for a copy and see if I too should pray this.
ReplyDeleteYou know Tom, where two or more are gathered (albeit over the internet)..... Someone left it in the chapel so that someone like you would find it, and pass it on.
Thanks for sharing this.
God bless. ~ Fran
Some of the women in my Bible Study group got copies for their various ministries and prayer groups. I don't think we will be praying alone. I offered to purchase copies for use in some way by the local Catholic radio station, but they have not responded. They probably have their own plans for broadcasts leading up to this election.
ReplyDeleteListening to some events of this day, at the DNC, it seems their process is as chaotic as the RNC, at both there are lots of people saying: "I know the answer; all you others are disrupting things and need to get out!" It really gives Jesus' words I AM THE WAY new meaning.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHey Tom,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you're familiar with Msgr. Pope's blog, but he writes almost every day, and his reflections/teachings are excellent.
Today he wrote something that made me think of your recent posts here; about your dismay (for lack of a better word) at the status of the world. I offer the link in hopes what he has to say might speak to some of your musings.
http://blog.adw.org/2016/07/long-o-lord-meditation-anger-disappointment/
God bless. ~ Fran
Thank you, Fran. I very much enjoyed Msgr Pope's words. I have the Archdiocese of Washington site bookmarked, but don't get there often enough.
ReplyDeleteI spent the last weekend in Steubenville, for Franciscan University's Defending the Faith Conference. Outstanding!! They had a 2-hour debate on the Catholic Response to Gay Marriage/Relativism arguments. It was very enlightening. I've ordered 5 copies for friends with gay friends and for my local pastors. There was also a great talk by a Dr. Hunt, a former Methodist mega-church leader, now Catholic, on what is really important to remember about the Catholic faith --- an excellent talk for RCIA programs, I'm sure, which is where copies I ordered will go.
We had rain there, and rain here while I was gone. God is good.