Fr. Don's Daily Reflection
Do we have to wait for priests, bishops, popes to launch initiatives? Are relations between various kinds of Christians to remain stagnant because the people at the top see all sorts of obstacles, real or not? When Jessie went through the windshield of her car in an accident and then back through it into the car with the resultant gashes and slashes and was comforted in the front seat by a stranger who stopped, he didn't ask what her faith was or what church she went to. Instead, he put his coat over her, held her hand and prayed with her till help came. Like many a twenty-year old college student Jessie hadn't given prayer a lot of thought or attention. In the hospital she was thankful to the point of tears whenever she mentioned it for the person who sat and prayed with her in that life-threatening moment.
Eventually she found out he was the pastor of a small rural church near her home town, a member of one of those groups that seem a little odd to mainstream Protestants and Catholics. You realize at such times that the big division among human beings is between those who trust in God and prayer and those who don't. A friend with a Christian background but who shows no signs of the practice of faith still thanks me for remembering him and his family in prayer. We'd be surprised at how many of our contemporaries appreciate or value prayer. Some willingness to express our trust in prayer could be for those around us their most inspiring and encouraging moment in their day or month.