The second "Meeting of Bishops President of Episcopal Conferences and Presidents of Caritas in Africa" (Dakar, Senegal) was opened this morning with Mass presided by Cardinal Tagle. Here are some notes from his homily.
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All today's readings (1 Timothy 2:1-8 & Luke 7:1-10) speak about prayer. Intercessory prayer. Praying for one another.
We need to realize we are interconnected, even before the label globalization or networking become famous. We are one humanity. What happens in one part of the world affects the others and, if for good or for ill, we affect one another, imagine the power of praying for one another!
When one person connects with God, the rest of humanity and creation also goes to God.
In the first reading we are asked to pray for everyone, for those in authority, for kings and queens. As we get involved in works of service, let us accompany our work with prayer.
Most of us had the experience of, having done what is humanly possible, all the negotiations and all the diplomatic skills have been used, we then still say "we pray to the Lord...!"
The second thing is: Jesus invites us to pray with "faith". Very often we pray with memorized prayers. We get used to repeat them without having anymore that investment of the heart which the centurion had. The centurion, who was an outsider, believed in the power of Jesus: "just say a word"... "I believe in the power of your Word"! May our prayer be a prayer of faith. As we pray together and for one another, let us do it with faith.
Finally, St Paul invites us to pray for those in authority. The centurion addresses Jesus as Lord. One of the most subversive things Christianity brought into the world is the proclamation that Jesus is Lord. This means telling those in authority "you are not the Lord". It is really surprising that human authorities still tolerate the Church, a Church that says "Jesus is Lord. You are not the one. We do not pray to you, we pray to the real Lord and we pray for you to the real Lord".
How much we need to pray now for those who are in authority...! For those who think they are the Lord... but for us there is only one intercessor: Jesus.
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(He then invited us to keep in our prayers the Rohingya people and the visit of Pope Francis both to Myanmar and Bangladesh in November)
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