Updated 9/16/11
Society of Publicans
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Updated 9/16/11
Society of Publicans
|
| With the conviction
that only prayer can bring about and sustain the spiritual renewal of
our communities, the Society of Publicans was established in 1982, This
prayer ministry takes its name from the parable of the Pharisee and the
Publican (Luke 18:9-14) in which the Publican, humble and dependent on
the Lord, is the example of true prayer. The Society is a fellowship of
people in parishes throughout the eparchy who have committed themselves
to pray daily for the spiritual renewal of our parishes and the entire
eparchy. There are three levels of commitment in the Society. In the first, people commit themselves to daily pray for the spiritual renewal of our Church. Each parish in the diocese is assigned a particular day to be remembered in prayer– so that there are people all over the country praying for the needs of the parish(es) of the day. On the second level of commitment, we encourage Publicans to gather for communal prayer to intercede for the intentions of the Society as well as for the various needs of the people of the parish. In some parishes, the members meet for the Divine Liturgy, the Paraclisis, or an Intercession Service, using one of the three prayer services included in the Society f Publican Prayer Booklet. In other places the group meets when necessary to pray for a special intention. Still other parishes remember the prayer intentions of the Society in their regularly scheduled services on Sundays or every day. On the third level of commitment, some society groups have formed telephone prayer chains. By phone, email, newsletter or in person, a local coordinator keeps members informed of intentions that are brought to him or her by people in the parish. The local coordinator may organize group meetings, as circumstances permit, and enlist others to pray daily for our Church and for the intentions of the parish. (Society of Publican Prayer Book) Each experience in prayer begins with an act of faith that God has already done so much, done all in loving us and in giving us His Son, Jesus. Conscious of this, it is for us to relax in the Lord, resting entirely upon Him. The Good News is that God truly loves us. We learn this only by experiencing in sitting and listening to the presence of Christ’s Spirit within us. As Byzantine Catholics our focus in prayer is contemplative, stressing prayer more as a state of experiential existence rather than a thing to be done. Prayer transfigures us, changes us. All catechesis, lessons, books, and sermons will not change our lives; only the experience of God will change us. In many ways we are strangers to the person we really are! Everything in our spiritual life is about changing ourselves – not about changing God – manipulating God or making God hear our petitions. We all live lives of contemplation. The question is, what do we contemplate? Is it riches, power, prestige, fame? Or do we contemplate the wonders of God, the glory of His creation, and the joys of the spiritual life. What we contemplate will play a significant role in the life we live. The contemplative is simply a person who meets God in an ever deepening openness to the “living Mystery” within him. In an American culture, we are especially prone to be doers, performers. We must learn to sit before God and hear of His infinite love for us and His whole creation. Then will we be able to give our response as did Isaia the Prophet: “Here I am, send me” (Is6:9) In the parable of the Prodigal Son, that embodies the spirit of our ministry, the lesson to be contemplated is that the older son never really fell in love with the Father. He worked for him as a servant would, demanding tit-for-tat. The Father never could be a Father to him, because the son would never let the love of the Father pour over him and change him, change his value-structure. The younger son, however, crushed by his sinfulness, and purified by his alienation and separation from his Father, let the Father be his Father. The Father did everything and rejoiced to do so. The desert experience teaches us what the Prodigal Son learned by being a pilgrim, separated from the Father’s home and love by his own doing, namely, the desire to be independent of his Father’s love. But returning to the Father’s home, he becomes docile and supple to the Father’s slightest wish. No longer is he under the law of a tyrant, but he is liberated by an experience of forgiving love to return love for love. The prophet then sits in the celebrating joyful love of the Father and hears about the great love the Father has for him. Then that prophetic word moves us to our response. We move outward to build a like community of joy and love that we have experienced through the gratuitous love of the Father for His children. Having been accepted in love by God we have a sense of real identity. We can go out as God’s representatives to witness to this great divine love for all men The existential Word is being spoken in our daily lives. It is a continuation of the same prophetic Word spoken in Scriptures and lives in our hearts. The Existential Word unfolds in every event of our lives as we experience God’s great love in the smile of a child, the violence of a storm, the calm serenity of a summer afternoon, and in the suffering of a dying person. We need not leave the world, but we are to be reconcilers as Paul says with Christ of the whole universe back to the Father. We will see the world through different eyes – we shall see our Church come alive and our parishes renewed as we shall see them being transfigured slowly by the inner life of God that inhabits us and all men. Note: If you are interested in the Society of Publicans Prayer ministry – please contact the Office of Educational Services, 201 417 3804 or email doccolie@yahoo.com |
Prayers for Individual Parishes
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