-
President Donald Trump takes questions during a COVID-19 task force briefing with reporters at the White House in Washington March 16, 2020. (CNS photo/Leah Millis, Reuters)
March 24, 2020
Catholic San Francisco
The nation prayed for the president during World War II, but what about now?
Darlene Esola, a retired teacher Catholic school teacher, put the question in an email to Catholic San Francisco.
“Did not all Americans, Republicans and Democrats, pray for President Roosevelt, mentioning him by name during WW II?” she asked. “The success of any president determines the success of the American people. President Trump needs all our prayers now. Let’s get a prayer going for him please. This is not a political tactic. This is our Catholic and human nature. We pray for those who need our prayers.”
She offered this simple prayer:
Dear Lord,
During this time of fear, uncertainty, and stress, please grant President Trump and his task force the courage and steadfastness to tirelessly continue in their war against coronavirus. Be by their side and protect them so they may protect us. Help to calm all Americans and the world as we place our trust in You. Take our hands and walk this difficult journey with us.
Amen.
Esola finds it notable that the president is not mentioned in Masses and prayer petitions.
"What I always find absent in our masses is the mention of the name of our president in any of our prayer petitions," she said. "He has a huge and daunting task before him and his success is the success of all Americans and the world.
“Could the archdiocese print an official prayer that all Catholics can pray on a daily basis calling upon God to grant success to President Trump and his task force of scientists in this tremendous fight against an invisible enemy?” she asked. “It is OKAY for us to ask God’s blessings upon our president invoking his name. I have yet to see this in the mass petitions at our parish. No one has even mentioned the name of the president at our Masses, and I listen intently.”
Esola was a teacher in the Archdiocese of San Francisco for 25 years, after eight years teaching in the San Francisco public schools. She retired in 2011 from St. Veronica School “after my husband contracted prostate cancer (thankfully fully recuperated) and after we as a family survived the San Bruno PG&E explosion of 2010.
“I figured God was telling me to choose a different path in life,” she said. “I learned from that horrific explosion and after hubby’s cancer that life does go on and that even a ‘new normal’ can be just as fruitful and blessed."
After a 10-year break, she returned to part-time teaching at St. Medius, St. Robert and St. Dunstan schools and then full time at St. Catherine of Siena and St. Veronica schools.
“My greatest reward is seeing my students later in life as adults and enjoying their successes in their careers,” she said. “One feels such pride knowing that one has had a small tiny part in helping a child become a kind and compassionate human being. This always gives me great pride.”