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 The 2012 National Prayer Breakfast
The almost 1,100 people who attended the two main events of the 47th National Prayer Breakfast, just steps from Parliament Hill, received contrasting and complementary exposures to the theme of “faith and freedom” from this year’s two keynote speakers.
At the pre-breakfast Leadership Dinner, on Monday, April 30, Nazanin (pronounced Naz-a-neen) Afshin-Jam MacKay, described the work to which she has been drawn in advocating for mistreated and abused women in the place of her birth, Iran.
The Senate Page Ensemble provided several musical numbers, including the Easter version of Leonard Cohen’s, Halleljah. Ensemble members are Cissie Liu, Marjun Parcasio, Artour Sogomonian, Mahalia Golnosh Tahrirha and Jonathan Yantzi.
LiberalSenator David Smithpronounced the grace for the food at the evening event; Dinner Co-Chairs were Lois Brown and John Weston; and Kelly Block offered the closing prayer.
The next morning, at the Breakfast itself, National Post columnist and Queen’s University economics/education professor, Father Raymond de Souza, grappled with the question: Faith in our common life: Why politics – and politicians – need religion.
Father de Souza noted that: “Our politics then needs religion. Not only religion, of course, for divine revelation does not provide a legislative program. Yet if religion and religious believers are driven to the margins of our common life, including our political life, we deprive ourselves of both the intellectual and practical energies that are essential to many of the noble initiatives of our life together.”
Inspirational music for the Breakfast was provided by Tenore, three exceptional young tenors, Shane Wiebe, Jason Catron and Mark David Williams. Their rendition of The Lord’s Prayer drew a standing ovation.
Traditional readings, carrying the theme of various expressions of love, were provided by Supreme Court Justice Marshall Rothstein, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, NDP MP David Christopherson and Liberal Interim Leader Bob Rae. The four biblical passages, as noted by National Prayer Breakfast Chair, Colin Mayes (Conservative MP for Okanagan-Shuswap), were from Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 118, Luke 6 and 1 Corinthians 13.
Other participants: Senate Speaker, Noel Kinsella, pronounced the invocation; House of Commons Speaker, Andrew Scheer, thanked Father de Souza for joining us; MP David Anderson, offered a Prayer for Canada and the Nations; Green Party leader Elizabeth May – who has occasionally hinted that, post-politics, she aspires to be an Anglican minister – read the National Prayer Breakfast’s statement of purpose; and, MGen Mark McQuillan, Commander Canadian Operational Support Command offered the closing prayer.
Following the Breakfast, a Forum, Chaired by David Anderson (CPC Cypress Hills-Grasslands), to explore the interfacing of faith and policy issues drew about 120 attendees.
First on the agenda was a joint presentation from the co-chairs of a special multi-party Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care. New Democratic Party MP Joe Comartin (Windsor-Tecumseh), Conservative MP Harold Albrecht (Kitchener-Conestoga) and Liberal MP Frank Valeriote (Guelph) spoke about the committee, its focus and what the three members hope to accomplish.
Following that presentation, Joy Smith, (Conservative Kildonan-St. Paul) who has spearheaded both Human Trafficking legislation and a major report (Connecting the Dots) on the issue, spoke about her work and answered questions.
A student forum also took place. Young leaders gathered to discuss their faith with Canada’s political, governmental and non-governmental leaders. Many were encouraged by the testimonials shared and left the events hopeful that collaboration on issues surrounding faith and justice is possible.
Further links
For more full accountings of the addresses by our guest speakers, we suggest the following links:
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The purpose of the National Prayer Breakfast is to invite leaders to meet in the spirit of Jesus Christ in order to pray together...
The beginning of what we think of as the modern day Prayer Breakfast began in Seattle, Washington, in 1935. Community leaders gathered to face a critical situation in the life of their city. Seattle was at that time a place known for it's corruption and abuse of the poor. It soon became evident to these leaders that their wealth and influence alone could not meet the many challenges the city faced...
