There are days when I decide not to listen to or read the news! The reason? it is mostly bad news. In a recent email publication, Spirituality & Ethics, a Jesuit American friend, Max Oliva, bemoans: “Are we in a moral collapse right now in this country? We seem to have lost our way.
Late-term abortions, which signify a total disregard for basic human life; lack of compassion for those at our southern border who only wish for a better and safer life for themselves and their children: avoidance of doing what is necessary to save our planet; an unreasonable stubbornness in passing gun control laws despite multiple school shootings in the past twenty years. The list goes on.”
Although his context is his own country, what happens there has an effect on us whether we are in Canada or any where else. And constantly reading about it or our own particular parochial woes can be discouraging and a pall for the soul.
After expounding on the importance and need for prophets for our time, Fr. Max recalls in his article Karl Rahner’s contention that “the news is the scripture of the world”. He then presents a method of prayer that can turn news into a vehicle for prayer. I pass it on to you!
- Choose an article or story that has some human interest in it.
- Pray for anyone in the story who is a victim (s).
- Next, pray for anyone in the story who is assisting the victim, e.g., first responders, a good Samaritan, etc., for their safety.
- Pray for the conversion of any oppressors in the story; they can be from any walk of life: ordinary citizens or people in power.
- Finally, pray for yourself. Do you need deeper compassion, greater generosity, freedom from a prejudice, or more courage to speak the truth.How useful and important is this kind of intercessory prayer because we know, as Father Max reminds in his email, that God’s power is greater than the power of human beings.
What a great idea to use the news to pray for our world.