Prayer Cycle Mass for the World on Saturday Nights at 10 P.M.

In many liturgies, we add a generic prayer for the world. The prayer can slip by us easily because it is so general, and the pain, need, and thankfulness in particular places doesn’t get named or even thought about.

Through my experience with prayer, I have come to the conclusion that we are called to pray in specifics, not in generalities–and that each one of us may have the privilege of lifting up in prayer a particular area or a particular concern. Someone might find themselves to drawn to pray for a political leader (even perhaps one whose politics they ardently disagree with). Another person might lift up those in their area who suffer from addiction. There are a multitude of needs, but there are also a multitude of people to pray.

My personal “prayer burden” (as my charismatic friends called it) seems to be the peace of Jerusalem and those who are in pain in the middle of the night. Yours may be very different.

However, recently I ran across something that seems to walk the line between the overly general and the very specific. The World Council of Churches has an Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, that focuses on the needs of a particular area/set of countries each week. In their link

https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/prayer-cycle

they offer a set of suggested intercessions of things to be grateful for and things to pray for. Prayers, litanies, and songs are there, as is more information about the churches in the area.

This week the focus is on Sierra Leone and Liberia, two nations with a history of tragic violence. The specific resource page is here: https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/prayer-cycle/liberia-sierra-leone

For the next 20 weeks, through Advent and into Epiphany, the Oratory will pray in sync with the World Council of Church’s cycle, culminating in a mass each Saturday night at 10 p.m.

You are welcome to join in each week’s intention, bring your own particular concerns to God. Candles will be lit for intentions, for people, and for the area of prayer.  Comments are welcome–as are requests for specific prayers.

Remember that when two or three are united in God’s name, God is there in the midst of them.