It will be a long time before Midwesterners forget the storm of Aug. 23. Tornado sirens wailed as Mother Nature’s wrath rushed with a fury through many towns and suburbs in the Diocese of Joliet. Wind, rain and lightning took its toll on trees and electric lines and—combined with extensive flooding—the end result was hazardous travel and a lack of power from end to end in the storm’s wake.

We’ve become so dependent on various sources of power that getting through the day and night presented a challenge when it was abruptly unavailable. Mostly hardwired telephones didn’t work and cell phone service was at best intermittent; the electricity was out and that meant no television or radio, no Internet service, no air-conditioning or fans to cool us, no lamps by which to read and no hot meals from the kitchen as appliances ceased working. Flashlights became man’s best friend, that is, if the batteries held up from the last storm. Police, fire and all other emergency personnel were stretched to their limits.

Yet, through it all, the inspiring element of the terrifying storm and its ruinous aftermath was the sight of flickering candles and their reflections as they appeared in windows from West Chicago to Elmhurst and beyond. It was a reminder that the light of the world can never be extinguished as long as we have faith. And the power of prayer carries more voltage than any manmade generator.

In the last issue of the Explorer, Bishop Sartain invited us to apply our faith in a powerful way; in a letter addressed to the people of the diocese he asked us to respond to the Planned Parenthood clinic under construction in Aurora in a prayerful manner—the trademark of Catholics who “stand proudly and consistently for life …” Like a wild, debris-flying storm, any violent, aggressive response to this or any issue is never effective but often destructive. The bishop cautions: “Every step we take must be peaceful.” He asks us to spend part of Sept. 7 in prayer and abstinence as a “powerful witness.”

If you missed the bishop’s letter, go to the Explorer Web site— www.catholicexplorer.com. Certainly something in it will lead you to light a candle or to offer a petition, asking for God’s intercession to change hearts that might be misguided. The power is in our hands—it’s how we use it that matters.