PRAYING WITH THE POPE
WHO
cares?
Eddy Bermingham SJ welcomes the different and difficult questions that the pope’s forthcoming prayer intentions pose.
I
n May, our confirmation candidates at St Anselm in Southall participated in a series of workshops in which a variety of church agencies such as Jesuit Missions and CAFOD showed the caring face of the Church. Our parish pastoral coordinator and I had been talking for two years about the importance of letting our candidates know that the Church cared about the same issues as many of them did. However, it took the energy of a teenager (Karen) to make these workshops happen. In the coming months we are invited to ‘care about’ specific intentions and, led by the Spirit, to go beyond ‘caring about’ to ‘caring for’ those singled out by these intentions. I feel challenged by the November and January intentions to ponder whether I ‘care about’ the Church. Do I really believe it matters what kind of a Church we are? Does it matter to the world that we are a Church characterised by a diversity of charisms unified in mission in the person of the pope? These are not rhetorical questions for me. I could comfortably inhabit my own little corner of the Church, without caring about, much less caring for, parts of the Church that are not to my taste. As I reflect on the intentions for December and February, a different set of questions present themselves. Faced with an individual who has to cope with
the disadvantages imposed on them because of their disability, I can respond positively. Equally, I find I am at ease in the presence of someone who is terminally ill and therefore able to care for them. However, it can be a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Do I care enough about changing the social attitudes that lead persons with disabilities or who are terminally ill to be disadvantaged in our society?
These four months invite me to allow the Spirit to grow in me a caring disposition. I suppose I see that one of the most important things about praying with the pope for his intentions each month is that I allow the Spirit to work in me in particular ways to develop a certain disposition. These four months invite me to allow the Spirit to grow in me a caring disposition (both caring about and caring for). Others have called this ‘having the heart of Jesus’. Perhaps we might see this growth as our learning to care as God cares. In November, when we pray for the pope and his mission to tend ‘his flock’, let us pray that we, too, care for the needs of ‘the flock’ that God has chosen to give to each one of us.
INTENTIONS FOR THIS PERIOD NOVEMBER For the pope We pray for the Holy Father; as he fulfils his mission, may he continue to accompany the flock entrusted to him, with the help of the Holy Spirit. DECEMBER For persons with disabilities We pray that people living with disabilities may be at the centre of attention in society, and that institutions may offer inclusive programmes which value their active participation. JANUARY For the gift of diversity in the Church Let us pray that the Spirit helps us recognise the gift of different charisms within the Christian community, and to discover the richness of different ritual traditions in the heart of the Catholic Church. FEBRUARY For the terminally ill Let us pray that the sick who are in the final stages of life, and their families, receive the necessary medical and human care and accompaniment. In December, let us pray that those who are differently abled may be empowered to play their rightful role in society; moreover, that we may be freed from every attitude that disables another person. Celebrating the diversity within our Church, for which we pray in January, can give the world a glimpse of the awesome nature of our God, in the full and certain knowledge that no matter how diverse we become we will never exhaust the nature of God. Finally, in February, as we pray for the terminally ill let us also pray that we become people who can care for and graciously accompany those who are dying.
