'Armed with prayers'

By Linda Reeves - The Florida Catholic Palm Beach

PLANTATION | The bells tolled at St. Gregory the Great in Plantation as the parish’s clergy, wearing purple, ivory and white liturgical copes and armed with prayers, processed to the altar to lead a night of spiritual warfare.

“This evening, we are going to hound heaven with our prayers,” said Father Michael Davis, pastor of St. Gregory, as he welcomed the prayer warriors gathered who Feb. 18, 2022 for the parish’s Prayer Service for World Peace.

Father Davis was accompanied by his parochial vicars, Father Gustavo Barros, Father Eliseus Ezeuchenne and Jesuit Father Khiet Pham, and Deacon Bill Horton.

The pews were filled with families, students and teachers from St. Gregory the Great School, seniors, young adults, groups and individuals.

“I am here to pray for peace with all that is going on in the world,” said St. Gregory parishioner Etelle Bentley moments before the service began. “Maybe, with all of our prayers, we can make a difference. Maybe with our prayer something good will come out of this service tonight. Prayer is powerful.”

Father Davis organized the prayer service because of the multitude of problems going on in a troubled world, especially the current tensions with Russia and its threatened invasion of Ukraine.

“The world might be on the brink of war,” said Father Davis in his opening. “We are here to pray. We are here to do what Catholics do.”

The evening included Liturgy of the Word, music, meditational songs, reflections and a litany for peace.

In his talk, Father Davis presented an encouraging message of hope, assuring those present that turning to God was the key to a future world of peace and harmony.

“We are people who love peace, and we don’t want war.” he said. “People of faith have a tremendous resource in their spiritual arsenal,” he added, referring to prayer.

One highlight of the evening was when Ella Lurig, 7, and Will Govin, 8, of St. Gregory the Great School, presented a peace banner before the altar. Father Davis greeted and thanked the youngsters and asked them to say a few words. Neither one was shy, and both enjoyed the attention and the flashes from the cameras that went up.

The banner was decorated with hundreds of brightly painted hands in a rainbow of colors. The words Give Peace a Chance accompanied the artwork.

​Cate Govin, a sixth grader, and Jacob Goodson, a seventh grader, stepped to the altar and took turns reading short essays they had composed centered on the meaning of peace and its importance to them.

The articles were part of social justice classroom lessons that teacher Mary Govin organized. Mary is the mother of Cate and Will. She stood near the altar as the Cate and Jacob spoke elegantly from the pulpit, capturing the audience with their words.

“I would describe peace as a state of tranquility and calmness where everyone coexists in harmony,” said Jacob. “There are many people in our world who fight for unity and harmony to achieve peace. Unfortunately, there are others who cause mayhem and havoc to harm the peace that was fought hard for. We need peace because it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If we are able to have peace, then we are living our lives in abundance. If not, we are out of touch with God and his teachings.”

Cate cited words from Mother Teresa in her essay. “Mother Teresa’s words focus on what builds peace and what breaks it down. She is telling us that to embrace peace, we must put down the guns and bombs because all that is doing is saying yes to violence, war and bloodshed, which we should be saying no to. If we want peace, we accept love and compassion,” she said.

Father Davis is encouraging all to lift up prayers at this time when the world is experiencing the unsettling possibility of war and everyone is faced with a multitude of challenges: a still raging pandemic, unemployment, inflation, immigration issues and health scares. Future generations will read history books filled with stories about the chaos of this era and the people struggling to make sense of it and find peace. 

“Turning to the God of heaven and earth in intercessory prayer is exactly what we have been trained to do, as followers of the Lord Jesus,” said Father Davis. “We wish that all people of good would do similarly. We long for peace, a sustained peace, among all peoples of the world.”

David Santos, a young adult and parishioner of St. John XXIII in Miramar, arrived early to grab a seat in a front pew.

“Prayer is powerful,” said Santos. “Prayer is a weapon against evil. Prayer is the most powerful weapon in the world to be used in times of troubles. Prayer has made a big difference in my life.”