Praying in a Broken World

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Îles

Jordan Critz

As I look out at creation, I see so much strain… the hurt… the suffering… How can I pray in this broken world?

I begin by bringing to mind the people and situations that worry me the most… the victims of wars, abuse, the consequences of poverty, the climate catastrophe… I place each one of these people and situations into the hands of Jesus…

Saint Paul reminds us that even in the darkest moments of human history, when all else seemed to have failed, there was still an invisible hope… I take a moment to listen to his words… I try to hear creation as it groans towards completion in God’s love… I try to hear the Spirit interceding, even within my own heart, with sighs to deep for words…

2:22

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:22-27)

3:57

I place myself before Jesus upon the cross as he suffers… I see creation through his eyes… I see the wounds that are being healed… I see the seeds of hope being planted… I see the resilience growing… I see that in spite of all that has gone wrong, Jesus still gazes firmly at humanity with the eyes of love…

As I stand with Jesus at the foot of the cross, I look upon the comfort of my own body compared to the suffering of his… I notice how despite his suffering, his body is bringing life to the world, though I do not know how… I consider how my own body, weak though it is, might just like him bring life to the world...

As I ponder this world, broken yet loved, I pause to consider my own place in it… I speak to Jesus about where he has invited me to stand… the people he has sent me to be with… the gifts and talents he has asked me to share… I listen to what he says in response…

I commit myself to taking a stand in the place he has chosen for me, no matter how unimportant it seems, while he redeems the world… and to living each day with invisible hope.

8:15

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen