[REFLECTION] Prayer and the flood management mess

‘Prayer requires motion. This begins with recognizing our personal contribution to this dire state of affairs.’

The Trillion Peso March, the second a part of which occurred on November 30, aimed to “rework prayer into sustained motion.” 

At the moment, barely two months had handed when Cardinal Jose Advincula of the Archdiocese of Manila declared that the Oratio Imperata for Integrity, Fact, and Justice change the Prayers of the Trustworthy in all Lots, “a uncommon apply reserved for the gravest of circumstances.” Seeing corruption not merely as a political and financial drawback, the archdiocese thought that the compulsory prayer was essentially the most apt response to a “non secular and ethical disaster” that violated human dignity and stole what was meant for the frequent good.

What will we pray for in a state of affairs of urgency and seriousness? After asking for forgiveness due to our apathy and inaction, the oratio imperata asks the Good Lord for “leaders after the Coronary heart of Your Son.” It additionally implores the Holy Spirit for braveness to uphold justice and defend the reality in order that integrity might blossom in our land. It entreats the God of Justice and Mercy for the nation “to not be poisoned by greed, manipulation, and selfishness.”

A priest good friend stated that “it’s unfair to ask God to resolve issues that we people have brought about.” One other requested, whether or not within the face of all this huge corruption, the phrases “lead us into temptation and ship us from evil” nonetheless imply something.

This reflection resists critiquing of the oratio imperata, which some suppose articulates nothing greater than motherhood statements. It needs to ask a primary query: Does prayer engender collective company?

Students have categorised three approaches to spiritual problem-solving. Some have a deferring model, and rely on God to resolve their issues. On the different finish of the size are these with a self-directing model, and train autonomy and refuse to ask God for assist and even steering. Within the center are these with a collaborative model; they ally themselves with God find options. 

Secularists maybe would insist that this system of motion in opposition to corruption and political dynasties be self-directed, contemplating that numerous spiritual teams can be defending their very own political pursuits. However which path ought to religionists take? Ought to we train passivity to God whose plans are all the time higher than ours? Or ought to we make use of God as a collaborator to our greatest efforts?

Spiritual problem-solving primarily means deciding who God is for us. Is God abandoning or is God supportive however non-intervening? Research have proven that those that imagine that God has deserted them of their instances of difficulties self-directed drawback solvers determine to develop into self-directed. However the collaborative imagine that God helps them and can grant them the assist and assist they want, however will not do the work for them.

Essential to this reflection is whether or not perception in God and company cancel one another out. Company is an motion that’s goal-oriented, and whose purpose is doable and rational. An instance can be a scholar who seeks to construct a love life or a small enterprise. Such an act is probably not so agentic in the event that they try to seek out the love of their life or put up their meals stall in the course of Examination Week. Moreover, such commendable ends will solely be agentic in the event that they acknowledge the concrete modifications they should make with a purpose to obtain it.

The agentic believer can be much less deferring, however would search to look to God for assist and steering in in search of options to the corruption and governance points. Maybe it’s not so lifelike to anticipate that not everybody concerned might be sanctioned, particularly the large fish.

Realizing that corruption is not going to be utterly rooted out, we’re confronted by the temptation to lose hope. Theologians clarify that the final two petitions of the Lord’s Prayer derive from the real want to repent (Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin in opposition to us). Resolving to do good, we ask God the Father to not lead us into new temptation and to spare us from the Evil One.

The true temptation, nonetheless, is the temptation to defer to God all options to issues we people have brought about. Prayer requires motion. This begins with recognizing our personal contribution to this dire state of affairs. To what extent have we labored to lift leaders who is not going to be susceptible to deprave practices?

The Serenity Prayer expresses this: “Lord grant me the serenity to just accept the issues I can not change, the braveness to alter what will be modified, and the knowledge to know the distinction.” We are able to begin by wanting on the listing offered on this web site of Ten Methods to Combat Corruption.

Unexpectedly, information exhibits that abandoning ourselves in God’s palms, truly results in company, for this act bolsters confidence {that a} troublesome state of affairs could also be resolved. If, nonetheless, we refuse to let God carry a few of our emotional burden, we’d burn out, and the dedication and can energy to convey the answer to its logical conclusion get exhausted.

As Saint Ignatius in a letter to Ascanio Colonna [dated April 25, 1543] stated: “There are only a few individuals who understand what God would make of them in the event that they deserted themselves fully to his palms, and allow them to be fashioned by his grace.” Think about the heights we will attain, if we understand that we’re miracles in God’s palms. – Rappler.com

Jovino G. Miroy teaches medieval philosophy and philosophy of faith on the Ateneo de Manila College. He holds a PhD from Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven in Belgium, with a specialization in medieval philosophy, and is a member of the American Cusanus Society. He’s the producer of the podcast titled “Thomas Unveiled,” commemorating the Double Jubilee of Thomas Aquinas.