One thing we can and must do to help our nation and world

Tensions are running high in many parts of the world right now, as various nations grapple with everything from political disagreements and civil unrest to all-out war.

In a real sense, this sad state of affairs is nothing new. It’s hard to think of any lengthy time period throughout human history that didn’t include warfare and many other kinds of stressful danger. 

But that doesn’t make it easier to live with, does it? We all desire peace in our time. It’s painful and difficult to witness division rip apart our societies.

When we see sad and scary news, it’s common to feel a frustrating sense of helplessness. 

Yes, there are things we can and should do. We can call our elected officials. We can donate to causes we believe in. We can volunteer our time to organizations we support.

But sometimes it all just feels like a drop in the bucket. 

The world is so big, and the things tearing apart our communities are so vast and multi-faceted. How can our small contributions make any difference?

The good news is that, as Christians, our hope does not lie in our abilities alone. In fact, it doesn't lie there at all. We believe in the power of One who is bigger and mightier than all the problems our world will ever face. 

While we may feel helpless ourselves, there is One who is all-powerful. And He loves us as his own sons and daughters.

That’s why the single most important thing we can do to make the world a better place is to pray. As they say, “The shortest solution to any problem is the distance between your knees and the floor.” 

We might ask ourselves honestly: How much are we taking the things that concern us to prayer? How insistent are we in those prayers? How persistent?

Prayer is so powerful. When life feels hard and heavy, I think of the religious orders dedicated to Perpetual Adoration. I'm pretty sure their around-the-clock prayers for the rest of us are what keeps our world from completely falling apart.

If we want to help our neighborhoods, our cities, and our nations, let’s be like these religious sisters and brothers and call on God with all our hearts.

During tumultuous times, it’s especially important to pray for our elected officials and those in authority over us. This mission is one to which all Christians are called, as St. Paul wrote:

When we ask God for help, we know that He hears us and our prayers will be effective. 

The Catechism assures us that our prayers can cooperate with the coming of God’s Kingdom:

However we feel about those in power, we are called to pray for them. Perhaps we support them, or perhaps we feel that praying for them would be in the category of Jesus telling us to “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Either way, our prayers can only help make our world a better place. 

Here is a prayer for civic leaders from the USCCB to start: