The Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer

A recent report by the Bible Society refers to what has become known as ‘The Quiet Revival’, a growing interest in church attendance among young adults and, in particular, young men.

Many parishes can testify that although there was a slow return to church for many after Covid, another wave of people have come to our churches since then, and there are new signs of life emerging and sometimes challenging the way we have always done things.

An exciting project which focuses on the place of Christian Prayer has reached a new stage here in the Midlands: the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer. This week, there was a ceremony to mark the breaking of the ground of this massive structure which is being built in Coleshill in Warwickshire (design image above).

It will be constructed in the imaginative shape of a ribbon, it will comprise one million bricks, and it will have a facility to access a database of answered prayers by holding a mobile device to any given brick.

Answered Prayer  - when I was first asked to represent the Catholic Church at a launch event some years ago, I asked myself the simple question: although this project is not organised by the Catholic Church, is there any reason for us not to support it? I concluded that unless we have an objection to prayer or answers to prayer, then it is appropriate for Catholics to be associated with the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer - which will be visible from the M6 and M42 motorways and from HS2 rail line.

It has fascinated me from the start that it is about Answered Prayer. This almost bypasses any question of whether prayer works or is worthwhile: it takes that as read. But it leads on to a perplexing truth – that when asked (and this includes church leaders of all denominations) while people can tell you what they are praying for on any given occasion, or what they are planning to do in the future, people find it very difficult to put into words the answers to prayer they have experienced. We acknowledge the prayer of 9am on a Monday is rarely answered to our satisfaction by lunchtime of that day. 

Everybody is invited – and encouraged – to submit an answer to prayer. It is said that we only pray because we know that prayer has been answered in the past.

On behalf of the Catholic community, I submitted an answer to prayer: the Canonisation of Cardinal John Henry Newman. For most of my life, I can remember people in Birmingham (and presumably far beyond) praying for the Beatification of Cardinal Newman. Lots of people had prayer cards for this intention, and it never seemed to come to fruition. Then, in recent years, we have welcomed the Beatification of Newman, in our Archdiocese in 2010, by Pope Benedict XVI, and then Pope Francis declared Newman a Saint in 2019. Most recently, Newman’s learning has been recognised and he has been declared a Doctor of the Universal Church and Co-patron for Education. I call that an answer to prayer; not an individual’s prayer for a single intention, but the prayers of many people over generations – some of whom would not have lived to see this prayer answered, but hopefully will have witnessed it in God’s presence in heaven.

I encourage you to reflect on the blessings of God in your life. We can all imagine times where we feel that prayer has not been answered, an outcome that has disappointed us. It might even have led to us questioning God: why should one person be cured of an illness and another not, and so on.

We can hopefully acknowledge that our prayers can also be answered in a variety of ways: while we might pray for one thing, we might be given something different: a reprieve from illness or even the grace to live with illness or be free of pain, even if the miracle for which we pray is not granted. 

Every sick pilgrim in Lourdes, knowing of the tradition of healing miracles, might go seeking one. Most people return from Lourdes having been healed – not necessarily physically, but perhaps spiritually or just given peace and purpose to live with suffering, which can be a vocation in its own way.

The project needs prayer and people sending in answers to prayer. Why not think about sending something in as an individual, or from parishes, schools and prayer groups? Just go to the website and press the ‘Share’ button.

As a Catholic community, we can be proud to be part of this witness to Christian faith, the Quiet Revival, and something that for years to come will be visible testament to Christian faith, in a world that sometimes forgets its need for God.

Bishop Timothy Menezes

Discover the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer

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