Lenten Prayer and Fasting for Holy Leadership in the Church

"The Church has increasingly aligned with globalist agendas, including climate change activism and promotion of illegal immigration." Let us pray and fast that She may reclaim Her mission to save souls!From Crisis

By Mark Henry

For those who occasionally doubt the efficacy of prayer and fasting—myself included, mea culpa—we need only recall how divine intervention has very recently changed the course of history.

As I went up to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday this year, I reflected on the meaning of Lenten sacrifice and the power of offering up fasting for a worthy cause. With all the turmoil in our beloved Church in mind, I sought a meaningful intention to unite my prayers and fasting with the needs of the Church.

The trials facing the Church today are daunting. A recent Pew study, cited in Eric Sammon’s recent article “Catholics Are Rapidly Losing Ground,” paints a sobering picture: for every 100 people who enter the Church, 840 leave. Priestly retirements far outpace new ordinations. The Church has increasingly aligned with globalist agendas, including climate change activism and promotion of illegal immigration, with timeless Catholic moral teachings kicked to the curb. Many Catholic institutions have become secularized and detached from core Catholic beliefs. Catechesis is weak, leaving many Catholics poorly formed in the Faith. Meanwhile, certain Church leaders seem singularly focused on political issues while neglecting the Church’s deeper spiritual and salvific mission. The challenges are immense, but we must remember that where sin and struggle abound, grace abounds all the more.

For those who occasionally doubt the efficacy of prayer and fasting—myself included, mea culpa—we need only recall how divine intervention has very recently changed the course of history. When millions of the faithful recently lifted their voices in prayer for our country, we saw a remarkable political shift away from the tide of religious persecution, atheism, communism, radical secularism, and the cultural decay that once seemed unstoppable. If such prayers could help turn the course of a nation, can’t prayers do the same for our Church?

Indeed, the current state of the Church mirrors the struggles our nation has endured. But just as prayer and action can bring renewal to our country, they can also usher in a new springtime for the Church. While we cannot expect perfection in our Church here on earth, through prayer and fasting we can help bring about a revitalization of holiness in the leaders of the Church.

Personally, I have been blessed to witness firsthand the spiritual fruits of faithful shepherds, having lived under the pastoral care of two exceptional bishops—Bishop Thomas Olmsted in Phoenix and Bishop (Emeritus) Joseph Strickland in Tyler. Bishop Olmsted’s episcopacy should be a case study studied in seminary for how to develop a thriving Catholic community. Olmsted invited a multitude of religious communities to Phoenix, strongly promoted Catholic men’s and women’s ministries, and strengthened Catholic identity in local Catholic schools. Olmsted created a strong Catholic foundation with deep roots that will endure the test of time. Bishop Olmsted exhorted the laity in Phoenix to vigorously engage in Catholic faith-based activities. Like many, my wife and I heard the call, and we established Catholic youth apostolates which thrived during Bishop Olmsted’s episcopacy. 

Bishop Strickland is known by most for courageously standing up in the face of his mostly silent fellow bishops on important theological issues of the day. Lesser known was Bishop Strickland’s steadfast opposition to Covid medical mandates and his defense of pro-life values in the health-care arena. I owe a personal debt of gratitude to Bishop Strickland for his courageous intervention when he had the local Catholic school stand down when they pressured us to get our teenage children vaccinated. Bishop Strickland’s heroic defense of Catholic truths prompted a modern-day exodus of Catholics who fled religious persecution and medical tyranny and landed on Bishop Strickland’s doorstep in Tyler, Texas.  

These shepherds exemplified courage, fidelity, and pastoral leadership, planting seeds that bore abundant spiritual fruit. St. John Paul II declared that the new evangelization would be led by the laity, and we must rise to the occasion, ensuring that the seeds sown by faithful shepherds take root in fertile soil. As such, we the laity have an important role to play—and during this Lenten season, it is incumbent that we pray and fast for the special needs of the Church.

This Lent, I have decided to fast for a singular intention: that God may raise up good and holy leaders in the Catholic Church. Throughout history, in times of crisis the Church has turned to prayer and sacrifice, imploring divine assistance to call forth leaders who possessed wisdom, strength, and holiness. Now, more than ever, we need faithful shepherds who will guide the Church toward renewal, firmly rooted in the timeless truths of our Faith.

The time will come—perhaps sooner than later—when the prayers of the faithful will be needed to storm heaven for a pope who will restore the Church’s authentic salvific mission. We need shepherds who will uphold Catholic doctrine without compromise, boldly proclaim the Gospel, and reawaken a culture of holiness in a world desperate for truth. Hopefully, such a pope will bring theological clarity, especially on moral issues like marriage, sexuality, and the sanctity of life. We need more shepherds who can faithfully guide the Church and resist the pressures of modernism, secularism, globalism, materialism, leftism, and other corrosive ideologies. We need Church leaders who will reverse the decline in Mass attendance, revitalize the sacramental life of the faithful, and usher in a new springtime of evangelization.

As we navigate through the upcoming period of transition for the Church, let us turn to St. Joseph, the patron of the Universal Church, a model of steadfast faith and holy leadership. Let us fast and pray that St. Joseph will intercede for us and that God will rise up faithful shepherds to lead the Church forward with fidelity, courage, and conviction.