The U.S. Bishops met recently in St. Petersburg Florida. While there, they offered a prayer for the ongoing crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. That is not unusual. What I found most interesting is the final part of their prayer. It says, "Finally, we offer our prayers for our government leaders and for the industry leaders and experts who are working to cap the leak and repair this damage. May God give them wisdom and strength in this trying hour, and may He move them to seek lasting solutions benefiting the common good of our society." What a wonderful prayer to say everyday. When we elect people to positions of leadership, the expectation is that they will respect the followers. After all, without followership there can be no leadership. I feel that may be part of the problem in the U.S. right now. The followers have so little faith in the leaders that we are all wandering looking for something else. Unfortunately for many people that something else can be destroying their lives. Returning to the prayer offered by the Bishops, I particularly was touched by the statement about seeking lasting solutions that benefit the common good of our society. The problem presented by that statement is that we have not stopped to consider what the common good for our society is or could be. Now there is an abundance of talking heads on the television that tell us what their version of the common good is and that is part of the conversation. But are we as God's people having the same conversation in our churches or parish halls? Are we gathering as prayerful women and men to consider how to effect change that will bring about lasting solutions that are grounded in Godliness? What the prayer said to me most loudly is that we must be actively talking with God everyday about everything. We should be asking Him to guide us in all that we do. We should be asking Him to deliver the solution to calamities like the oil leak in the Gulf. And we should definitely be asking Him to provide us with the leadership that will allow us to use the abilities, talents and gifts He gave us to make the world a more Godly place.
Kurt Hilgefort, is a Catholic father of six who publishes his thoughts on his blog Shadows of Augustine . He responded to my seven question survey with the following answers. Kurt is the first layperson to respond to the seven question survey and I think that his experience is extremely relevant to me personally and I hope that you are inspired by his thoughts as well. If you would like to respond, please send an email to fellmananthony@gmail.com with your thoughts and I will be happy to publish them as well. 1. What is the biggest challenge to your faith that you have faced so far? The biggest challenge for me has been the whole dying to self thing. On an intellectual level, there are no barriers. It comes down to a matter of accepting the authority of the Church that Christ founded upon Peter. My challenge is not in the intellect, but rather in the will. The challenge for me has always been to continually seek conversion. I want to be transformed, but I want it to be over all ...
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