By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami
MIAMI | Pleas for love and money; prayers for family and friends, especially their health and conversion; even the odd �deliver me from witchcraft�: For the last five years, the requests have been posted on the archdiocesan website, more than 5,000 in all, averaging at least three a day.
Most are heart-rending: relatives diagnosed with cancer; sons and daughters who have lost their way; loved ones facing prison; husbands who have strayed; marriages that are breaking; jobs that are desperately needed. Some seek healing from depression and thoughts of suicide, others relief from a variety of physical pains and ailments. A few beg for a lottery jackpot.
Every day, the requests are reviewed and Ok�d for posting by the staff of the Communications Office. Petitioners can request privacy, in which case all that appears on the website are the person�s name or initials and a note: �User asked to keep request private.�
Whether the posting is private or public, whether it appears on the website or not, the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary and Miami�s Discalced Carmelite Friars receive every single request, and include it in their daily prayers.
�We pray for these requests during our daily liturgies, rosaries and Chaplets of Mercy, asking the Lord to please pour forth his graces upon each person and situation,� said Sister Christine Hernandez of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts. �We feel that one of the most powerful ministries that we can fulfill is to pray for the Lord�s people.�
Yes, they pray even for those who seek protection from witchcraft and demons.
�We simply pray for the person and/or situation, asking the Lord to shed His light and love in their hearts,� Sister Hernandez said.
And not only do the sisters in Miami pray, but so do all the Servants of the Pierced Hearts � 32 sisters, three novices, three pre-postulants and six candidates scattered across five convents in Miami, two in Illinois, one in Orlando and another in Rome.
Does this constant petitioning of God � for every need, great and small � seem just a bit selfish?
Not according to the Catechism: �The vocabulary of supplication in the New Testament is rich in shades of meaning: ask, beseech, plead, invoke, entreat, cry out, even �struggle in prayer.� Its most usual form, because the most spontaneous, is petition: by prayer of petition we express awareness of our relationship with God. We are creatures who are not our own beginning, not the masters of adversity, not our own last end. We are sinners who as Christians know that we have turned away from our Father. Our petition is already a turning back to him.� (No. 2629)
We only err when we think of prayer �as trying to change God�s mind,� Archbishop Thomas Wenski says. On more than one occasion, he has compared prayer to �a man on a boat, trying to bring it to the dock. As he approaches the dock or pier, he throws out a line so that a helper on the dock can tie it to a piling. He then pulls on the line � in doing so, the dock doesn�t come to him; rather in pulling on the line, he moves the boat towards to dock.
�Prayer isn�t pulling God towards us; it is pulling ourselves towards God � and if the waters are choppy, we�ve got to pull harder on the line. The purpose of prayer is not to change God�s mind, but to change our minds, to change our hearts, our attitudes � and to bring them closer to God�s heart and to God�s way of thinking� So we�ve got to pull ourselves towards God � with persistence and with confidence. Which is why prayer is hard work, and why it requires no little exertion � and persistence.�
So keep your prayers coming, South Florida � and everywhere else in the world where the prayer requests originate. And don�t forget to give thanks when they are answered.
�Yes, people will occasionally write back in thanksgiving and even send us an update to the particular situation,� Sister Hernandez said. �It is always a blessing to witness how the Lord loves each and every one of us. God tells us in Matthew 11:28, �Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.��
Most are heart-rending: relatives diagnosed with cancer; sons and daughters who have lost their way; loved ones facing prison; husbands who have strayed; marriages that are breaking; jobs that are desperately needed. Some seek healing from depression and thoughts of suicide, others relief from a variety of physical pains and ailments. A few beg for a lottery jackpot.
Every day, the requests are reviewed and Ok�d for posting by the staff of the Communications Office. Petitioners can request privacy, in which case all that appears on the website are the person�s name or initials and a note: �User asked to keep request private.�
Those who reveal too much � by mentioning their or the other person�s full name � are asked to re-submit their petition with less information, or request to keep it private.
Whether the posting is private or public, whether it appears on the website or not, the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary and Miami�s Discalced Carmelite Friars receive every single request, and include it in their daily prayers.
�We pray for these requests during our daily liturgies, rosaries and Chaplets of Mercy, asking the Lord to please pour forth his graces upon each person and situation,� said Sister Christine Hernandez of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts. �We feel that one of the most powerful ministries that we can fulfill is to pray for the Lord�s people.�
Yes, they pray even for those who seek protection from witchcraft and demons.
�We simply pray for the person and/or situation, asking the Lord to shed His light and love in their hearts,� Sister Hernandez said.
And not only do the sisters in Miami pray, but so do all the Servants of the Pierced Hearts � 32 sisters, three novices, three pre-postulants and six candidates scattered across five convents in Miami, two in Illinois, one in Orlando and another in Rome.
Does this constant petitioning of God � for every need, great and small � seem just a bit selfish?
Not according to the Catechism: �The vocabulary of supplication in the New Testament is rich in shades of meaning: ask, beseech, plead, invoke, entreat, cry out, even �struggle in prayer.� Its most usual form, because the most spontaneous, is petition: by prayer of petition we express awareness of our relationship with God. We are creatures who are not our own beginning, not the masters of adversity, not our own last end. We are sinners who as Christians know that we have turned away from our Father. Our petition is already a turning back to him.� (No. 2629)
We only err when we think of prayer �as trying to change God�s mind,� Archbishop Thomas Wenski says. On more than one occasion, he has compared prayer to �a man on a boat, trying to bring it to the dock. As he approaches the dock or pier, he throws out a line so that a helper on the dock can tie it to a piling. He then pulls on the line � in doing so, the dock doesn�t come to him; rather in pulling on the line, he moves the boat towards to dock.
�Prayer isn�t pulling God towards us; it is pulling ourselves towards God � and if the waters are choppy, we�ve got to pull harder on the line. The purpose of prayer is not to change God�s mind, but to change our minds, to change our hearts, our attitudes � and to bring them closer to God�s heart and to God�s way of thinking� So we�ve got to pull ourselves towards God � with persistence and with confidence. Which is why prayer is hard work, and why it requires no little exertion � and persistence.�
So keep your prayers coming, South Florida � and everywhere else in the world where the prayer requests originate. And don�t forget to give thanks when they are answered.
�Yes, people will occasionally write back in thanksgiving and even send us an update to the particular situation,� Sister Hernandez said. �It is always a blessing to witness how the Lord loves each and every one of us. God tells us in Matthew 11:28, �Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.��
