The Universal prayer intention from the Holy Father for the month of May deals with the need to care for the suffering: “That, rejecting the culture of indifference, we may care for our neighbors who suffer, especially the sick and the poor.” I cannot imagine that there is a person on the face of the earth who doesn't know something about this intention.

Someone may choose to not care or do anything, but even the infamous One Percent is not immune from the suffering of the sick. Hopefully, they are at least conscious of the tremendous gap between their wealth and the poverty of others! They may know nothing about poverty, but they should know about sickness. Illness doesn't shy away from the wealthy or powerful. The famous and the powerful suffer as much from mental and physical problems as the rest of us. Perhaps they can afford the best medical care and the most comfortable surroundings, but they still suffer from the illness.

Pope Francis refers in that intention to our culture of indifference. He describes this: “As long as I am relatively healthy and comfortable, I don’t think about those less well off. My heart grows cold. Today, this selfish attitude of indifference has taken on global proportions.” I think that culture is partly attributed to the fact that we are increasingly aware of up-to-date news from every corner of the globe. How are we supposed to respond to the constant flow of bad news!

I’m writing this having just read of the deadly earthquake in Nepal. And, of course, we just had hundreds of desperate migrants drown in the Mediterranean. And the Ethiopian Christians who were executed by ISIS! We can also call to mind the hundreds dead from the collapse of a building in India, the thousands left homeless by a flood, the hundreds who perished in a plane crash caused by a suicidal pilot. And so on.

There is a daily litany of tragedies, injuries, deaths and executions. On top of that, we seem each day to hear of acquaintances, friends or family members who have just been diagnosed with an illness or have been laid off from work. It is very easy to grow cold and indifferent in the face of such suffering. So many of us throw up our arms and say that we are helpless to respond. We don’t know what to say, and we can’t always do something to take their suffering away.

What do we do with it all? We'd probably go crazy if we spent all our time pondering the pain of the world. Basically, the prayer of petitions (that is, intercessory prayer) invites us to hand troubling matters over to God. It's a way of saying to God that I cannot handle all of this, but that I don’t want to be uncaring and indifferent. So, I place my care and concern in a broader context and in a stronger set of hands – in and with God.  

I often feel awkward when someone asks me to keep them in prayer because of a difficult situation in their life. It's not that I don't believe in the power of prayer. It's that I'm not sure that that's enough. Isn't there something I can actually and physically do? At the very least, can I listen and offer comforting words? If I have the time and ability, is there something else I can do? Visit someone in hospital? Help them with a task so that they get caught up with their responsibilities? Spend time with them so that they feel less alone?

Let’s pray in this month for the grace to hold on to a care for the suffering, the wisdom to know what action is possible, and the faith to place our worries and compassion in the arms of a loving God.