Pew to Pilgrim - Now That's a Prayer

In the movie Bruce Almighty, Jim Carrey is encouraged to pray for something he truly cares about and not just recite something sounding like a beauty pageant participant. In that moment, he prays for a loved one to be seen “through the eyes of God.” A transformational moment even in the midst of a comedy.

This invitation is open to all of us – to pray for everyone – not just in sympathy but with empathy. While many of our prayers focus on something in our personal lives, Christ calls us to go beyond ourselves. Prayer is one of the most powerful ways we can support others. Joining together in prayer for the living and the dead entrusts us all into God's care.

The power of prayer, while often requested, is strong but God’s answer frequently does not reveal itself. We have to listen and watch for the opportunities to do what God intends.

Remembering that mercy means "disposition to forgive or show compassion”, Pray for the Living and the Dead calls upon us to pray for everybody, even those who have hurt us or perhaps the most difficult, for those who committed mortal sins through overt and repeated acts of evil. As Julie Berggren, HNC Director of Pastoral Care shares:

“When praying for someone who might have offended me, I ask God to enlarge my heart. I will place the person that I am struggling with in my heart and ask God for peace and to enlarge my heart for that person. Focusing on that person and realizing how very much God loves them removes my need to be right and eases the way toward love. Like all prayer, it’s a process not a one-time experience.”

Julie also provides rich advice through her insights as a spiritual director. “People sometimes tell me they feel their prayer life is dry or maybe doesn’t hold as much meaning as they would like. After asking them a little about their prayer practice, sometimes they might say that they are just reciting names. The way it is described can sound rather like talking at God rather than listening to God. I will sometimes ask them, what would it be like to simply listen to God?” Remember that another way of praying is to simply listen.

Prayer can achieve great things – healing people, avoiding or resolving conflict, supporting loved ones and strangers in times of need…all offering the comfort of mercy to the living. But there is the frequently overlooked or forgotten Praying for the Dead. Certainly at the time of one’s death, many prayers are offered up for someone to be in Heaven or a “better place.” But we know that many souls may be in Purgatory and prayers for their journey is perhaps one of the most important prayers we could offer.

• When you do laundry, prepare a meal, take a shower, or go to bed at night, ask God to comfort those who don’t have clothes to wash, food to eat, running water to use, or a bed to sleep in.
• Through prayer, entrust your cares and concerns for those around you to God
• When you see a sunrise or sunset, smell fresh baked cookies, hear your favorite song, or taste something delicious, pray for those who are blind, deaf, or unable to experience life through their senses.
• When you see a cemetery, pray for the souls of the people who are buried there, as well as the souls of your loved ones who have passed away.
• Request a mass intention for a friend or family member who has passed away
• Send a card to someone on the anniversary of their loved one’s passing
• When you are impatient, frustrated, or going through a struggle in your life, pray for the poor souls in Purgatory who are patiently, painfully awaiting their entrance into heaven.
• Join the Women’s Lectio Divina prayer group at HNC – every Saturday morning after 8a Mass
• Register for the next Holy Name’s Women’s Retreat October 14-16; email Jennifer Delvaux
• Become a Pastoral Associate – see Archdiocese of Chicago guidelines
• Take the Prayer Quiz
• When you pass a funeral home with a parking lot full of cars, pray for the soul of the deceased person, as well as that person’s family and friends.
• When you hear a police car, ambulance, or fire truck siren, pray a Hail Mary for the officers, paramedics and victims
• Request a mass intention for a friend or family member who is going through a tough time
• Pray for the forgotten, for those who do not receive prayers – those who offend you, those who have committed mortal sins
• Throughout November—the month devoted to praying for the deceased—pray a novena specifically for the souls in Purgatory.
• Attend weekly Bible Study every Wednesday evening at the Rectory – no advance registration needed
• Utilize the power of Centering Prayer. More information here
• Consider all those you can pray for during All Souls Day – November 2; enter their names into the Book of the Dead
• Make a regular practice of visiting the graves of relatives. A great month to start is November.
• Volunteer to help with the All Souls Mass; contact Julie Berggren
• Start your own Book of Intentions – keep people you meet, think of, hear from in your daily prayers
• Become a Minister of Care at NW Hospital, the Rehabilitation Institute or for the homebound – contact Julie Berggren

Lori Doyle and Gabi Schultz are members of the Parish Pastoral Council, active with a variety of Liturgical Ministries as Lectors, Extraordinary Ministers, Cathedral Altar Servers and Ministers of Care at Prentice Hospital @ NW Hospital. Both parishioners for about 6 years, Lori loves to travel and cook and is a proud mother of her son John, a UM Wolverine. Gabi enjoys trying new restaurants, running, cooking lessons and spending time with friends and family.

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