Parishes' prayers answered in Iraq

When members of three churches in Delaware County began celebrating the Year of the Eucharist with perpetual adoration, they had no idea their prayers would reach all the way to Iraq to ease a family's worry.

Rev. Michael Flannery, pastor of St. Peter's parish in Delhi, St. John the Baptist parish in Walton, and its mission, Holy Family in Downsville, has discovered that, in order for parishioners to maintain a strong sense of community, combined projects are helpful.

"I thought [perpetual adoration] would make an excellent opportunity for everyone to get involved," the priest said.

Answered prayer

After several weeks of prayer, "we have been receiving lots of positive feedback from parishioners," Father Flannery noted. "People tell me that they can't believe how quickly the hour goes by. Some stay longer than their allotted time. Many have said that they gain a great sense of peace from their hour of prayer in church. Many others have told me that their deepest prayers have been answered."

One such story comes from Jane Finn, a parishioner at St. John's for the past 43 years.

"My family is from Long Island," she told The Evangelist. "My oldest grandson, Shane Finn, is a captain in the Army Rangers and is currently serving combat duty in Iraq. In October, I volunteered to pray an hour in church. I offered my prayer for Shane's safety. He's been in Iraq for months, and our family had no idea where he was or when he'd be coming home. Of course, everyone was frantic with worry. I asked God to watch over Shane and grant my prayer that we would somehow learn that he was safe."

Message from Iraq

One day, before she knew it, Mrs. Finn had prayed for three hours when her son-in-law tapped on her shoulder.

"He told me he had news about Shane," she recalled. "He took me home, sat me down and gave me a cup of tea. He told me that some [congressional representatives] had made a visit to Iraq, and Rep. Peter King [R-Long Island] was among them. The group visited the area where my grandson and his unit were operating. Shane was present when the group did a walk-through.

"Congressman King was wearing a t-shirt that bore a family member's name who had been killed in the 9/11 tragedy at the World Trade Center. The name was Shane's cousin, and Shane immediately recognized the t-shirt. He approached Mr. King and asked him if he would let our family know he was safe. Within hours, my son was contacted by Mr. King's office."

Inspired

Father Flannery got the idea for perpetual adoration last year when a missionary priest visited and talked about it. After the talks, Father Flannery asked for volunteers.

"Each individual parish by itself didn't have enough volunteers for continuous coverage," he said, "so I thought if we could get all three parishes involved on one schedule, it just might work."

There are about 700 registered families in the three parishes. He met with groups from each parish who decided to give it a try.

'Powerful force'

"The Eucharist is a powerful and unifying force in itself," Father Flannery said. "This perpetual adoration ministry has generated a real excitement in our parishes. People are more focused on the liturgy itself and on prayer. I would say that, generally, our people have become a bit more contemplative in their approach to prayer. It has definitely been a good thing for our people."

The program aims to have at least one person praying in hourly increments at each of the three churches.

"We are getting close to our goal, which is to have someone in at least one of the three churches 100 percent of all the hours in a week," the priest noted. "Hopefully, this will become a permanent ministry. For complete coverage of the Eucharist on a 24-7 basis, we only have 50 hours to go. We can do it."

(12/9/04)