AUGUST PRAYER: TIME TO HEAL

Whether you're lounging at the beach or frying a burger, something else should be on your schedule halfway through next month. Bishop Howard J. Hubbard has asked all parishes in the Albany Diocese to invite Catholics to join in prayer, fasting and penance on August 14-15.

His request follows up on a recommendation made in June by the U.S. bishops at their Dallas meeting that dealt with the issue of clergy sexual abuse. The bishops called for repentance for their failures and prayers for the victims of abuse.

"I invite all the people of our Diocese to join me in prayer, lifting up these concerns to God," the Bishop said in a letter sent this week to parishes, "and also for the survivors of sexual abuse, for their healing and the healing of the Church."

The fast -- eating only one full meal -- is recommended for August 14. The diocesan Office of Prayer and Worship has prepared petitions to be offered during Masses on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The petitions are for survivors/victims, perpetrators, people in general and the Church itself. The office has also sent out to parishes some suggestions for individuals or groups to use in prayer services. The material includes appropriate Scripture readings, prayers and music.

As noted in an article on the front page this week, parishes directly affected by the abuse scandal are using prayer as one of their main resources for healing. We hope that others who have been affected, including victims and their families, have also turned to prayer for comfort, consolation and strength. On August 14-15, all of us can unite in prayer and fasting to bring healing to the Church.

United with one another in prayer and penance, all of us can trust, as Bishop Hubbard put it, "that God will continue to guide us through this time of darkness, and bring us into a new and everlasting light."

(07-11-02)