Over the past week, it is obvious that the battle for the heart of the Church has increased by confusion concerning the political opinions in The Encyclical.
I pointed out errors in the work in my long series, but I also wanted to point out good ideas, which have been in the Church for a long time, such as simplicity of lifestyle.
Sadly, what is missing in all the comments in the media proves the need for houses of prayer. Without prayer, no amount of talking about the problems or political solutions will work.
As I have noted, without contemplatives praying for the Pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, seminarians, the evils of the world, the flesh and the devil can walk all over the activities of those in the Church. First comes prayer, then activity. And actions without prayer are hollow, ineffective, full of ego.
Prayer, intense prayer, is absolutely necessary for a strong Church. Cannot those in the Church see the connection between the weakness of Church leaders and the lack of contemplative prayer?
How many of us are there who set time aside daily to pray for the Pope and his good and bad advisers? Nothing will change without prayer.
All holiness in the Church begins with a heart of prayer. Out of all the religious orders in the United States for women, I counted today only 16 devoted primarily to contemplative prayer--16!
In England alone, there are about 27.
I am very far from the goal I need to start this house of prayer. At this writing, I need more benefactors. All those who want to live in simplicity and rely on Divine Providence, and the list of founders in that position is long, need those who believe in contemplative prayer and simplicity
to help.
I try to pray in the houses of others and so did St. Paul, But, stability, like the lifestyle of good Benedictines, allows for deeper, more consistent prayer. Plus, I do not want to pray on my own, but with others, as where two or three are gathered together, there is more intercessory power, so Christ tells us.
Please pray about helping set-up the heart of prayer wherever God wants this to be in His Kingdom. Please consider giving to my plea on the side of this blog.