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Dear Friends:
As you may have heard, Pope Benedict XVI has suggested that Catholics throughout the entire world consider this coming Sunday, July 23, 2006, as a special Day of Penance and Prayer for Peace in the Middle East. The recent spiral of violence and destruction in that part of the world has become a tragedy of international scope and a profound concern for all of us.
In the absence of the Archbishop I bring this request of the Holy Father to your attention, fully recognizing that plans for the weekend liturgies and homilies are already in place for virtually all of our parishes, but also cognizant of the fact that the terrible suffering of so many people in Lebanon and Israel, mirroring the desperate heartaches of Iraq in recent years, has become a constant focus for everyone. Like the Lord in this week’s Gospel, our hearts go out to those who are trapped in the terror of that dreadful situation, for they are indeed like “sheep without a shepherd.”
After consultation with our Office for Prayer, Worship, and Evangelization, I recommend that you consider using the prayers from the Mass for Peace and Justice (#22) as found in the special section of the Sacramentary for Various Needs and Occasions.
I also ask that some special petitions for this intention be included in the General Intercessions at all parish Masses this weekend. Toward that end I include the actual words of the Holy Father taken from his request, namely:
“…that prayers will be raised to the Lord for an immediate cease-fire between the sides, for humanitarian corridors to be opened in order to bring help to the suffering peoples, and for reasonable and responsible negotiations to begin to put an end to the objective situations of injustice that exist in that region.”
Thank you for your efforts to bring this tragic situation to the attention and prayer of all who gather for this weekend’s Eucharist.
Bishop Richard J. Sklba
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| | Article created: 7/21/2006 |
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