Power of Prayer

I have numerous drafts in my post box.  One I wrote just the other day with a sense of urgency.  I planned to beg for prayers for a few different things.  Reacting to the pull of fear, I'd wanted to get as many prayers offered as possible ...right away.  I never finished writing that piece, and I feel far more vulnerable now putting my writing out there than I first did.  You take a few hits ...and you get shy, or cautious or smarter.  So much of my writing goes unpublished.
But what really pulled me back from the urgency was remembering what Fr. Higgins had said to me the night Phoebe died, and then again at her funeral Mass.  He reminded me, assured me that both the prayers of the past, even generations past, and the prayers of the future were known by God, and God's mercy took all of it.  He referenced St. Padre Pio, who having received the blessing of assurance his father had made it to Heaven, was asked why he still offered Masses for him.  The great saint responded that God had known the Masses would be offered.  We simply cannot dismiss the power of prayer.  And we do all to often in this world where the standard belief is that everyone gets a straight shot to Heaven ...which is isn't authentic Catholicism and causes far too many prayers to go unsaid.
When someone asks me to pray ...I do.  If I know its critical or dangerous or imminent, I pray with great intensity for several days.  I don't sit in a corner and ignore the rest of my life, but I do try to make my life a prayer and my activities woven with my own pleas and some really beautiful devotions that always offer peace.  I love to call upon the saints, those I think have first hand knowledge of particular situations. 
I had two situations this week that drew that intensity out of me, and though there are no exact answers ...I am confident both outcomes are good, for today at least.  And I don't need to know the ultimate answers in order to make the prayers seem worthwhile.  But praying is something I can do, and give, freely, always.
We pray for Phoebe all the time in this house.  I trust God has her in His care, but that doesn't mean there is no more need to pray.  Please continue praying for her.  I know she prays for you.
And please pray for two intentions that are very close to the hearts of two extraordinary moms.  I know it means a lot to them. 
Prayer gets us outside of ourselves, it elevates our minds and hearts to God and reaches out to others.  It follows the great commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. 
I ask my patients to pray for different things all the time.  They love being asked, and it gets them outside of themselves, allows them to offer something for another.
One of my favorite patients is 96 years old, totally lucid, and an ardent Red Sox fan.  She quips at me from time to time for being a fair weather fan. Rolls her eyes when I ask her who won. I show up right about now ... at the World Series.  If she could, I think she's have me arrested for poor fanship.

She gets very caught up in each little twitch, burp, sniffle, itch.  That's what happens when you get old and you have lots of time on your hands.  In fairness, she has some situations that require monitoring and could cause some serious concerns.  We do try to distract her from the constant self monitoring she invests much of her time in.  She will not eat with other patients and rarely goes to any activities, preferring to knit and watch her soap operas.  Most days I tell her I'm concerned about the influence these shows will have on her ...and we laugh.  Her rosary beads are always close by on her side table.  Images of the Blessed Mother are among the pictures she treasures.
A few mornings a week our facility will gather patients together to pray the rosary.  She rarely goes, preferring to say it privately.
The other morning I told her I had something very, very important for her to pray for.  "What?" she asked me.  I told her it was a special intention someone had entrusted to me.  She continued to pepper me with questions.  Finally,  "It's a prayer another mom asked of me ...very important," I told her.  She looked at me sideways.  Not satisfied, she stood in her doorway several times during the morning, catching me as I passed looking for more information.
"Just a mom asking for prayers"
"Who?"
"A faraway friend"
"Does she ever come here?"
"No"
"Cancer?"
"Just prayers for a special intention."
And so for about an hour, woven in between tending to others, we'd have this mini dialogue, and she'd go back to her perch for a bit, only to return to the doorway looking for answers.
Once the activity time came, I watched her leave her room wearing a blue blazer and lipstick, heading toward the elevator.  It was unlike her to go to the rosary, but that's where she went.
An hour later they returned.  She walked past me ..."I had everyone pray for that mother's intention ...the whole group of us."  And on she went, back to her perch.
What's so remarkable about this is how outside herself she came that morning.  Later that day she would have an exam off site.  Usually, we'd be involved in the anticipation and fretting up until departure.  A huge sigh would race through our unit, relieved we'd made it through the morning to finally see her off.  But that morning, she had a mission ...a prayer mission she took on as her own.
I have little doubt her prayers raced ahead of my own ...because she pushed herself completely outside her own comfort zone.  She made the effort to get to the rosary and beg prayers from everyone there.  A curious one for sure, she did that without the information she yearned for.  She did it because she was asked. She did it because she listened ...because of a warm heart that understands both the power and importance of prayer.
She headed off to her appointment without a glitch, and I got to marvel at the great gift of her.
The power of prayer when given selflessly and freely, is a gift right back to ourselves in ways we can't even see.
The words of prayer are powerful and important.  Our disposition and effort in praying can deepen them even more so.
And while the answers to prayer may not be what we asked, they always transform the soul ... most important part of us ...the eternal part of us.  And that will never change.
So pray for my little old lady tonight in thanksgiving for who she is!  I'll let her know!