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Sunday, September 18, 2022

Redemptive Suffering

 This isn't a book review.  I'm only on week two.  I'm reading George Cardinal Pell Prison Journal, Volume 1.  Pell writes every night about his day.  Every entry ends with a  short extemporaneous prayer.  That's what I'm posting about.  I'm amazed that his prayer isn't screaming at God, "Get me outta here!"  Instead, he prays for others, especially his accuser; the men screaming at night, his guards, the people who pray for him, etc.  Rarely does he pray for himself.  I'm impressed with his peace and sense of humor.  Yes, his writing his astute and sometimes his descriptions make me laugh.  Here's his first day prayer:

God our Father, give me strength to come through this, and may my suffering be united with your Son Jesus' redemption for the spread of the Kingdom, the healing of all the victims of this scourge of paedophilia, the faith and well-being of our Church, and especially for the wisdom and courage of the bishops, who have to lead us out of the dark shadows into the light of Christ.

One more:

God our Father, I pray for those caught up in the bushfires in Gippsland; and for all those jailed in this prison, some of them desperately unhappy, some without faith and hope.  I pray, too, for all the prison staff, that the courtesy and decency shown to me may be the norm and that they will refuse to sink toward the violence, anger, and hatred of the worst of the prisoners.



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