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<\/a><\/p>\nAs he often does, Pope Francis is doing something we all know is right to do, but we forget. He is bringing leaders of two peoples locked in conflict, who have a painful past together, to pray with him, just pray. It is the perfect thing for a Pope to do, and it is an example for us to follow.<\/p>\n
When we talk we can do a lot of good sometimes. When we pray we don\u2019t do anything. We stop doing. Instead we meet one another in the Heart of God. We bring ourselves, and our difficulties before Him in good will and open-ness of heart. What is there to argue about then?<\/p>\n
It is a truth I often point out to my daughters, that God will not force solutions on us. \u201cRemember all the times you brought broken toys for me to fix? I couldn\u2019t fix them if you wouldn\u2019t give them to me. God can work with your problem when you trust Him with it and let go.\u201d<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know what God will do but we do know that God responds to prayer, especially humble, open- hearted prayer, and we know it pleases Him when people set aside their differences and come together to seek His will, willing to be changed by Him.<\/p>\n
Authentic prayer always brings out the best \u00a0in people. It brings them to recognize their own littleness and broken-ness before God, Who is all love, at once perfectly just, full of mercy, and utterly mysterious- thus requiring our open-ness and willingness, for Him to reveal Himself to us. This is when we can come to know the power of His transforming love.<\/p>\n
What a perfect day Our Holy Father has chosen for this prayer session, the day of Pentecost, historically the celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses, and also the birthday of the Church, filled with the Fire of the Holy Spirit on that promised day. For all present, the grace of Pentecost, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, undid \u00a0the language barrier, the curse of Babylon. When humanity worked together with their own plans and forgot God, they found they could no longer communicate or work together. In the Book of Acts, \u00a0in the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples at Pentecost, we find that now, when the praises of God are being proclaimed by God\u2019s people, they understand one another in the Spirit, no matter what language they speak.<\/p>\n
The Law is given, the New Covenant springs to life. The law is love of God and love of neighbor, the new Covenant is with God’s newborn Church. Those painfully divided and hopelessly entangled coming to God in prayer fulfills the first and the second commandments, and the place is well chosen, the home of the Pope at the center of the Universal Church, a symbolic prayer in itself.<\/p>\n
God can hardly help Himself, I think. Surely He will bless this gathering and these prayers of His children who don’t want to fight anymore and don’t know what to do to stop.<\/p>\n
How can we put this example into practice in our lives? I think it is of special relevance in families. There is a lot of pain and love in families. There are always issues that need to be brought to the light of the Holy Spirit for forgiveness and unraveling. We don\u2019t always know what to do. Sometimes we have talked and talked or we have tried not talking. We have tried forgetting, avoiding each other, pretending nothing happened. What if we came together in honest prayer and let God begin the healing in His own way?<\/p>\n
What if our first reaction, when we had a conflict with someone, was to pray about it with him?<\/p>\n
When my first husband, Blaze, wanted to move back to his native Wisconsin, I knew it was \u00a0fair since he had been in Texas with me so long. However, I could not help my grief, and he was upset that I was upset. Our talking about it was not doing any good. We were advised by my friend, Beth, to pray about it. Our prayer was to be, \u201cIf we are supposed to move to Milwaukee, give Shawn peace about going. If we are to stay in Texas, give Blaze peace about staying.\u201d He got peace about staying and we stayed. It was the right thing.<\/p>\n
An astounding occasion in our family was of an ex wife and the new girl friend praying a rosary together with me during a difficult period between us all. I could hardly believe it was happening! We probably won\u2019t even know just how powerful that prayer was until Heaven shows us. But I can tell you that those women are close friends today, and I am close to them both and we all hang out and pray and study together years later. You never know what God will do!<\/p>\n
Once my dad wanted to sit down on the couch with me and have us look into each other\u2019s eyes for nine silent minutes. (Yes, my dad is a little eccentric. I know you are so surprised, Reader.) So we turned off the stereo and we sat on the couch and we looked at each other right in the eyes in silence. It was something I will never forget. It was bonding. It was freeing. It was beautiful. After the first awkward, anxious moments of wanting to laugh or run away or cry were over, my heart felt such peace and quiet and love.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you think?\u201d my dad asked when the \u00a0long beep of the kitchen timer let us know our nine minutes were up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I saw you the way God sees you!\u201d<\/p>\n
My dad just smiled.<\/p>\n
At this writing, I don\u2019t know how the \u201cintense prayer session\u201d between Mr. Peres, Mr. Abbas, our Pope Francis, Patriarch Bartholemew, the Rabbis and Imams will go. But from the little I\u2019ve seen, in my own life, I am sure God will respond. Let\u2019s join these men, and continue to join them. Better yet, let\u2019s imitate them. Let\u2019s go together and look into the eyes of Our Father without words or agendas of our own. Maybe we will finally see each other, and maybe even see God.<\/p>\n
\u201cBehold, I make all things new.\u201d (Revelations 21:5)<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As he often does, Pope Francis is doing something we all know is right to do, but we forget. He is bringing leaders of two peoples locked in conflict, who have a painful past together, to pray with him, just pray. It is the perfect thing for a Pope to do, and it is… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":178164,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/living-praying-novena\/","url_meta":{"origin":48426,"position":0},"title":"Living and Praying a Novena","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"December 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 A novena can be a special time between God and the praying soul, a pilgrimage of transformation and insight, as well as a way of \u201cstorming heaven,\u201d with a petition. \u00a0A novena prayed with faith is also a time of expectant waiting. Whatever I am praying for,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo Shawn Chapman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_0365-e1448574829459-197x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132866,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/lectio-lovers-praying-lectio-divina-couple\/","url_meta":{"origin":48426,"position":1},"title":"Lectio for Lovers: Praying Lectio Divina as a Couple","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"July 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In silent open-ness to God, we set aside our own agendas and open ourselves to God\u2019s agenda, which is always love, love, and more love. What could be better than that? Lectio Divina (Holy Reading) \u00a0is an ancient Christian way to pray the Scriptures. It involves reading a passage of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo Shawn Chapman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/IMG_1153-e1438031561906-467x700.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":966959,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/blessed-isidore-bakanja-martyr-of-the-brown-scapular\/","url_meta":{"origin":48426,"position":2},"title":"Blessed Isidore Bakanja – Martyr of the Brown Scapular","author":"Deacon Guadalupe Rodriguez","date":"June 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Blessed Isidore Bakanja is the first martyr of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel whose feast we celebrate on Monday, July 16th. \u00a0Isidore Bakanja was a young black teenage martyr from the Boangi tribe in Zaire, Africa with plenty of zeal, valor, and faith for the gospel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Column"","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/image1-116x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1451,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/the-holy-fathers-intentions-for-june\/","url_meta":{"origin":48426,"position":3},"title":"The Holy Father’s Intentions for June","author":"Brandon Kraft","date":"June 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Each month, the Pope asks the Catholic world to join him in a common prayer. This month, we pray that priests, united to the Heart of Christ, may always be true witnesses of the caring and merciful love of God. For our missionaries, we pray that the Holy Spirit may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":529565,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/thanksgiving-year-long\/","url_meta":{"origin":48426,"position":4},"title":"Thanksgiving All Year Long","author":"Deacon Guadalupe Rodriguez","date":"November 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanksgiving is one of the biggest national holidays that our country celebrates. Everything comes to a standstill while families gather together around a meal to thank God for all the many blessings they have received throughout the year. Thanksgiving does not need to be a one-time, once a year event\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Column"","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/image22-550x342.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/image22-550x342.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/image22-550x342.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":309767,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/10\/four-horsemen-apocalypse\/","url_meta":{"origin":48426,"position":5},"title":"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse","author":"Deacon Guadalupe Rodriguez","date":"October 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On October 2, 2016 Pope Francis commented about the upcoming U.S. presidential election, \"Study the proposals well, pray and choose in conscience.\u201d \u00a0While I was praying and thinking about the above comment the four horsemen of the Book of Revelation came to mind several times. 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<\/a><\/p>\n