by Fr. Brian Wirth,
Director of Rural Life
After Mass this past Sunday, a parishioner and I greeted each other and exchanged pleasantries. Following our exchange, he offered a humble request: “Father, can we please include praying for rain/moisture in the weekly Sunday petitions?”
To be honest, I was taken aback. Generally speaking, the desire to pray for rain primarily comes from rural parishes and farming/ranching communities. At the same time, I was thrilled to hear his request because it relates to exactly what I wanted to share in this month’s column: Praying for rain as a diocese and offering it as a daily intention.
In many ways, I think rain and favorable weather as a prayer request gets overlooked for many reasons. Outside of an agricultural or farming/ranching context, it’s just not something we think of regularly. And yet, rain and water are essential for life, both in body and spirit.
Much like the necessity of the salvific waters of Baptism for our soul, rain and favorable weather are a necessity for our physical lives. As the Collect states: “Being supplied with what sustains us in this present life, we may seek more confidently what sustains us for eternity.” There is an essential relationship between the spiritual and the physical.
Thus, praying for rain and favorable weather is a simple yet effective way for us as a diocese to grow closer together and to express charity in solidarity between our rural and urban parish communities.
Growing up on the farm, praying for rain and favorable weather was instilled in me by my immediate and extended family for as long as I can remember. I could personally see how important it was to them, and as a result, I became committed to praying for this daily.
Praying for rain and favorable weather also taught me at an early age that as a farming family (or any vocational calling), we are entirely dependent on the infinite graces of God for us and for His Creation.
As Nebraskans living in a primarily rural diocese, praying for rain and favorable weather should not be sporadic; these intentions should be as commonplace as praying an Our Father, Hail Mary, or Glory Be. Moreover, praying for rain and favorable weather is not only an act of charity toward the many farmers/ranchers in our diocese who raise and produce our food, but too, it expresses our desire for God to continually enrich us with His blessings and manifest His glory in creation.
In the spiritual life, prayer is much more meaningful when we are specific. God not only desires us to humbly pray to Him as the Giver of all good gifts, but more, God wants us to be particular in our requests. God wants us to express the particular desires of our hearts so that we may experience the infinite yet particular love of God as Father and Creator.
Thus, when praying for rain, there are three specific characteristics to always keep in mind: Safe, Sufficient, and Seasonal.
As Nebraska experienced in 2011 and most recently in 2019, we do not desire rain that leads to flooding, hail, or tornadic winds. Instead, we should pray for rain to come safely and temperately, so that the ground may become fertile and gently soak up the moisture rain so greatly provides, and that doesn’t lead to excess soil erosion or loss of soil nutrition. Like the moral life, where there are two extremes, virtue lies in the middle.
Secondly, we should pray for sufficient rainfall. Roughly 25-30 inches of rain is needed in order to grow a successful corn and/or soybean crop. Just because it rains a couple of times—or a lot in one rainfall—doesn’t mean that we should stop praying for rain altogether. Much like our fields, so do the fields of our bodies and souls need the frequent dewfall of God’s sacramental graces.
Lastly, we should pray for Seasonal rainfall, in that God provides timely rainfall and moisture in the seasons that He has so wonderfully established. Just as we see the importance and goodness of the liturgical seasons in the Church, so do the four seasons possess goodness and importance for our everyday well-being.
In 2 Corinthians, St. Paul tells us: “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. Going into the second year of one of the worst droughts on state record, this is a message of hope. As our Heavenly Father, God is always able to provide. “And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)
Brothers and sisters, may we, as the Body of Christ, humbly request more often a share of His Bountiful Abundance in this life, so that we may seek the Eternal Life to come.
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One primary initiative of the Catholic Rural Life Office is the celebration of Rogation Masses. Rogation comes from the Latin, “rogare,” to ask.
Rogation Days are specific days of prayer and fasting set aside by the Church to ask God’s graces, namely, His mercy in view of man’s transgressions, protection from natural calamities, for rain, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest. Rogation Masses occur April 25 (Feast of St. Mark), known as a Major Rogation Day and the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday prior to the Ascension, which are known as Minor Rogation Days (May 15-17 this year).
To learn more about Rogation Days or to have a Rogation Mass celebrated at your parish in the future, contact the Rural Life Office for more information.
Personally, I would like to be in attendance in order to assist with the liturgy, provide resources, take photos for diocesan/National Catholic Rural Life Office, meet families, etc.
Fr. Brian Wirth (402) 874-0016
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