We pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and for the common good, especially caring for the poor and those who have lost their jobs. – Pope Francis
Each month the Church is invited to pray with Pope Francis for a particular intention. I think it is important that we as a parish community consciously and deliberately unite ourselves in prayer with him as an acknowledgement that we belong to a Church which is bigger than just Craighall Park, are part of a world bigger than just South Africa. This is why you may have noticed that the last prayer of our Sunday intercessions is always the monthly prayer intention of Pope Francis. Fr Chris Chatteris, whose article you can read on the last page, is the national director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer network and his work is to promote prayer with Pope Francis.
There is also something psychologically powerful in knowing that we are not praying alone but that we are praying with more than one billion other Catholics from around the world. We don’t often reflect on the fact that we are the ROMAN Catholic Church, and that it is the Bishop of Rome that is pastor of us all. And so, my invitation to you is this: take this prayer intention and maybe spend some time reflecting on it. Ask yourself why Pope Francis selected this as his prayer intention for this month. What does he see in the world that makes him concerned about political leaders who may not be serving their people? Do we have poor and unemployed people in our parish or neighbourhood? Does this prayer encourage to us do something about our own context?
One of the parish initiatives I was delighted to hear about was the food parcels for the poor which everyone in the parish contributes to. Food is one of those things that we need simply to live, and we hope that our act of service not only brings them physical life but also reaffirms their human dignity. We also collect chocolate eggs at Easter and Christmas cake in Advent and share those with the poor. Now we are a small parish but, in the future, we may grow enough to think about starting a branch of the Society of St Vincent de Paul to work alongside the Catholic Women’s league in reaching out in service to those on the margins of our Society.
This leads me to those words in the prayer intention about “integral human development”. When we look at individuals who are in need, we cannot only feed their bellies. We need to look at the broader context and see what they need to develop fully as human beings and to reach their potential. We look at spiritual, mental, and emotional development, we look at what promotes human dignity.
I am guilty of putting my head down and power walking past homeless guys on the street, or sheltering behind sunglasses and tinted windows at robots when someone comes up to ask for money. I wonder what I am afraid of. Is it because I don’t want to give money while wondering if it is going to be used for drugs or alcohol? Is it because I am afraid that slowing down or opening my car window makes me an easier target for crime? These are all real, valid concerns, but still, I want to do better. I want to do something that will make them feel that they have been seen and heard as a unique individual, and not just a problem or potential criminal. I think we all have that desire, and each of us will have to find the way that suits us.
