GIF ~ Shock ~ No End Of Surprises
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The Importance of Praying For Each Other, The Importance of Prayer
~ by PGA, inspired from a Homily by Fr. Greg Kimm, Pastor
I like this priest's (Father Greg Kimm) homilies. Has a nice flow and it's short, sweet and to the point. I've provided links below if you want to read archives of his other homilies.
Here below, is a sample about 'Praying For Each Other'... this is one of my favorite topics... and... one that I need constant reminder of... because... every now and then... I will forget and question, once again, the usefulness of praying for one another.
I (sort of) get the point now that we should NOT focus on the results but to appreciate it along the lines of us human beings needing company, and especially so when in misery... hence the common saying "misery loves company" (which is actually negative if you try to make others miserable as well... but can be looked on as a natural human need and positive as well). I remember lyrics from a song I heard in an old Talent-Time sung by a Eurasian Girl, Carol Anne Fernandez, dubbed the Singing Nurse (the Eurasians are always singing) that went... "Sweet misery, she loves her company. She's in a crowd when she is all alone." This is only human and it's definitely better than suffering in silence.
Also, whenever there's a game being played, be it football or the likes of it... it makes a lot of difference when there's a home crowd cheering you on... hence the expression "home crowd advantage".
This is (me thinks) what praying for each other basically is. Please remind me when I forget.
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Original Source:
Homily by Fr. Greg Kimm, Pastor
Year C
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 21 October 2007
I had a friend in college who absolutely hated it when people told him they were praying for him. He said it made him feel that they thought there was something wrong with him. But with apologies to my old friend, I'd have to say that praying for others--and letting them know that you're praying for them--can be a very good thing.
So often when we pray for others we focus only on the result--on whether our prayers seem to be answered. If the people for whom we're praying don't get well, find a job, stay married, or succeed at some venture, we can come to the conclusion that our prayers are useless. But we often forget that the act of praying for others is in itself an expression of our care and support. It is very much like what Aaron and Hur do for Moses in our first reading, when they provide a place for him to rest his weary body and hold up his tired hands as he attempts to lead the people in battle.
Regardless of how things turn out in the end, just the knowledge that we think enough of them to remember them in our prayers, just that awareness that they are prayerfully surrounded by our love, can strengthen and console those for those for whom we pray. And if this is true, isn't it possible that God is working through us? Isn't it possible that our prayers for others and the positive effect they can have on them are all part of God's efforts to answer their prayers?
see Exodus 17:8-13
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First Reading
Exodus 17:8-13
As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight.
A reading from the Book of Exodus
In those days, Amalek came and waged war against Israel.
Moses, therefore, said to Joshua,
"Pick out certain men,
and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle.
I will be standing on top of the hill
with the staff of God in my hand."
So Joshua did as Moses told him:
he engaged Amalek in battle
after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur.
As long as Moses kept his hands raised up,
Israel had the better of the fight,
but when he let his hands rest,
Amalek had the better of the fight.
Moses' hands, however, grew tired;
so they put a rock in place for him to sit on.
Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands,
one on one side and one on the other,
so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people
with the edge of the sword.
The word of the Lord.
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Third Reading (as found in the Sunday Missal)
A reading from the book of Exodus
Exodus 14:15 – 15:1
The sons of Israel went on dry ground right into the sea.
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me so? Tell the sons of Israel to march on. For yourself, raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and part it for the sons of Israel to walk through the sea on dry ground. I for my part will make the heart of the Egyptians so stubborn that they will follow them. So shall I win myself glory at the expense of Pharaoh, of all his army, his chariots, his horsemen. And when I have won glory for myself, at the expense of Pharaoh and his chariots and his army, the Egyptians will learn that I am the Lord.’
Then the angel of God, who marched at the front of the army of Israel, changed station and moved to their rear. The pillar of cloud changed station from the front to the rear of them, and remained there. It came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. The cloud was dark, and the night passed without the armies drawing any closer the whole night long.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove back the sea with a strong easterly wind all night, and he made dry land of the sea. The waters parted and the sons of Israel went on dry ground right into the sea, walls of water to right and to left of them. The Egyptians gave chase: after them they went, right into the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
In the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and of cloud, and threw the army into confusion. He so clogged their chariot wheels that they could scarcely make headway. ‘Let us flee from the Israelites,’ the Egyptians cried. ‘The Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians!’
‘Stretch out your hand over the sea,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘that the waters may flow back on the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen.’
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and, as day broke, the sea returned to its bed. The fleeing Egyptians marched right into it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the very middle of the sea. The returning waters overwhelmed the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh’s whole army, which had followed the Israelites into the sea; not a single one of them was left. But the sons of Israel had marched through the sea on dry ground, walls of water to right and to left of them.
That day, the Lord rescued Israel from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. Israel witnessed the great act that the Lord had performed against the Egyptians, and the people venerated the Lord; they put their faith in the Lord and in Moses, his servant.
It was then that Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song in honour of the Lord:
The choir takes up the Responsorial Psalm immediately.
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