Just pray for them

While on a run in the local park, I was stopped by a homeless woman who usually speaks to me about God and the Bible. She will on occasion ask me what Father spoke about in his homily. I usually tell her what the Homily was about or, more importantly, tell her about the daily readings. As I was stressed out about life in general and not really wanting to deal with her, I decided to take a different path.

Of course, God always has different things in mind for us. Sometimes, I need to be constantly reminded that while I was busy praying not to cross her path, God knew that she needed to hear His message from me. Somehow, the conversation led to praying and how God is not listening to her. The homeless woman proceeded to tell me about another runner who she does not like. The only thing that kept coming out of my mouth was "Pray for her."

The woman was furious with my answer and kept coming out with a million excuses why she cannot pray for this other runner. She gave me the excuse that she prays for people in general, she prays for herself, and she prays for the animals. She said that she did not know the other runner's name and therefore, could not pray for her. I kept repeating the same phrase of "Pray for her".

Continuing on my run, I kept questioning why God only allowed the words of "Pray for her" to come out of my mouth. What was I missing that God was trying to tell me? Somewhere near the end of the run, it dawned on me. God was reminding me that I needed to focus on my prayer life and not just say the prayers. He was also reminding me of the homily years ago when Father spoke about praying for the people who have hurt us. The people who hurt us need prayers, and the only way that we can sometimes help ourselves heal is by praying for them.

At times, it is easier said than done to pray for the ones we hate. Then, I am reminded of the Gospel passage to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Whatever God was trying to get across on this run, I am not sure, but somehow the message of "Pray for her" came out. I want to believe that God only allowed the one phrase to come out, so His message could be heard to the homeless woman and to me that sometimes we need to stop just praying for ourselves but for others too.