Friday, August 11, 2006

Rosary for the World

My dear friend Sally, in spite of her own health challenges which have left her exhausted, has felt called to initiate a weekly rosary in our parish to pray for the entire world. Each decade is offered for a different continent or area of the world. Since the details have not yet been printed in the bulletin just she and I said it tonight. (And my son Jim joined us about halfway through, having finished his football practice.)

After this mornings arrests in the United Kingdom, the urgency of intercession for the problems of the world seemed particularly pointed. We prayed before each decade for what we knew were issues in that part of the world. I resolved to become better informed in order to be more focused in prayer and to have greater compassion and empathy for my brothers and sisters in all corners of the globe.

It was a peaceful time. We sat in the Marian meditation garden and it was very beautiful and quiet. I felt that the Holy Spirit must be powerfully present with us, clearly pleased that His faithful servant Sally would respond to His promptings in spite of her great fatigue. In fact, it almost seemed that her weakness at this time was magnifying the power of the prayer. It felt like a holy time. I will most certainly be back next week.

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