Before You Mail Your Ballot or Enter the Voting Booth

Posted on October 9, 2020 by the Bouchers

Many are suffering from anxieties raised by the tenor of this year’s presidential election, on top of fears about the coronavirus, lack of employment or dealing with ongoing restrictions like social distancing. On a more personal note, many feel like they are drowning in a sea of confusing emotions generated by months of loneliness or the divisive political views of friends and family.  Here is a poem and an exercise that may help.

 

Step One:  Prayer for Help

Lord Jesus,
Turbulent waves threaten to knock us over
and even divide us from one another.

Each day a new political tsunami slams us.
Pandemics of every kind surround us
and we are drowning.

Send your Holy Spirit,
wash over us, purify us, heal us, renew our hearts
so that we may not sink beneath waves of fear and depression.

Help us arise and walk across the flooded waters
into your loving arms. Amen.

 

Step Two:  What do I Believe?

St. Gregory the Great (540–604) prayed, “In the shipwreck of this present life, sustain me by the plank of prayer, lest I sink by my own weight. Instead, let the hand of your mercy raise me up.”

Jesus, Emanuel, I believe that you are present as I vote and as we tally our votes. Lord, help my unbelief.

Jesus, Son of God, I believe that your heavenly Father is the source of all leadership and power. Lord, help my unbelief.

Holy Savior, I believe that you truly care about our country’s poverty, in all of its many forms, and will answer our most pressing needs. Lord, help my unbelief.

Jesus, King of Kings, I trust that you will anoint our elected officials with gifts of wisdom and peace-making. Lord, help my unbelief.

 

Step Three: Meditate on God’s Word

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God . . . emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” (Philippians 2:5-7). Simply lay all of your needs and our countries needs before God (names these needs out-loud); then empty yourself of fear and anxieties.

Romans 8: 32, 35, 37-39 (NRSV)

To be read slowly, at least twice. Listen for a phrase that touches you. Repeat the phrase several times and finish by reading the passage one final time.

“He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not also give us everything else?

 [So] who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 

 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.”

 

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The Gift of Evangelizing Prayer

Posted on September 17, 2020 by the Bouchers

Suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many people to their knees, begging for divine protection for themselves, their families, and loved ones. Such prayer forges a link between our everyday life and God’s presence. But aren’t we also called to evangelizing prayer? Prayer that lifts someone into the arms of Jesus, who is our final destiny and our greatest need. Therese, often and literally, raises a photo of a loved one up to heaven as she prays. For her this is an act of faith, instead of worry.

Evangelizing prayer helps us slow down and focus on the needs of one person at a time. Our neighbor Joe was petrified about what would happen to his mother in a nursing home as the COVID-19 pandemic deepened. He was also anxious because he was not allowed to visit her. We asked Jesus to show us one specific thing that we might pray for. As we did so, we realized we could help him explore and implement options like writing a letter, sending small gifts, or learning how to make a video call.  

Evangelizing prayer begins with asking God for the eyes to see a person from Jesus’ point of view. Here are the steps. Choose someone with an immediate need. Describe his or her situation to Jesus. Ask God what one thing this person might need first: physical or emotional healing, a new job, a successful surgery… Then allow this need to act as a doorway for even deeper prayer, that surrenders the person’s most spiritual needs. 

When we intercede for a person’s needs, we join ourselves to Jesus, the great High Priest, who stands before the throne of God (Hebrews 4:14-16). We also open ourselves to the charisms and gifts that God wants to give us to help that person. Our prayer is transformed from just asking for what we think they need, to allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us into a vision of God’s unending, concrete love for someone. 

Pope Francis points out the way that God can move our hearts and minds as we pray. “May prayer and action always be deeply united. A prayer that does not lead you to practical action for your brother — the poor, the sick, those in need of help, a brother in difficulty — is a sterile and incomplete prayer.” (“Angelus,” St Peter’s Square, Sunday, July 21, 2013). 

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The Pandemic Call to Missionary Evangelization

Posted on August 18, 2020 by the Bouchers

God’s invitation to share our faith with others may begin with a growing concern about adult children or nieces and nephews who don’t go to church. The beginning may be concern about the sparse attendance at parish Sunday Masses, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. News of more parish and school closings may alarm us. Or instead, we may be inspired by Catholics who knelt outside Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit to pray for Coronavirus patients and their health care professionals.

Our experiences and observations are just a few of the ways Jesus might be calling us to find new ways to share the faith that we love during these uncertain times. But how do we take steps to do that when it seems foreign or overwhelming? How do we embrace what the Church has called the “New Evangelization” and become what Pope Francis has called “a missionary disciple?”

What is “missionary evangelization?” The word, “evangelization,” can make us feel uncomfortable and apprehensive. As Christians, we may know that we are called to share the good news of Christ. But it is easy to think that this is a calling for others, who know more than we do about the faith. Where would we even begin?

It is not as difficult as we might think. It involves just four simple steps that anyone can do to share their faith: praying, caring, sharing faith in conversations, and daring to invite others into a faith-filled life, into family, small group, and our parish community. We hope this time-tested wisdom will help spark a greater desire to share your faith and encourage you to become confident in your ability to do so. An article about each one will follow.

Here’s one definition of “evangelize” that might help: “Evangelizing means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation and seeking to convert individuals and society by the divine power of the Gospel itself. Its essence is the proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ and the response of a person in faith, both being the work of the Holy Spirit.” (Go and Make Disciples: A National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States, 10)

The ongoing pain, suffering, loss, and isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are causing many people, believers and unbelievers, to cry out for help from God. Join those Catholics who are stepping up to help and to share their faith in the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pope Francis encourages us:

“The joy of the Gospel is such that it cannot be taken away from us by anyone or anything (cf. Jn 16:22). The evils of our world – and those of the Church – must not be excuses for diminishing our commitment and our fervor. Let us look upon them as challenges that can help us to grow. With the eyes of faith, we can see the light which the Holy Spirit always radiates in the midst of darkness, never forgetting that ‘where sin increased, grace has abounded all the more.’ “(Rom 5:20). (The Joy of the Gospel, 84)

(This article was taken from the June 2020 issue of The Word Among Us magazine, wau.org. Used with permission. The book Sharing the Faith That You Love, by John and Therese Boucher, from which these articles were adapted, is available at www.bookstore.wau.org.)

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