leela_ramdeen@hotmail.com

www.rcsocialjusticett.org

The need for prayer in T&T

• Day of prayer, fasting and alms-giving.
• Guarding against mechanical prayer.
• Solidarity with others requires prayer and action.

Tomorrow the Catholic Church in T&T will observe a Day of Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving on the theme: “Repentance, Reconciliation and Solidarity.” It is hoped that parishes, schools, offices, homes and individuals will observe the day. “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of” (Alfred, Lord Tennyson).

The media reported Archbishop Edward Gilbert as saying that “prayer is an effective tool to address the current crime situation as it lifts up the good people of this nation who make up the great majority of citizens... touches an individual’s heart and forces people to look at the values of God... All religious traditions agree that prayer is a significant factor in deepening values in people’s lives and hopefully touching lives of people involved in crime to change perspective.”

Lent is a period in the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar that is specifically devoted to prayer, fasting and alms-giving. As we prepare for the passion, death and resurrection of Christ at Easter, we should use this time for serious reflection, self-examination, soul searching, repentance and reconciliation.

This is a time for penance, conversion and spiritual renewal; a time to turn away from sin and to turn back to God. How awesome it is that God loves us unconditionally. God truly is love.

And while we pray during Lent for God to heal the world and heal our land, we pray also for physical and spiritual healing for ourselves; we pray for God’s guidance, eg to determine what our priorities should be in life.

This does not mean that we should not be living our faith throughout the year. However, during the Lenten period we have an opportunity to focus our attention on ways in which we can change our lifestyles and grow as children of God—to become more like Jesus who suffered, died and rose for our salvation.

He came so that we may have life and have it more abundantly. However, there are many in T&T whose lives are in tatters because of crime, poverty, social exclusion etc. Lent provides us with an opportunity to stand in solidarity with our “neighbour.” We do not journey through life alone but in community with others who have also been created by God.  

Solidarity is a key social justice principle. The fact that we are one human family means that there is a bond that exists between us. We live in an interdependent country/ world. If we are to demonstrate our love for God and for our neighbour, then we have to become our brother’s and sister’s keepers. We cannot afford to be armchair Christians as our nation is falling apart around us. Prayer and action must go together.

The Catholic Catechism states that “prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” Too often today individuals pray for instant miracles in their lives and do not pray with resignation to God’s will.

When we pray with devotion, humility and perseverance, we unite ourselves to God. How many of us pray mainly when we are in adversity, or when we need God’s graces, or when we petition Him for material things, but we forget to thank Him for His gifts?

Prayer is vital to our relationship with God, it’s a way of communicating with God. The Bible cites many instances when Jesus himself prayed, eg at his baptism, at the beginning of his ministry, before his transfiguration, in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross. His disciples also asked him to teach them how to pray.  

Prayer helps to lift us out of the putrid pool of chaos that surrounds us and allows our light and love to shine once more; we will then radiate love and free ourselves from hatred, vengeance, gossip, selfishness, materialism, jealousy, envy, bitterness etc.

Prayer helps us to open our minds and hearts to God, to be more discerning about the state of our nation and about what God requires of us if we are to participate fully in society. Prayer motivates us to take appropriate action to address the ills of our society. There are different ways of praying, eg vocal prayer, meditation and contemplative prayer. The late Pope John Paul II said: “Pray any way you like, so long as you do pray.”

The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). We can do so individually or in groups. But we must guard against what the late Pope John Paul II called “mechanical prayer.” Saint Louis de Montfort stressed the need for “attention, focus and reverence” as one prays the rosary and “the necessity of fighting distractions.”

Prayer helps us to develop our spirituality, thus enabling us to rediscover our potential as children of God. We are then empowered to live as God wants us to live and to make the right decisions in our lives.

When we grow spiritually, we can show our love for God and neighbour by standing in solidarity with the poor, the disabled, the elderly, the sick, the homeless, street children, the socially excluded and so on.

We should pray for God’s grace to undertake our responsibilities effectively and to “serve” humanity selflessly. Aparna Jacob rightly says that “seva/service is our innate nature. Not exercising it will cause our spiritual muscles to atrophy. If we become indifferent to doing good, our capacity to do good will diminish.”

Tomorrow we are asked to focus also on “alms-giving” which, the Catholic Encyclopedia states, adds “special efficacy” to prayer. Almsgiving should be “discreet, humble and abundant.” Alms-giving is more than giving charity, eg money to the needy. It involves visiting the sick, the lonely, becoming advocates for the oppressed etc.

The stewardship programme in the archdiocese reminds us of the need for us to share our time, talent and treasure with others to promote the common good. We should strive to live lives that are inspired by love and service to humanity and be good stewards of all God’s creation.  

The Day of Prayer also involves fasting. Fasting is part of the tradition of the Catholic Church—as a form of penance and to promote spiritual rebirth. Fasting reminds us of our need for God. It’s a powerful spiritual discipline that involves more than giving up, eg, meat, chocolate etc during Lent. Try giving up gossiping, corrupt practices, breaches of the law etc.

St John Chrysostom saw fasting as a kind of medicine for our soul. During Lent we remember that before he entered into his public ministry, Jesus went into the desert, fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, and rejected Satan’s temptations (Matthew 4:1-2). 

Don’t underestimate the power of prayer. Let us pray and reconcile ourselves with God and with each other as we prepare for Easter.

n Leela Ramdeen is a lawyer

and education consultant