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THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Thought for the day # 57 - Monday, May 11, 2020

“The Last Taboo”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Are you shy to say to someone, “I will pray for you”? Sometimes, when we
are with friends, or at the funeral parlour, we hear: “I will think of you,” or I
will keep you in mind.” It should not be awkward to say, “I’m going to pray for
you”.

There is a sort of embarrassment to say the word God, to name God, to
speak of prayer. Couldn’t we learn to overcome this awkwardness? This
discomfort is in society, it is everywhere, it can be in our family and it can even
be in our own lives! We may be embarrassed to admit the truth to our neighbor
who asks us, “Where are you going this morning?” We may be embarrassed to
tell him, “I’m going to Mass”. We may feel a little perplexed and wonder why.

I would like to invite you to check in your hearts, in your lives and ask if you
feel any awkwardness in speaking about God. Do you feel any discomfort in
talking about prayer? Do you feel any hesitation to say the name of God?

If we want to become aware whether we are troubled by this in our life, we
understand that we also want to learn to overcome it. One can work through
this awkward moment, not only by starting to say, “I will pray for you”, but
by having the courage to say it and do it. Because we are bothered, we assume
that people will be bothered if we talk about God, so we also need to trust in
God. If you say to someone “I’m going to pray for you”, it is possible that
it will comfort the person: God is always there to touch hearts. And when we
say “God”, the Spirit of God works in hearts so that the name of God resounds
there.
Let’s not be embarrassed to say “God,” to call God by his name!

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 68