Editorial

Let’s offer our prayers, resources to those around the world in need

No matter how you follow the news these days—be it TV, radio, newspaper, the Internet and various forms of social media—if you’re a person of faith, your prayer list is growing.

We need only look to the chaos and the uncertain present and future in Afghanistan, a devastating earthquake and tropical storm in Haiti, more hurricanes and tropical storms affecting the U.S. and other countries, and unprecedented flooding in Tennessee to help us understand so many in our nation and around the world need our prayers.

Add the ongoing concern about COVID-19 and its expanding delta variant, the uncertainty of how to best address this illness, and the challenge of how it is impacting segments of society—including our children and their schools—and you get the sense that our prayer list is never-ending.

Just thinking about the state of today’s world can make us weary. But our faith calls us to look at each situation, reflect on it, and respond with the help of grace in the way God asks his disciples to respond.

Prayer is a gift we can easily offer to our brothers and sisters in need. In fact, it is the first gift we should offer as we learn of tragedies—be they near or far. It is also among the first practices we pass on to our children, and there is nothing more powerful than praying as a family in times of need.

As we face these unsettling times, why not offer a family rosary for those facing tragic circumstances? As Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, known as “The Rosary Priest,” said often, “The family that prays together stays together.” Offering special prayers throughout the day—including at bedtime—is a beautiful gift which brings family closer.

Catholics are also among the most generous when it comes to sharing their resources, including with our universal family. Simply put, it is another way we respond as disciples of Jesus.

Be it a hurricane, earthquake, tornado or other natural disaster, the Catholic Church and its members always step to the forefront to assist those in need.

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), asked bishops across the country to take up a voluntary collection to help Haiti recover from its recent pair of natural disasters.

Parishes in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis were encouraged to take up a collection the weekend of Aug. 21-22. Funds collected were to be remitted to Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the international relief agency of the Church in the U.S. Parishioners may also go to www.CRS.org to make an online donation.

Saying that Haitians are likely to experience continuing hardships from an Aug. 14 earthquake and a tropical storm that swept through the ravaged southwestern part of the country days later, Archbishop Gomez said money collected will be funneled to the Bishops Emergency Disaster Fund. It will be used to support the pastoral and reconstruction needs of the Church in Haiti as well as efforts of CRS and possibly Catholic Charities USA.

The USCCB said in a news release on Aug. 20 that if the money collected cannot be distributed in Haiti, funding will be used for other emergency relief where it is needed most as determined by the bishops’ Committee on National Collections.

Archbishop Gomez acknowledged in the letter that many U.S. dioceses continue to feel the financial pinch of the COVID-19 pandemic, but recognized that parishioners are generous and harbor deep care for people in need around the globe.

Generosity has always been a staple of the Church—including here in central and southern Indiana—when it comes to helping our suffering brothers and sisters.

Through our prayers and our resources, may we assist those in Haiti who are in desperate need.

And as a community of faith, may our prayers bring hope and healing to those in Afghanistan and other parts of the world—including the U.S.—who are suffering through uncertainty.

—Mike Krokos