PRAYER POWER (PART TWO)

PRAYER POWER (PART TWO)

My dear countrymen, the following is a continuation of a letter that Fr. James Reuter, S. J. wrote many years ago. Just like the first part of this letter, I edited it for brevity.

START LETTER: “Today, we launch this email brigade, to inform Filipinos from all over the world to pray, as a people, for the economic recovery and moral reformation of our nation. We do not ask for much. We only ask for five minutes of your time in a day, to forward this email to your close friends and relatives. This is the kind of unity that can make a big difference. Of course, if you feel strongly, as I do, about the power of prayer, you can be more involved by starting your own prayer group or prayer center”.

“We have tried people power twice; in both cases, it fell short. Maybe it’s time to try prayer power. God never fails. Is there hope? Yes! We can rely on God’s promise, but we must do our part. If we humble ourselves and pray as a people, God will heal our land. By God’s grace, we may yet see a better future for our children”.

“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)”. END LETTER.

I had the honor of meeting Fr. James many years ago. I think that it was a few months before he died. When I told them that I had a desire to help the Church by doing a media ministry that would be following in his footsteps, he got up from his wheelchair to bless me and to pray over me. I was so touched by that experience, because I believe that he was a holy man. I believe that he was already a living saint at that time, and I will not be surprised if he will become a saint someday.

Fr. James was a very young Jesuit priest when he was assigned to the Philippines, and he stayed here until the day that he died. One might say that he was one of a kind, because he was one American who chose to become a Filipino, while many other Filipinos have chosen to become Americans. That is evident in his writings, wherein he already wrote in the second person as a Filipino, because that is how he felt, and how he thought. I am not sure if he was eventually naturalized as a Filipino citizen, but I am very sure that he was “Filipinized” in every possible way.

I decided to feature this letter because I believe in what he said that we should now try “prayer power” to save our country from a downward spin, to say the least. Of course, we have already tried “people power”, but now we know that that is not enough to save us from a path of destruction. In these times when some of us are already feeling desperate, thinking that there is no more hope because there is nothing more that we could do, we should not lose hope because we could still turn to God, using the power of prayer. Your friend, IKE SENERES/12-04-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

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