Philomena Ewing's Prayer for World Communications Day

Philomena Ewing, who blogs at Blue Eyed Ennis, is a Cornwall, UK-based poet who I met via -- you guessed it -- social media. I count her among those Catholics who are willing to speak truth to power. How she manages to do so and still get invited to things like last year's bloggers summit at the Vatican is nothing short of miraculous.

Last week, Phil posted her own prayer for the Vatican's 46th World Communications Day (May 20, 2012). I spent about a half hour trying to decide which excerpt to post, before realizing that I want my blog's visitors to read the whole thing right here and now.

For those of us who are weary and exhausted by words, 
who find it hard to find the right words to say without rancour,
for all that we wish we could say, 
for all that we need to say to bring healing and unity, 
please Lord, let us recognise you know it all anyway, 
but nevertheless send us all the fresh inspiration
and breath of your Holy Spirit to be renewed.

Help us to be healed by your words and when we are angry and hurt
help us to find words that can express that anger cleanly and honestly
without inflicting more damage on others and ourselves.

Never let us shy away from our conscience and integrity
but keep us humble and open to try and dialogue
with those who are different in their views, however hard that is. 
Help us admit our failures and ask for forgiveness.

Help us to move slowly beyond words of resentment
towards a place of healing and peace.

Help us remove ourselves from the petty power plays of words
that are often prejudiced and aimed to undermine others 
and keep us from uttering words that deliberately hurt and alienate others. 

Help us to find ways of using words to encourage a diverse community
of many opinions but where bullying and abuse is confronted and never tolerated.

Help us to find words of respect, compassion, inclusion,
reconciliation, encouragement and hope
in the darkest times when it is so easy to 
barricade ourselves behind walls of despondency.

Where there are impasses in communication
help us to try and keep the lines of communication
and dialogue open to You and ask for your help
when we realise we cannot do it alone.

Where we find the broken-hearted 
scarred by unjust words of bigotry and abuse
help us give them a safe place to speak 
and to know they are listened to in Your love

For the rest in our church that have been silenced or censored,
for those who are under the threat of being silenced,
for those whose words are monitored,
for those who are afraid to speak out,
for those who are ignored, 
who are not invited to the table,
those who have no voice,
for those prophetic voices that cause discomfort to the hierarchy,
for all those who are reviled and/or ridiculed when they do try and speak,
I pray that the Lord will listen and hold  them close in Love in the silence of His heart.

I pray that He will keep their spirits and hopes intact 
at a difficult and discouraging time
and move those who ought to listen to open their hearts too.

42nd World Communications Day -- Part II

Now I'm wishing the pope's message for the 42nd World Communications Day had arrived on my screen before I sent my final copy edits to Morehouse Publishing. B16's ongoing commentary about the perils of moral relativism continues in his message about social communications. He wrote:

"Today, communication seems increasingly to claim not simply to represent reality, but to determine it, owing to the power and the force of suggestion that it possesses...Hence, the impact of the communications media on modern life raises unavoidable questions, which require choices and solutions that can no longer be deferred."

But what I really wish could be included in The Word Made Fresh is his prayer:

"Let us ask the Holy Spirit to raise up courageous communicators and authentic witnesses to the truth, faithful to Christ's mandate and enthusiastic for the message of faith."

42nd World Communications Day -- Part I

Although yesterday was the Vatican-declared 42nd World Communications Day, I'm just getting around to posting about it now. The title set me back a bit: The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service. Searching for the Truth in order to Share it with Others.

I immediately wanted to whip out my purple editing pen to debulk it. This, in turn, led to my musing about the fuss that would ensue. Some cleric would undoubtedly get twitched about my edits and then I'd have to explain that everyone's work, even the Holy Father's, benefits from copy editing.

To make this point, I'd wonder out loud if we know for a fact that the final Ten Commandments are the same ones Moses smashed when he saw what the ancient Israelites had been up to in his absence (Exodus 32). Maybe between the time Moses went berserk about the Golden Calf and went back up Mt. Sinai, God had tweaked either wording or ordering. Maybe Moses had some thoughts of his own during those forty days and nights without eating bread or drinking water (Exodus 34:27-28).

And maybe I'd go so far as to wonder out loud if Moses' face was "radiant" (Exodus 34: 29) because, after forty days and nights without physical sustenance, he needed protein and hydration. This would, of course, be wandering way off point -- something I'm working on, quite unsuccessfully, I should add.

I'd then have to explain that my musings fall within Judaism's fine tradition of midrash.

Guessing that no one in the pope's press office would have the patience for that, I decided dwelling on the title of our Holy Father's message was not worth the hassle. And so it came to pass around 11:30 PM last night, that I swapped my purple editing pen for a yellow highlighter and kept reading.