On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
Sometimes I get so depressed when I look at what’s going on in the world, not politics or personal stuff, but the earthquake in Italy or flooding here in Louisiana or homes being destroyed in Syria. People say to pray, but does that really accomplish anything?
I think so. Maybe not in the way we’d all like. Prayer, after all, is not going to magically roll back the clock and return life to what it was for anyone who’s lost a home or family members or loved ones. I don’t mean to sound cold or heartless, but for each of those people, a “new normal” is established, just as it is for us after a 
house fire, death in the family, or natural disaster.
Prayer does, however, provide a level of comfort, whether we realize it in the moment or not. If we are praying for someone else, known or unknown to us personally, it takes us outside ourselves and helps us be in tune to the situations and needs of others. Maybe it prompts us to offer a donation of time, talent, or treasure to those struggling.
What about those for whom we pray? It’s not as if God doesn’t already hold them in the palm of His hand, fully aware of their earthly struggles. But perhaps part of His plan is our prayer. Consider how Pope Francis asks almost everyone to pray for him. Maybe we do, maybe we don’t, outside of the exhortation during Sunday Mass. But I have to believe the confidence that perhaps the thought that at least one other person on this earth is praying for him fortifies the pope and helps him do God’s work. I have to believe it, because I know when a friend says he or she will pray for me, I feel my burden lighten, regardless of whether I see or hear the prayer materialize.
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