Send your prayers by Twitter or text, says Cardinal
Monday April 27 2009
YOUNG Christians should send daily prayer messages by text, Twitter or e-mail, Ireland's leading Catholic churchman said yesterday.
Cardinal Sean Brady was speaking yesterday in Attymass, Co Mayo, where he unveiled a statue to the world-famous 'Rosary priest', Fr Patrick Peyton, who was born there 100 years ago.
Fr Peyton was renowned for his saying: "The family that prays together, stays together".
And Cardinal Brady -- Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland -- said that the principle should now be transferred to 21st-century technologies.
"In the name of Fr Peyton, I appeal to every Christian in Ireland today who sends texts, Twitters or uses e-mail to think about setting up groups of prayer between you and your friends using these modern means of communication," said the cardinal.
"I ask young people in particular to think of sending their friends and family an occasional Twitter or text to say that you have prayed for them. Make someone the gift of a prayer through text, Twitter or e-mail every day."
The cardinal predicted that such a sea of prayer would strengthen a national sense of solidarity with one another, especially for families suffering hardship in the current economic recession.
Calling for a return to the traditional practice of saying the Rosary, the cardinal said it would advance the cause of peace in the family right across this island. "Try prayer -- it works," he added.
"Our society is hungry for prayer. To meet that hunger, I challenge anyone in Ireland to turn off the TV, switch off the mobile, shut down the computer and pray at some stage every day, and tell me that the quality of their life was not better as a result.
Exercise
"We need time to chat quietly and intimately with our creator. We need regular prayer as much as we need regular exercise or a healthy diet."
The cardinal also said that it was particularly important to reconnect young men with prayer.
"The popular perception of prayer as a woman's activity is a relatively new phenomenon in Ireland," he added. "It is also a real problem in terms of addressing aggression, violence and immaturity in younger men. "It takes sensitivity and humility to pray, qualities which are not always valued or respected among young men but which are essential to maturity and responsible fatherhood."
- John Cooney Religion Correspondent
