There is a rhythm to prayer. Dawn, noon, dusk, night. Morning prayer, noon prayer, evening prayer, compline.
Prayers are like breathing. They are a part of the rhythm of life. Prayers provide comfort and solace, joy and ecstasy, whether silent or aloud.
A prayer life is for everyone. Prayers can fit any schedule, any routine. Prayers can be said in private or in community, alone or with family and friends. It doesn't matter where you are -- on the subway, in a taxi, at home, at work, bike riding, walking the dog, in an office.
Or in prison.
I was the Protestant Chaplain at Sing Sing Correctional Facility for seven years. The daily count of the prisoners is at the same time as prayer -- 5 am, 11 am, 5 pm, 11 pm. Dawn, noon, dusk, night. Morning prayer, noon prayer, evening prayer, compline.
During my chaplaincy at Sing Sing, I connected with prisoners and officers daily in prayer. Whether or not we were together, we prayed.
My rhythm of prayer begins at 5 am when I wake up and begin my day in silence before God. My morning prayer is the call to prayer in solidarity with my brothers at Sing Sing. I count myself blessed to be in their company as we pray; we may be separated by space but not by time.
I sit with daily devotions from the Book of Common Prayer.
Open my lips, God ... and my mouth shall proclaim your praise ...
I take the dogs for their first walk of the day and the Lord's Prayer mixes in with sounds of birds waking up to sing their praises to God.
Our Father, who art in heaven ...
Using the 365 days devotional Bible, I then meditate on the passages from Old Testament, Psalms, and New Testament. With a hot cup of tea, the first round is completed and morning has broken.
A 10-mile ride to Sing Sing. The 358 steps from the front door to the Chapel of the Redeemer in Sing Sing. Thirteen gates and five doors are punctuated with inmates and officers calling out prayer requests for themselves and for others. Walking through the first gate by the arsenal, the officer asks for my blessing. "At the window," the keys to the chapel are handed to me and I continue the uphill walk passed Buildings 8, 7 and 5. The narrow corridors pass by A block and B block, the largest cell blocks in the world, containing over 1000 men.
Bless you, bless you, bless you.....to the two officers at the last gate and door. The men are waiting inside the chapel for our daily devotion as a community. At 10:30 am, it is time to go back, and I wait for 11:00 am to pray mid morning/noon prayer.
... at this hour you ... stretch out your loving arms ... Thanks be to God!
I visit the Box, also known as the SHU (Special Housing Unit), where men are in their cells 23 hours a day calling for fervent prayer, between noon and evening.
O lord make speed to save us ... save them from themselves ... And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Receiving death notices was another prayer time at noon. Men come to my office, already suspicious; being called out on the PA system by number to report to the chapel was a sign -- pray my brothers that your sacrifice may be acceptable to God!
As I prepare to leave Sing Sing for the day, I reverse the long walk from the chapel to the front gate, hand in my keys at the arsenal, and head for home. The Palisades sink behind the sun and the Hudson River waves good night. I walk to my car and wave to the gun tower.
Jesus, stay with me for evening is at hand and the day has past. Be our companion on the way...
As the inmates return to their cells for the third count of the day, I pray with them. We part from each other -- may we never depart from your presence.
Thanks be to God!
Slow walk with the birds whispering goodnight and the leaves waving, I drive up the hill past Correctional Way to State Street. At the deli, officers are busy buying lotto tickets. "No, I can't bless your lottery ticket," I tell them.
Now you have set your servant free.
Using a Daily Office from the early church and examination of conscience, I review my day and ask...
Did I laugh enough today ?
Did I cut off anyone on the road ?
Was I kind to the birds and the leaves?
Was I forgiving and grateful?
Guide us waking, guard us sleeping. Keep watch dear God. Tend to the scared, the dying, the weary, the suffering this night.
The birds of the air and the leaves of the trees remind us to sing praises. It is not where we are but who we are that makes prayer possible. Morning, noon, evening and night, we pray to get fed and fortified. Squirrels and subway sounds praise and give thanks. Give thanks on the Metro North, give thanks in a refugee camp, give thanks in a detention center, give thanks in a prison cell. At dawn, at noon, at dusk, and at the midnight hour.
The rhythm of prayer.
Who do they think is sending the typhoon?
I'd just like to state that not all child abuse occurs in Catholic Churches. Not all cover ups of child abuse happen in Catholic Churches. The bulk of it does not. (I'll recommend Disney Land and Cruise Ships as a good starting points, just search them, then search other countries with different age of consent laws. ) The bulk of devout Catholics, specifically those serving as Nuns, or in the Priesthood have never accepted or denied child molestation charges, or have even been aware of the allegations against specific individuals. Catholicism is, and has always been a fairly guilty Religion ("there are none of us born without sin", to paraphrase) and at times, a very "holier than thou" religion, like many others. Last I saw, Roman Polanski and Rob Lowe, both accused, tried, and convicted of sex with minors were acting/directing, and accepted accepted by politics, film execs, actors, and the general public at large. They don't push their religion on us however.
What you cannot deny is that these people; FAITHFUL people, often Catholics do good works, and generally minister to those that we, as a society have deemed evil, insane, or just completely given up on. I don't think that we, as either a global society, or as Americans can morally deny succor to the truly needy. People can and do find redemption, turn over a new leaf, and help other, regardless of religious affiliation.
That can be said about almost any group, including the unfaithful. There are many people who do good works without spreading superstition and immoral dogma along the way. They do it just for the sake of doing good not to proselytize bronze age mythology to anyone that will listen.
"...and generally minister to those that we, as a society have deemed evil, insane, or just completely given up on."
Plenty of secular institutions do that also WITHOUT threatening people with hellfire, discriminating against women and homosexuals, lying to people about condom use and so on... The beliefs of the Catholic Church can be deemed as evil and insane.
One thing I always find ironic....students can't have a Bible
in school, but if they happen to land in Prison, they get one.
Maybe if it were the other way around,
the prisons might not be so full....
Anyway, Rev. Canon Petero A.N.S.
God bless you for your wonderful calling.
You make a difference in people's lives.
I feel as you do...we can pray any time and thank God for this
beautiful world He has created for us.
Without Him and his grace and mercy, we all would be lost.
http://religionannarbor.wordpress.com/
For those of you who say that the paramedic had no business asking that question and was preying on him, would it have been better for the paramedic to keep his mouth shut? What about the dozens of people who turned their life around through this man's work?
BTW, how about them cover ups by the catholic churches concerning abuses by the priests. I am sure those little boys prayed really hard for it to stop
What you cannot deny is that these people; FAITHFUL people, often Catholics do good works, and generally minister to those that we, as a society have deemed evil, insane, or just completely given up on. I don't think that we, as either a global society, or as Americans can morally deny succor to the truly needy. People can and do find redemption, turn over a new leaf, and help other, regardless of religious affiliation.
in the rec yard or going to chapel and getting poked by a priest.
There is no God!
Yes there is!
No there isn't
And around and around it goes - Usually ending with the assertion that the Christian needs to prove that God exists since science somehow proves he does not.
I am not speaking about jaschrod specifically because I do not know the person, but in general it seems that we get so caught up in what we do or do not believe that we loose focus on why we believe what we do. In short, we have blind faith without substance. This is often true for both sides of the fence.
This is a taxpayer supported facility; therefore, it should be a religion-free zone, without religious predators whose mode of operation is to "hit on" people when they are down.
I believe we have freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. If someone wants to participate, fine. If not, fine.
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/smartpolitics/2009/09/red_states_have_higher_crime_r.php
http://thehereticandthepreacher.com/Secular_Nation_Low_Crime.html
http://home.comcast.net/~pobrien48/serial_killers.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100403015405AAW3Njm
children, the depressed, lonely... The same places you'll find other drug pushers.
I have come across many people that many would call the dregs of society turn around their life and lead productive lives. Absolutely amazing transformations. Surely that is a good thing regardless of whether it was done through religion or not.
Where was the “rhythm of prayer” when they were committing horrible crimes? Where was the “rhythm of prayer” when they raped defenseless women? Where was the “rhythm of prayer” when they killed innocent people?
If heaven is filled with criminals then I want to go to hell.
On the other hand, hell has Mark Twain and Frank Sinatra.
You do the math.