Spirituality & Practice

The largest "state" in the United States is PovertyUSA. Nearly one in six Americans (46 million people), and one in four children, live there. The government's official poverty threshold for a family of four is $22,314. Trying to live on this number are people working at minimum wage (often with more than one job), seniors on fixed incomes, unemployed people, those suffering from illnesses, and others. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development has designated January as Poverty Awareness Month.

And so we pray this news. . .

Here we are at the end of our first year of "Praying the News." As we look back at the 28 prayers, we would characterize 2011 as a turbulent year for weather and disasters, the rebellions around the world against the power and greed of dictators, the suffering of animals, the tragedy of widespread poverty, and the continued violence against women and gay people. We continue to hold all those affected by these events in our prayers as we near the start of a New Year, and we offer a new prayer for all the peoples of the world.

And so we pray this news. . .

November 2011. The former Defensive Coordinator for the Penn State University football team, Jerry Sandusky, was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting 8 young boys over a 15-year period. Much of the news has revolved around the subsequent firing of the legendary football coach Joe Paterno and a TV interview with Sandusky. But we believe that the focus should be on the victims of sexual abuse.

According to a 1998 Boston University School of Medicine report:

• One in four girls is sexually abused before the age of fourteen.
• One in six boys is sexually abused before the age of sixteen.

And so we pray this news. . .

November 17, 2011, marks the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and demonstrations are planned in many locations. Faith leaders and Occupy Wall Street protesters have insisted that nonviolent civil disobedience is the way to go, and to date, what violence has occurred seems to have been initiated by the police trying to break up occupy encampments. Our prayer is that both protesters and police practice nonviolence so that all will be safe and the issues of economic disparity and injury behind the movement will get the attention they deserve.

And so we pray this news. . .

As of October 31, 2011, according to the U.N. Population Fund, there will be 7 billion people on the planet. China and India are the two most populous nations. Large challenges face the peoples of the Earth as a result of this population explosion — poverty and the ever-growing global gap between the haves and the have-nots, food and water shortages, homelessness and an increase in refugees wandering from one place to another, urban problems stemming from people unable to work or provide for their families elsewhere.

And so we pray this news. . .

Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing demonstration in New York City to protest economic and social injustices. Participants have moved into a park in lower Manhattan near Wall Street and have marched through the city; on October 1, 700 protesters were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge. The protests have spread to other cities, including Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Denver, and many smaller communities. On October 1, the NYC General Assembly issued a "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City," stating:

"As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

"As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known."

"We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power. Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone. To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal. Join us and make your voices heard!"

And sp we pray this news. . .

September 14, 2011. Today's news included the U.S. Census Bureau report that 46.2 million Americans — 1 in 6 — are living in poverty. That is the highest number in the 52 years that the Census Bureau has been tracking poverty in America.

And so we pray this news. . .

It is that time of year as children leave behind their summer pleasures to return to school. The routines of getting up on time, putting things in order, doing homework, and keeping distractions to a minimum: these are the rhythms of fall for students of all ages. Parents have important roles to play at this time of year as lovers and cheerleaders of their children. Many of the feature stories in the news these days focus on children going back to school.

And so we pray this news. . .

August 27, 2011. Hurricane Irene made landfall this morning on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and continued making its way up the Eastern seaboard of the United States where hurricane warnings were in effect all the way to Massachusetts. President Barack Obama declared an emergency for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. More than 2.3 million people were ordered to evacuate their homes. In New York City, where the storm is expected to hit Sunday as a Category I hurricane, the entire subway and bus system was shut down.

"This is probably the largest number of people that have been threatened by a single hurricane in the United States," said Jay Baker, a geography professor at Florida State University. It has been estimated that as many as 60 million people are in the path of this giant storm. For them and their loved ones, we offer this Prayer for Protection originally written by Unity minister James Dillet Freeman for soldiers during World War II. It was carried to the moon by astronaut Col. James Aldrin on Apollo 11 and by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the first manned moon landing.

And so we pray this news. . .

An article on TheWeek.com summarizes the worst food crisis in half a century now happening in the Horn of Africa: Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and parts of Uganda, Eritrea, and Djibouti. More than 11 million men, women, and children are suffering and dying in squalid refugee camps. Thousands more are already dead from starvation and malnutrition-related diseases. The situation is being caused by a prolonged drought in the area aggravated by political instability and war, particularly in southern Somalia. There is no end of the drought or the suffering in sight.

At the camps, international aid organizations are working hard to serve the suffering. Care staff members claim that 1,500 displaced refugees are arriving every day to live in terrible conditions often without medical aid, sanitation, or water. Among the new arrivals, 80 percent of them are children. International aid groups are calling this the worst food crisis since the Great Chinese Famine of the late 1950s. This slideshow is a small window into the crisis.

And so we pray this news. . .