Well, we continue to hope for rain. I would hope that we are ALL also
praying. It is interesting that many of
you have been asking me, usually on your way out of church on Sunday, to pray
for rain. I HAVE BEEN! Every day we have prayed for rain in the
petitions and at the foot of the altar after Mass. I have also included a special petition in my
morning and evening prayers.
I’m certain that many of you have been
praying for rain in the course of your days as well. I want to ask a few questions however. How many have been making sacrifices or doing
acts of penance for this intention? How
many rosaries have been said for this intention? How many communions, that is, how many times
have some taken the opportunity to go to a weekday Mass and have offered the
spiritual graces of communion received for this intention? These are practices which really must be a
part of the life of the committed Christian!
Why is it that these are such important
practices? Because they emphasize the
understanding that, as we hear in the Eucharistic prayer, “All good gifts come
from You, O Lord.” In acts of penance
and sacrifice we put a real part of ourselves into the request that we are
making. It was a real moment of grace
when I discovered that one of our families has offered five Masses (they’ll be
coming up in these succeeding five weeks) for the intention of rain. It was a particularly strong reminder to me
when on the very day this sacrifice was made we received a good dose of rain.
We need to be reminded however that the
single greatest, the most perfect prayer that we can offer, is the holy
sacrifice of the Mass. This is because,
in the Mass, we unite our intentions to the eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ
Who takes our imperfect efforts and petitions and purifies them in His own Body
and Blood. For this reason, offering an
intention (often referred to as “buying a Mass”) is the most powerful way in
which we make a petition to God or offer thanksgiving for blessings received.
It is a mystery to me then why I don’t,
and haven’t, seen a real uptick in numbers at daily Mass. A “farmer’s Mass” is offered just about every
Wednesday night at 8:00 pm. In times
like these it would be most wonderful, even important, to see many more people
in attendance especially as we pray for this very important – even desperate –
intention.
The next most powerful prayer is the
rosary. I have been told many times
about families who had been in the practice of praying the rosary together at
night. Sadly, this is usually related to
me by adult children talking about the discipline practiced and lead by a now
deceased parent. It would certainly seem
that in times like these this is a practice that really ought to be revived.
Finally, I have for some time sought to
revive the practice of ember days and
rogation days. As our Cashton Mayor reminded us at the
dedication of the wind farm this past Wednesday, even with all of the industry
that is coming into our area, we are still primarily a farming community. Indeed, even the industry that is found in
our communities is primarily focused on supporting the farming enterprise. Thus, these essentially rural devotions are
particularly relevant and important.
This column is not intended to be a rebuke
to anyone, nor is it Father “ranting”. It is, rather, intended to raise our awareness
and encourage the revival of practices which are at once practical and
essential for the spiritual life. May
God grant us sufficient rain for a good and bountiful harvest, so that in
having attended to our earthly needs we may be more free to attend to those
concerns which lead us into everlasting life.
