Richa: a sincere prayer in the best tradition of religious seeking for God's will

Dear Tim Brown

I cannot believe that a priest, Thomas Clifford of St. Aloysius Ganzaga Parish, would threaten to ban the sincere prayers of anyone based on the content of those prayers. According to a notice from Jonah House, that is the case with Kathy Boylan, who has prayed that soldiers lay down their weapons and leave the military. If that is not a sincere prayer in the best tradition of religious seeking for God's will, then i don't know what is.

But even if the prayer were the opposite - that the soldiers continue to kill other human beings - the assumption should be that one's prayers in church are to be listened to, taken seriously, and become part of the larger communion of seeking, in which open inquiry, deep searching, and grounding in the basic values of the church leads to the best community articulation of God's will.

We need, perhaps more so than ever at present, in all our religious bodies, a fundamental openness to what God wills for us all. Please don't compromise that - it would be to destroy a major part of the church's foundation.

Please share this with Thomas Clifford, whose email address i do not have.

Sincerely, Richa - - - - -