"We have all been flooded by posts on social media telling us to pray for
Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other areas hit by disaster. I was surprised
by the ones I got from secular and liberal acquaintances and friends,
who suddenly seemed to believe that it was worth praying, or, at least
worth posting about prayer on Facebook. When disaster strikes, it often
appears as if everyone starts to believe in the power of prayer. Not
only do the words 'God bless you' slide so easily off the tongue, they
also sound more impacting than 'I'm thinking of you'. It is nice to
think, even if it is just a fantasy, that there might be a being who
could just fix it all.
"Not to my surprise, a few articles have begun to appear on social media
criticizing the glibness with which we offer our prayers. They complain
that prayer is an excuse not to act . . . Certainly, these responses hit at some basic truth. Prayer should not be
a way out of acting, especially if we feel called to act.
"In fact, Catholics speak of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. . . . The Church teaches the importance of prayer, fasting, penance, and
almsgiving with the knowledge that without these three things working
together, the words 'I'll pray for you' run the risk of becoming the
intentionless words of well-wishers.
"However, prayer exists as more than a prelude to almsgiving. I would
argue that prayer is itself an action. Prayer certainly affects the
individual. It can lead to real change in the world, and it prevents us
from having the hubris to believe that we alone can fix all our own
problems."
In a recent commentary, writer
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