International Week Of Prayer And Fasting

The 18th International Week of Parayer and Fasting is from October 3 - October 11, 2010. There is a conference on October 9th, awards banquet on October 10th, and a Eucharistic Prayed Vigil on October 11th which will be held at the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C..

Why do they have a 9 days of international day of prayer and fasting? The organizers are calling people together to unite for 9 days of prayer and fasting for the conversion of nations, to bring world peace and to promote the culture of life. All faithful Catholics and Christians are encouraged to fast and pray during the 9 days.

What do we do as individuals on these 9 days? For starters, we can join a rally on October 3rd near us if we can. October 3rd is the Respect Life Sunday. We can fast daily on the 9 days, eating only bread and water or eat only one meal a day or fast from 6 am to 6 pm. We can also pray the Rosary daily, recite the Divine Mercy Chaplet daily, attend Holy Hour Prayer Vigils, attend Holy Mass daily, Consecrate yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, turn off the television for one week and perform Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. We can also join a Rosary Rally near us on October 16th at 12 noon.

We are all living in difficult economic times. Many people are unemployed with 18 % unemployment rate, and we do not seem to see the end of this unemployment crisis! There are still many foreclosed homes and the poverty rate is really way up there! To top it all, there are so many disasters all over the world!!

Let us look at unemployment rate in America... it is up to 18%, and we do not see the end of the tunnel!!! Businesses are still laying off, and other businesses are not hiring!!! That is why someone said, that if you have a job, hold on to it very tightly!!!! Housing industry is still down, with many people still being driven out of their homes! Can the government do something??? Not really, because they are broke too!!!! Too much unnecessary spending!!!! This is sad, really sad!!!

Then there was the oil explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which is now labeled as the most catastrophic oil spill in the US history! As a result of the spill, some people lost their means of livelihood, and the environment is so polluted that the wildlife has died. This is soooo sad!!!

How about the massive flooding in Pakistan? Monsoon rains have damaged Pakistan for almost 2 weeks killing more than a thousand people and displacing others! This is really sad!!!!

Let us take a look at Iran's nuclear power plant. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been feeding uranium for the past several weeks to their first and only nuclear power plant. By October 2010, Iran will be producing fissile material, and eventually the Bushehr plant will be activated! What does this mean?? Some believe that with this activation will be a catastrophic outcome!!! This is very, very sad, and hopefully it will not come to fruition!!!!

What are we to do??? Implore the heavenly weapons to stop wars and catastrophes!! Our Lady said that prayer and fasting can stop calamities. We all have the secret weapons in our midst, prayer especially the Holy Rosary and fasting!!!!

So, let us all join together in unity on October 3rd to October 11th. Let us all pray!!! Better still, pray the Rosary everyday so the world will change and we will have world peace!!!!!

Posted by vs at 9/23/2010 11:49 AM | Add Comment