Serenity For All People
The Serenity Prayer has always been one of my favorite reminders to trust in God when difficult moments surface. I recently heard on a Catholic radio station that Father Jonathan Morris has written a book titled “The Way of Serenity: Finding Peace and Happiness in the Serenity Prayer.”
Father Jonathan is from Cleveland, Ohio, and was ordained a Catholic priest in 2002. He attended Franciscan University in Steubenville, and is currently serving in the Archdiocese of New York. He is also known as a commentator on religious matters in the media. He has been an analyst for the Fox News Channel since 2005, and serves as program director of The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM Radio. In our world of social media and technology, a source of accurate information from the Church in the public forum, especially in the news media, is essential. The mention of his new book on the Serenity Prayer prompted me to investigate further the origin of this prayer that I have enjoyed for many years.
American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr authored the Serenity Prayer. Its source is best noted in his sermon in 1943, and then the prayer was included in a Federal Council of Churches book for Army chaplains and servicemen in 1944, although the exact origin of the prayer is said to be like peeling back an onion. The first form of the prayer dates back to the Roman philosopher, Boethius (480-524 A.D.) Since this origin, the prayer has been used in time of persecution of faith. The form we are familiar with from Niebuhr was promoted while he strongly encouraged Americans to confront Soviet Communism around the world.
Political issues and religious concerns may be separate matters, but one without the other is problematic. The Founding Fathers of our country realized this from the very beginning – “In God We Trust.” The Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom (1986), in “Dignitatis Humanae,” states that all people are entitled to religious freedom and that constitutional law should recognize such freedom. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2105): “The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. By constantly evangelizing men, the Church works toward enabling them to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and morals, laws and structures of the communities in which they live. Christians are called to be the light of the world.” What beautiful confirmation!
This is the full version of the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next. Amen.”
This prayer has new meaning for me as I learned that its origin began at a time during persecution of faith. Reinhold Niebuhr revisited the prayer during the rise of Soviet Communism and the persecution of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazi regime in World War II. Both ideologies are much like the current situation of global terror and persecution today. Therefore, I find great comfort in the words of this prayer for serenity to all people. In the Old Testament Book of Micha 6:8, we read: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” And again, Amen!
Zoe Cannon lives in Morgantown, Ind., and is a member of Saints Francis and Clare Parish.
