prayers

A prayer group in an Irish country town.
The gentle faced citizenry are making their prayers of intercession.
Each in turn offers up a person or cause to be prayed for, and then says: "Lord hear us."
The group responds: "Lord graciously hear us."
Ron Baines is praying now.
He says: "Lord pray for all the victims of sex abuse. Lord help them to heal. Lord hear us."
The group, excepting me, answers: "Lord graciously hear us."
I never pray for sex abuse victims just because RTE, or Independent Newspapers, or The Irish Times, tells me to.
When I do pray for sex abuse victims I pray for all of them, not just the tiny minority who have been abused by a Catholic priest.
It is my turn to offer an intercessory prayer.
I rap out: "And Lord have mercy on all those in the Media, the Judiciary and our parliament who are using the tiny minority of sex abuse victims who were assaulted by priests as a tool in the media's attempts to destroy the Catholic Church while ignoring the vast majority of sex abuse victims who were raped in the family home, or in schools, or in Health Board care by non Christians employed by our atheistic goverment. Lord have mercy on these scoundrels who have ignored 99.99 percent of victims simply because those victims were no use in their war against the Catholic Church. Lord hear us."
The response came back without a pause: "Lord graciously hear us."
Barbara Frinton spoke up.
"And Lord have pity on the abusers," she said softly. "We do not know why they do what they do. Have pity on them Lord. Bless them Lord. Lord hear us."
The response came as per usual from the group.
But again I said nothing.
For alone among those present, I knew that Barbara Frinton had been raped by her own father for many years of her childhood.
And suddenly I felt very old and very broken and very small.