Praying with and for Parliament

Lent 2010 will see our legislators receiving daily e-mailed spiritual reflections. This is a joint initiative of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) and the Jesuit Institute of South Africa. It began as an idea of Fr Peter-John Pearson for the benefit of Catholic members, but will now also be offered to MPs of other Christian denominations and other faiths.

Each day during Lent subscribers will receive an e-mail comprising of an inspirational quotation, a brief reflection and a final prayer. The format is is influenced by the highly successful Irish Jesuit website Sacred Space, which has enabled thousands of people around the world to pause briefly at their work-stations and spend a few moments in reflection and prayer.

The flow of the reflections is flexibly based on the themes from St Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises. The hope is that this Ignatian approach of 'finding God in all things' (as for example in the natural world or the arts) will enable MPs to seek and experience God's presence in their work during and beyond the Lenten season. The quotations are taken from a range of sources from the scriptures through prophetic thinkers like Gandhi to contemporary secular figures such as Nelson Mandela.

A further service will be the fielding of e-mailed prayer-requests. These will be funnelled through Fr James Fitzsimons SJ to a small team of people who have undertaken to pray for the parliamentarians and their intentions.

If you would like to receive these reflections e-mail info@jesuitinstitute.org.za and enter 'sign me up' in the subject box.