I had no idea when I started reading the writings of Gregory the Great that it would be so pastorally enriching. I started reading them to look for various developments in Catholic theology. One thing that has become evident early on is that Gregory had the heart of a pastor. Consider this:
…cases of such importance hang over me daily as to overwhelm the mind, while they kill the bodily life. Wherefore, most holy brother, I beseech thee by the Judge who is to come…help me, who am growing weary under this burden of pastoral care, with the intercession of thy prayer, lest its weight oppress me beyond my strength…For, while we are joined to you through the aid of prayer, we hold as it were each other by the hand while walking through slippery places, and it comes to pass, through a great provision of charity, that the foot of each is the more firmly planted in that the one leans upon the other. (Gregory the Great, Book I, epistle xxv, p81)
All pastors can certainly feel what Gregory was lamenting. As such I take great encouragement in his admonishment to pray for one another. Yes, I believe the Lord encourages pastors to pray for one another, and I also believe that prayer is powerful and effective and that we are in some wonderful way held up not by the prayers themselves but the King whom they invoke.
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