The Triumph of the Heart Through Prayer

I am grieving. I did not know anyone who was injured in the school shootings of Minneapolis and Evergreen, nor did I know of Charlie Kirk before I heard of his assassination. I do not know anyone who has been injured or killed in Ukraine or Gaza or any other war-torn area of our world. I did not know any of the children who drowned in the Guadalupe River flood, or the floods in Pakistan, or the typhoons in the Philippines. So I am not grieving from the loss of a personal relationship. Nevertheless, I feel somewhat sad, tired and overwhelmed by all this bad news about which I feel powerless. 

I am reminded of what some wise mystics have said: Whenever a human being suffers, the whole human race is affected by the injury. When one person’s dignity is violated, all of us are diminished.

Any one of the above occurrences could make me sad, but as they are cascading one after another, and some continuously, I feel like I’m wandering through the stages of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance (cf. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross). Denial is no longer an option. Anger comes and goes. I have no one to bargain with. So I suppose I’m lingering in depression, which is dangerous. But acceptance threatens to be even worse, that is, if it leads to a hopeless resignation. 

We are Catholic Christians; there is no place for hopeless resignation. We believe in a good and loving God who entered our human condition to lift us up into a kingdom of eternal love. And God is with us to fill us with hope beyond tragedies, murders, and endless wars. We must continue to trust in the incomprehensibility of God’s Providence. From everything that appears sad or tragic to us God can bring about a greater good. And we are not completely powerless; God can use us to bring this goodness to fruition. How? Let’s start with prayer, as St. Paul encourages in Sunday’s second reading:      

“First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth… It is my wish then, that in every place the people should pray lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument” (1 Timothy 2: 1-4, 8).

Prayer gives us peace in the midst of turmoil; it helps us look beyond our present suffering with hope in the loving providence of God. Through prayer, we can increase the Good in any situation. As beautifully expressed in the new movie about St. Maximillian Kolbe, prayer leads the way for the triumph of the heart.