The Power of Prayer

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community, immigration, power of prayer, prayer, sharing, spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I expected only people I knew to attend our event last evening. (See yesterday’s post). By the time I arrived at the Church I had shed most of my expectations and knew that no matter what happened I had done my best and all that remained was to let go of outcome. As it happened, in the 35 attendees there were several people new to me and in the end the power of the prayer was evident in the conversations that ensued. 

Success in such an event is measured not in “compliments to the chef” but rather in the comments that follow. The feeling of community and the power of the prayer itself, especially perhaps in the music, was evidence to me and all that we had achieved the desired outcome. We left the church, totally aware that we had not solved the issues of immigration, but feeling lighter in spirit because we had shared a common concern and willingness to engage in prayer together. That in itself is surely enough.

The Power of Prayer

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franciscan, lost, power of prayer, St. Anthony, St. Francis of Assisi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I’ve just been reading about St. Anthony of Padua on this, his feast day. While I have known many facts about this revered saint, (primarily because of having served in an Italian parish for eight years) stories at http://www.franciscanmedia.org piqued my interest in going deeper. Most of what I read was familiar: the fact that he was born in Portugal rather than Italy, his stint in the Augustinian religious order where his studies gifted him with theological and scriptural prowess before he joined the Franciscan friars, the fact that he was a contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi, etc. There is so much to admire about this saint whose life took many twists and turns in the brief 35 years before his death in 1231. Even Wikipedia was a source for new learnings.

The one thing that most everyone knows about St. Anthony is his knack of finding lost things, even to this day for all of us, but today was the first time I read what seems to be the original story of this gift. (Remember that this came from Wikipedia but still…) The incident occurred in Bologna and concerned a favorite book of Psalms belonging to Anthony. It was important to him because of his notes and comments included there which he used to teach his students. It seems that a novice who left the order took it with him. When he noticed that it was missing, Anthony prayed that it would be returned or found and his prayer was answered when the thief was moved to return it. The book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna.

Mystery solved! And aren’t we all grateful for Anthony’s power of prayer!

 

 

 

 

 

Two or Three

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blessings, difficult situation, gratitude, grievances, hurts, intention toward good, Jesus, Matthew, power of prayer, prayer request, reconcile, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There’s an interesting juxtaposition in this morning’s gospel (MT 18:15-20). It’s good advice at the beginning where Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone…”(emphasis mine). He goes on to state a process of how to proceed if that doesn’t bring resolution but just that line set me to thinking about how much easier it seems to talk to others about our grievances than to engage directly with the cause of the distress.

At the end of the gospel Jesus is talking about another kind of encounter. “If two or three of you agree about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” Someone called our house last week asking for prayers for her 14 week-old grandson and her mother, both of whom need heart surgery. I got the call and she told me that, years ago, when her son had been in a terrible accident from which doctors had told her he would likely not recover, our Sister Elizabeth had told her she would pray for him and ask all the Sisters to do the same. Her son recovered with only a slight disability so she has great faith in our prayer. I drove yesterday to the Boston area where my sister will undergo hip replacement surgery tomorrow. There are people all over the Northeast and beyond who will be praying for success and speedy recovery for her.

It seems that these two examples of encounter are really about an intention toward the good. Willingness to reconcile with someone always trumps the result of complaint about another’s actions. Willingness to believe in the power of prayer is similarly effective. The intimacy of having an honest conversation about our hurts or of sharing our need for help in a difficult situation is always worth the effort it takes to ask and even the asking can be its own reward.

So here I am, asking for your prayer for tomorrow as well as your indulgence over the next few days when I am not sure I will be in a position to blog. Be assured, however, that I am confident in the prayer that accompanies us and the surgeon and that I will spread the word of success as soon as it is available to me. Gratitude and blessings to all around the world!

The Lost Coin

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art, Christianity, faith, lost coin, Luke, power of prayer, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

As I was reading the gospel for this morning about the lost sheep and the lost coin – two stories about God’s willingness to find us no matter what (LK 15:1-10) – two different images came to mind. The first was of a picture created by Sister Marion Honors, an artist in my community. It is a print of the rather rotund homemaker, hair in a bun, bending low with her broom searching for the lost coin. Marion has many gifts, one of which is creating warmth in her representations of people and their stories in her art. This picture is a great illustration of what Jesus is trying to get across to his listeners and always makes me happy when I see it. From that first image came the second whose lesson is somewhat different but all the more vibrant because it is one of the earliest miracles of my life and concerns my mother’s faith.

My kindergarten classroom was in the basement of the high school building on our church campus. In addition to the main door, there was a stairway on the other side of the room that led up to a child-sized door above ground. One day while we were in class, my mother appeared at the door, bending down to get through, and asked Sister Mary Arcadius to have the children pray; she was on her way to the dump. In those days, 1953 to be exact, my father’s salary was $40 per week. My mother was the financier in the family and on that day she realized that she had thrown an envelope that she thought was empty into the trash but it contained the entire $40 from that week! Trusting us to lead her to the envelope that had already been collected and taken to the dump, she ducked out again and was gone. Sometime later when she appeared again she was waving the envelope from the door. The power of prayer was fixed in my consciousness from that day.

My mother’s faith was the engine of her life and certainly fueled not only her own days but mine and that of many others as well. Today I will thank God again for her example and for all those people who have strengthened me in times of need. I encourage you to do the same for the bright stars in your life’s sky.

NOTE: I’m leaving this morning for a rural region of New Hampshire to co-facilitate a short “Wisdom School” at a beautiful farm that has spotty cell service and is not set up yet for the internet. That means I will be on hiatus and the blog will not be appearing until Monday morning. Please pray with us for the people who will be delving into the deeper stream of wisdom Christianity and for Deborah, Bill and myself who will facilitate the exploration.