PRAYER IN OUR NEWS

In the days when I watched television, I was always fascinated by a popular female journalist - in the days when women in the media were far and few. She was considered a pioneer in her field and was to influence many women of future generations.

I was most impressed with the Catholic Mass and homily for noted journalist COKIE ROBERTS (Mary Martha Corinne) at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in our nation’s capital with Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory as the principal celebrant. Many from Capitol hill were present, as well as many from the media,  Sept. 21 to hear the words and note the devotion of a great Catholic of our day. Our prayer should be that she has some influence on members of our government, demonstrating how one can be a person of prayer, yet influence an industry with integrity! Cokie died of  breast cancer, died Sept. 17. She was 75.

Her mother was Lindy Boggs (d. 2013), a United States politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as United States Ambassador to the Holy See. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana. She was reelected seven times until she vacated her office in January 1991. She was also a permanent chairwoman of the 1976 Democratic National Convention, which met in New York City to nominate the Carter-Mondale ticket. She was the first woman to preside over a major party convention.

 

With her mother

In his homily Archbishop Gregory said: “We give thanks for the time that Cokie Roberts graced this world of ours. We rejoice in her humor, her conviction of faith, and her womanly ability to bring out the best in us - and to insist on nothing less. Thanks be to God for the time that He gave her to us… We grieve this day and will grieve for a great many days to come because a woman of faith who has touched us, loved us and taught us has been taken from us. … She was for so many - a wise woman of faith. She called us to be our better selves and she was quick to point out when we behaved as our lesser selves.”

Cokie  was a New Orleans native, who attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart in that city and graduated from the order’s Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1960. Archbishop Gregory noted the impact of the Sacred Heart sisters had on Cokie’s life, saying they helped form her as a woman who believed in and fashioned her life around God’s word. ”

The archbishop noted how Cokie challenged people of different ideologies to resolve conflicts by listening to each other and recognizing their dignity as human beings.

“She challenged us all to work together for the building up of this nation and our church and for the increase of everyone. She was unafraid of bishop or political figure and she delighted in letting both know that fact!  Her faith and determination to improve the church she loved and the nation that she cherished accomplished great good for us as individuals and as institutions.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “Cokie Roberts is a national treasure whose passing is a great loss for America.. (she) was an American icon. She will forever be in the pantheon of the greatest professionals in her field.”

In his remembrance about his wife, Steven Roberts said another woman journalist whom she had mentored, said Cokie “used her power to empower others.”

Tracing her career as a radio correspondent for CBS to reporting on Capitol Hill and providing political commentary for NPR to serving as a panelist and anchor for ABC and then as a best-selling author, Steven Roberts said: “Even as she climbed the ladder of success, she always reached behind her to help others.”

Cokie Roberts, he said, was a true Christian, who treated people, especially those who were not wealthy or famous, with respect.