Bishop Thomas Zinkula prays inside the chapel in his apartment. He looks forward to receiving your prayer intentions through his new prayer webpage davenportdiocese.org/prayer-requests.
By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
Since March, Bishop Thomas Zinkula has encouraged Catholics in the Diocese of Davenport to send him their prayer intentions via email and an online web form.
“I feel a special bond with the people I serve,” Bishop Zinkula said at the time. “Praying for them makes me feel closer to them.”
Since then, he has received hundreds of prayer intentions. He shared his experiences earlier this month during a Catholic Messenger Conversations podcast, “The gift of prayer intentions.”
Bishop Zinkula told Catholic Messenger Conversations host Barb Arland-Fye that the most frequent intentions he receives are in regard to physical and mental health. People also ask for prayers regarding relationships, grieving the death of a loved one, relatives who have fallen away from the faith, employment and finance issues, world issues, and for a stronger personal faith.
Bishop Zinkula said his executive assistant, Emily Pries, prints out prayer intentions every Friday. He takes the printout to the chapel in his apartment and uses it as a guide, praying for the intentions periodically throughout the week.
The nature of the intentions has shown Bishop Zinkula that there are “lots of challenges out there, lots of fears and concerns, burdens people are carrying. People are sympathetic and have empathy for others,” he said in the podcast. “But, they trust in God. They’re turning to God.”
He said the prayer intentions have helped him feel closer to his flock. While he prays for the people of the Davenport Diocese every day, “it’s a very general thing, somewhat abstract.” Seeing specific concerns “has helped concretize and particularize my prayer, making it more focused and more real in terms of my relationship with the people of the diocese,” he said. “It makes me feel closer to these folks. I want to be their shepherd because they are hurting and I want to be there for them.”
To hear more from Bishop Zinkula on his experiences praying for and with the faithful of the Diocese of Davenport, listen to the Catholic Messenger Conversations podcast at http:// www.catholicmessenger.net/podcasting. Or, find Catholic Messenger Conver-sations on your favorite podcasting app.
Share your prayer intentions
To submit prayer intentions to Bishop Zinkula, go to www.davenportdiocese.org/
prayer-intentions or email prayers@davenportdiocese.org. Prayer requests may be submitted in English or Spanish.
