Current Articles |
Press Archives
..............................................................................................................................................................................................
Black Catholics urged to pray for healing of those with HIV,
AIDS
GULF PINE CATHOLIC
Biloxi, MS
03.02.01
1 | 2
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee
on African-American Catholics is calling for black Catholics to
join in praying for people who are HIV-positive or have AIDS during
the Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS.
The weeklong observance, March 4-11, "is a time for us to
educate our people about the sacredness of every human life through
the teachings of the church," said Bishop J. Terry Steib of
Memphis, Tenn.
He made the comments in a message released in Washington by the
Secretariat for African-American Catholics at the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops.
Bishop Steib said the week is "a time of grace for us as African-American
Catholics" and a special occasion "when we unite with
many churches throughout this country to pray for the healing of
AIDS."
"(It) is also a grace time for us to renew our call to be
compassionate," Bishop Steib said. "It is a unique time
to demonstrate that we are stewards of the gift of life from God
and that everybody is somebody because we belong to God."
The Black Church Week of Prayer, organized in 1989 by a group called
The Balm In Gilead, is the largest AIDS awareness program targeting
the African-American community, according to the bishop.
The Secretariat for African-American Catholics also released a
prayer prepared by the National African-American Catholic HIV/AIDS
Task Force.
The task force suggested individuals or groups stay after Mass
to recite the prayer, say it with family members, or use it during
their own prayer times or while saying the rosary or novenas.
Parishes were urged to pray for those with HIV and AIDS throughout
the weeks of Lent and at Easter by enclosing the prayer in bulletins;
scheduling a communal celebration of the anointing of the sick;
preaching about Christ's cross and suffering, sickness and AIDS
"when appropriate"; establishing a memorial book for those
who have died from AIDS; and/or adding petitions to the prayers
of the faithful.
1 | 2
..............................................................................................................................................................................................
Current Articles |
Press Archives
|
